plextor 708-a vs phillips dvd-8631

[Jacob Grenoble]

I bought a plextor 708-a almost 2 years ago and it has been the most reliable drive I have ever purchased. I ordered a generic 100 pack of verbatim dvd-r media and have had great burns so far.

Only problem is that the dvd drive that came with my new del(phillips dvd-8631)l was supposed to burn dvd-r at 16x, yet it can only burn at 2.4x. My plextor 708 burns these discs at 4x, which is the maximum for that type of media only +r burns at 8x. Anyway what gives, has anybody else experience something similar?

[budz]

What is the speed of those generic Verbatim dvd-r media? Not all brands of dvd media can burn at 16x if it isn't 16x media to begin with. Check that your PHILLIPS 8631 drive has DMA ENABLED.

The DELL PHILLIPS 8631 is a BENQ drive. You could cross flash your drive to become a BENQ 1620. All you would need is to download the WinDWFLASH.EXE & CVT FILE from this site:

http://dvdpro.club.st/firmware/BENQ_FW.htm

You could start with the firmware B7P9 CVT file. With the BENQ 1620 firmwares you are able to burn 8x media @ 12x & 16x. Check the BENQ/PHILIPS FORUM at CDFREAKS.COM for more info.

[Jacob Grenoble]

Thanks budz. I downloaded a firmware update from the dell website dated early june 2005, could this be the firmware you are discussing? I haven't installed it yet so no big deal if it's not.

Anyway is the firmware file an .exe or will I have to burn a cd and then restart the computer, like I did with my plextor 708-a?

I am not familiar with a cvt file, will this be self explanatory? If not will cdfreaks have a tutorial? Thanks again for your help.