Good Decision? What Do You Think?

[rkr1958]

I know that I'm asking this after the fact but I have a Sony DRU-500a, which I purchased in Dec 2002 for $350 w/$50 MIR, that I can only write at 2x and which doesn't do bitsetting. I feel that my DRU-500a was getting a little long in the tooth. After reading the reviews on the Plextor PX-712http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=777415&Tab=5 I decided to buy one for $79.97 w/$30MIR from Tiger Direct.

I wanted to be able to write faster and do bitsetting. I hate to scrap my DRU-500a because I paid so much for it almost two years ago but this seems like a great deal. 1) Am I wrong? Also,

2) I was just curious what people thought about the Plextor PX-712 (I did read the reviews to the left).

3) I using Nero 5.5.10.7 ... any problems using this with the Plextor?

4) Will bitsetting reqire a firmware flash? Or is it standard with the Plextor?

[888888]

NO, SEND IT BACK RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am just kidding. That sounds like a very decent price.

[jimmalenko]

I hate to scrap my DRU-500a because I paid so much for it almost two years ago but this seems like a great deal.

Unfortunately, this is now the reality, due to the influx of people into the DVD burning world, and the ever-decreasing prices of DVD burners. I bought a Pioneer 104 when it was $800 AUD. Recently I purchased a Pioneer 107 for $150 AUD. No question as to which is the better/faster burner. But if you wanted a DVD Burner back then you had to pay the price. Just the way it is

[FulciLives]

Hell I remember when the first "consumer grade" HP CD burner was MSRP $2,000

Then the next model that came out 1 year later by HP was only $1,000 and you had all these computer magazine aritcles talking about how at that rate of reduction everyone would one day have such a CD burner

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Skith]

Alot of discussion about this drive @ http://club.cdfreaks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=43

I have had my original unit, RMA'd it, and my replacement is even worse than the first one. I can not burn any media faster than 4X without getting horrid PI/PO results, (Even with TY media from RIMA.com, among other places). The only thing it's got going is it can read a few things my NEC3500A chokes on.

I have probably spent more on media testing this drive, than the $140 (plust $10 for the RMA shipping) I originally paid for it.

Getting a good quality (performing) drive seems to be a crapshoot. However, those who have not had problems usually get outstanding results.

[rkr1958]

Got my new Plextor 712a from Tiger Direct on Wednesday (11-17-2004). Swapped it out with my Sony DRU-500a. Flashed it to firmware 1.05. Installed Plextools and checked-on DVD+R bitsetting. Burned a backup movie to a Fuji 4x DVD+R using Nero 5.5.10.7. Even though I selected a burning speed of 4x Nero burned it at 8x (less than 8-minutes). The DVD+R played great in my Toshiba SD-2800. Wow ...

Did a Q-scan of the disc ... max error < 40. Wow ...

To get reliable burns, I was limited to 2x with my DRU-500a ... no I can burn up to 12x.

I've moved up from a Yugo to ... Nissan 4-door at least.

[loconess]

make it infinity
yugo --> infinity

[masterpug]

you know your sony dru-500a burns perfectly with both +/- formats at true 4x speed! Why aren't you doing that...i have the same drive and have been burning full discs in 15min or less for quite some time. as long as you have firmware upgrade 1.0d or higher it can handle 4x. newest firmware is 2.1g or something and works dandy. i've used many different brands of blanks with great results. an 8x burner only saves about 3minutes! IMO, even to pay $30 for a new 8x is foolish, unless you do such volumes that time really is money. a 12x burner will burn full disc in 9-10min...still only about 5min faster than your old 4x sony! nuff said...and although 8x media is starting to hit the sweet spot for price, 4x media is basically well under 50cents/each on a 50spindle of good quality blanks. if you need help on finding the right firmware for your sony just reply back here and i'll get that info for you.

[SaSi]

Comment on Nero:
I was using 5.5.10.54 with my DRU500A. Got a new DL 16x drive and Nero didn't even recognise it as a DVD recorder.

Even v.6.0 didn't. The new 6.6.0.x however seems to identify properly the new DL recorders.

