I/O Magic

[DVD Rookie]

Does anybody use a I/O Magic DVD internal burner? I'm thinking of getting one and wonder if they are any good.

[fritzi93]

I'm real happy with mine. The firmware upgrade is a must, but it took I/O Magic support a month to offer the same firmware (2.30) that Optorite immediately put on their site. Now if I hadn't known the burner is just a rebadged Sanyo, I'd have had quite a time. Probably wouldn't have any hair left.

I'd hold off on installing Studio 8 that is bundled with the writer, along with Pinnacle Instant CD+DVD Suite. Get everything working well before you venture on that. I installed all of it at once and my comp locked up, then again after reboot. Had to wipe it all, as there are a good many shared files involved, then reinstalled just Instant CD+DVD Suite. Instant Copy is included, and does a good job burning DVDs, though some say it's slow. It is a bit slow, but quality's good.

If it's a good deal, sure, get it.

[CaseyComb]

Let me regale you with my I/O Magic Adventure...

Not all of I/O Magic Drives are repackaged Sanyo's. Some are BTC Drives (a shame because the Sanyo's can do HD-Burn).My writer being the 4X dual writer Model #IDVDRW4D. I recieved this as a gift and it was only reading half the DVD-R media I put in it, and it would only burn at 1X and give less than stellar results. Mainly edge of disc freezes and such. The I/O magic website didn't have firmware available for this drive, the version of firmware on the drive being "0039" (obviously not the firmware for Sanyo or Optorite).

After messing around with different ASPI layers I screwed up my computer somehow, to where it wouldn't even boot from windows (I'm not an expert, only a mildly knowledgable novice). So I wiped my Hard Drive and re-installed windows. Upon Which I found out, through searching various forums on the web, that this site below had the firmware for the drive:

http://www.btcusa.com/english/3-1-4driver_download_dvd_dual.htm

"DRW1004IM" is the version of firmware for the drive.

I went to install th firmware and it froze my computer...so I left it alone for an hour or so to see if it recovered...it didn't. I thought for sure I had killed my new drive. I manually powered off the computer and started it up again. Now it seems to read and write DVD's fine. This is not a method I suggest but I figured I would let people know, because I scoured the forums on this site and came up with nothing except the Sanyo and Optorite firmware solution, which wasn't applicable considering it wasn't either of those drives. I could not see a way of determining what drive is in the box by the external packaging. Inside of the box seems to be a different story as mine did not come bundled with Pinnacle Studio 8 or Pinnacle Instant CD+DVD. My writer came with the Roxio Software.

As it stands right now I am happy with the drive..but what a hassle. Alot of the re-packaged drives are fine it's usually the company firmware that is complete crap, and it is extremely stressful taking a chance on killing your brand new drive with firmware you hope may work. So good luck...I hope this helps in some minor way.

[DVD Rookie]

Thanks for the informative replies. Hopefully some other users of this drive can comment.

[fritzi93]

Pardon me, my remarks apply to model IDVDRW4DB, dual burner.

[CaseyComb]

Pardon me, my remarks apply to model IDVDRW4DB, dual burner.

My point being is that both types of drives (Sanyo and BTC) Come in the same exact I/O Magic box (IDVDRW4DB), and it is near impossible to tell which drive is going to be inside. No disrespect intended. I was only trying to give some info that I found to be lacking on this site to potential buyers (and owners I guess) of I/O Magics 4X Dual Writer. The Assumption being that all drives that come in the I/O Magic IDVDRW4DB box are Sanyo/Optorite drives...of which they are sometimes not. I do not know if this is a new development by I/O Magic or if I got some older back stock of the drive.

[fritzi93]

Thanks for the heads up. I got mine towards the end of November, I think.