Dell Laptop DVD Burner (Sony)

[mis3]

Just bought a new Dell laptop, the DVD burner is Sony DW-D56A.

Did not do much to it yet. Can someone tell me if this drive is any good? Any firmware to flash? Any way to flash it to be region-free?

[edDV]

That would all be on the Dell.com site

[mis3]

I checked the "DVD Writer" section of Videohelp.com. It's listed as a Lite-On OEM.

[code65536]

The latest Dell-sanctioned firmware for this drive is PDS7. The latest D56A firmware (Sony-sanctioned, but not Dell-sanctioned) is PFS3. Based on the LiteOn SOSW-852S.

Firmwares for this drive can be found here:
http://codeguys.rpc1.org/firmwares.html#cat_slimdvdrw
(rpc1.org is currently down for a few days for a server relocation, so try the link in a few days if it's not working)

[mis3]

I guess the real question is should I upgrade the firmware? If so, what advantage(s) would I get from the new firmware?

[code65536]

I guess the real question is should I upgrade the firmware? If so, what advantage(s) would I get from the new firmware?

If it's working fine, don't mess with it. Generally, newer firmwares will give you better media support (improved burn quality on existing types, and support for media that may be unsupported on older firmwares).

BTW, for region-free, you can just use LtnRPC to disable or reset the counter...

[mis3]

Now, I have tried to burn a few DVDs and resutled in a few coasters already.

Anyway, I am calling Dell soon to complain. Should I ask for a NEC replacement? I know that my laptop does come with either Sony or NEC.

[leebo]

Dell issued a new firmware this week (at least for me, it might have come out sooner). There is a utility on your laptop that should automatically inform you.

[lenti_75]

that sucks, coasters the first time

I would get a nec, to many problems with lite-on or sony, which is a lite-on drive.

[leebo]

Really? Can you put an NEC burner in a Dell laptop?

[code65536]

Really? Can you put an NEC burner in a Dell laptop?

Sure. All laptop DVD burners are made to the same industry specifications for slimline drives. Often, these drives can get encased in some sort of enclosure (like the enclosure used by Dell for their "media bay" drives), but within these enclosures, they're all the same. The only thing to look out for is the drive's slave/master settings (since most slimline drives come with it hard-coded in the firmware or in non-volatile memory and don't have DIP switches to change them anymore) and also the bezel.