[rkr1958]

you know your sony dru-500a burns perfectly with both +/- formats at true 4x speed! Why aren't you doing that...i have the same drive and have been burning full discs in 15min or less for quite some time. as long as you have firmware upgrade 1.0d or higher it can handle 4x. newest firmware is 2.1g or something and works dandy. i've used many different brands of blanks with great results. an 8x burner only saves about 3minutes! IMO, even to pay $30 for a new 8x is foolish, unless you do such volumes that time really is money. a 12x burner will burn full disc in 9-10min...still only about 5min faster than your old 4x sony! nuff said...and although 8x media is starting to hit the sweet spot for price, 4x media is basically well under 50cents/each on a 50spindle of good quality blanks. if you need help on finding the right firmware for your sony just reply back here and i'll get that info for you.

One problem with my Sony w/2.0f was that I could no longer get reliable burns at 4x. The 4x media would burn at 4x but would not play in my standalone player and not be readable in my writer or DVD-ROM drive. Only media burned at 2x was reliable ... so 30-minutes per burn. By the way, the Plextor 712a will burn at 12x which I did last night using the media that came with it. 5-minutes for a full burn.

Next, my Toshiba SD-2800 would not play DVD+Rs so I wanted a burner than did bitsetting. The Plextor 712a does ... and now I can play DVD+Rs in my Toshiba SD2800.

Finally, the cost of the burner was $79 w/$30MIR.

That's why ...

[FulciLives]

... my Toshiba SD-2800 would not play DVD+Rs so I wanted a burner than did bitsetting. The Plextor 712a does ... and now I can play DVD+Rs in my Toshiba SD2800.

Then I would suggest some quality DVD-R blanks like Taiyo Yuden.

No reason what-so-ever to use +R anything.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[rkr1958]

No reason what-so-ever to use +R anything.

I've been using TDK 4x DVD-Rs (media code TTG01) and RITEK04 4x DVD-Rs. I've had very good luck with both. The TDKs burn at 8x with no problems (so far) in my new burner. The RITEK04 burn at 4x.

I just wanted a burner that would do bitsetting so I could burn and play DVD+Rs in my Toshiba. The reason ... just because.

My main experience over the last 2-years is with burning and playing DVD-Rs. Now that I can play DVD+Rs I'll gain some experience with them and over time I'll form an assessment (opinion) how they compare to DVD-Rs.

Then I would suggest some quality DVD-R blanks like Taiyo Yuden.

Thanks for the tip ... Do you have a link and a media codes for these discs?

[FulciLives]

The cheapest price to buy Taiyo Yuden DVD-R or DVD+R discs is at RIMA.COM

Personally I never used the +R type but the Taiyo Yuden DVD-R discs are considered the best made.

Last I looked a 50 pack was down to $30.00 and the 100 pack was $49.00 though shipping is additional.

As for the retail level of purchase any FUJI DVD-R package that says MADE IN JAPAN are Taiyo Yuden DVD-R discs. Again only if it says MADE IN JAPAN.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Pop's]

Hope it works for you as good as mine has for me. I have the 708A in one the kids pc's, 712A in my old pc and the 712SA in the one I'm useing now and they havent ever let me down. I know a lot people got the 712SA before checking to see if it was compatible with there mobo. I was one of them it would write ok useing Nero, but when viewing the movie it had some bad spots in it. That was on a ASUS A7N8X Deluxe and a ABIT AN7. I got me a MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum and decided to give it one more shot and its been working excellent on this mobo, I use Verbatim DVD+R 8X MC 003 and they play fine in all our standalones and others. I think you will be real happy with its performance and the results if you use good media.

[rkr1958]

I know a lot people got the 712SA before checking to see if it was compatible with there mobo. I was one of them it would write ok useing Nero, but when viewing the movie it had some bad spots in it.

For me, so far so good. I have an Intel D875PBZ motherboard & chipset. Just curious ... is there a list of compatible MBs for the 712a? Like you I bought mine without even considering that.

... would write ok useing Nero, but when viewing the movie it had some bad spots in it.

I'm using Nero 5.5.10.7 and everything seems fine. Q-test scans of the writes had shown max PIE errors of less than 50 with average errors less than 2 and no POE or POF errors. I've also run the Beta / Jitter tests too but I'm not sure what I'm looking at there. Do you have a link or reference to a good explaination of the PlexTools tests?

I use Verbatim DVD+R 8X MC 003 and they play fine in all our standalones and others. I think you will be real happy with its performance and the results if you use good media.

My burns so far, with the exception of one (Fuji DVD+R 4x which would only burn at 2x), has played well in my Toshiba SD-2800. However, more experience and tests in this player is required before I'll have complete confidence in the burns.

[Pop's]

rkr1958 your mobo is on the list and this is not the PX-712A its the PX-712SA (SATA). It's funny they havent added my mobo yet I contacted Plextor about three weeks ago and told them that it works great with the PX-712SA. I got a reply right back from them thanking me for the info but its not on the Compability List yet...



http://www.plextor.com/english/support/media_712SA.htm

[rkr1958]

Could changing out my DRU-500a for my Plextor 712a result in faster ripping speeds for my Pioneer 16x DVD-ROM? Before you answer ...

(1) Yes DMA was enabled (and verified) before and after the swap
(2) Before the swap the Pioneer 16x DVD-ROM gave me an average ripping speed of ~4x and max ~6x (w/DVD Decryptor). After the swap the average has been around 6x and max of 8x or greater.
(3) IMPORTANT: The Pioneer 16x DVD-ROM is the only device on the primary IDE channel connect via PCI IDE controller card.
(4) All IDE harddrives and optical drives are on the own IDE channel.

[Pop's]

rkr1958 you do know about holding in the eject button on your plex drive, hold it in and let the leadlight flash three times then put your movie in and try running DVD Decryptor again, it allows your writer to read at max. For example ripping Catch me if you Can disk1 feature only my average read rate is 7.4x and max is 11.4x w/dvd decryptor. Thats with my 712SA (SATA) I dont have anything on IDE.

[rkr1958]

rkr1958 you do know about holding in the eject button on your plex drive, hold it in and let the leadlight flash three times then put your movie in and try running DVD Decryptor again, it allows your writer to read at max.

I didn't know that. Thanks for the tip.

[louthewiz]

And I just got 2 lite on dvd burners for $110.00 refurbed at www.newegg.com ,great products and really cheap.

[rkr1958]

I decided to buy one [Plextor PX-712a] for $79.97 w/$30MIR from Tiger Direct.

Got my new Plextor 712a from Tiger Direct on Wednesday (11-17-2004)

I just received $30 rebate check today (2-9-2005). I'd practically given up on it. Strange though, it's dated 01/02/05 (the address that they mailed to was correct) ... which means it took over a month to reach me after they wrote the check? Also, the check is, "Void After 03/06/2005". I have less than 30-days to cash it.

I'm glad to get the $30 ... but something about this rebate just seems a little strange to me.

[iSAWaUFO]

I had a similar rebate fiasco. I received a rebate check from Ahead Software 2/7/2005 for $50. The check was dated 12/28/2004 and Void after 2/26/2005. In reality, I only had 19 days to deposit the check before it the void date. I overlooked this until after the void date but tried to deposit the check anyway on 3/9/2005. My bank returned the check to me on 3/21/2005, stamped "Stale Date" and charged me a $5 fee.

[rkr1958]

I had a similar rebate fiasco. I received a rebate check from Ahead Software 2/7/2005 for $50. The check was dated 12/28/2004 and Void after 2/26/2005. In reality, I only had 19 days to deposit the check before it the void date. I overlooked this until after the void date but tried to deposit the check anyway on 3/9/2005. My bank returned the check to me on 3/21/2005, stamped "Stale Date" and charged me a $5 fee.

Ouch

[gadgetguy]

I know it's too late for you guys, but for anyone dealing with rebates in the future. If you have similar experiences where the date on the check is long before you received it, check the postmark date on the envelope. If the company that issued the rebate held the check for a long time before mailing it, you may have a case against them for unfair business practices. If they mailed it right away, you may have a claim against the Postal service. In any case you should send a complaint (in writing, not email) to the company that you purchased the item from (whether they issued the rebate or not) and let them know of the difficulty you had. In general, the retailers want to know about these problems because even though it's not in their direct control, they know it reflects badly on them. They can and will put pressure on the manufacturers to improve their practices.

On a side note. I wish I cold afford to let a check lay around for 19 days without cashing it.