burn 16x DVD-R using 8x max drive

[donthaveaclue]

Hi,

I've an NEC DVD+-RW ND-6500A drive in a notebook,

http://www.nec.co.uk/DVD_RW_ND6500.aspx

max speed is 24x for CDs and 8x for DVDs. I've bought some Verbatim 16x DVD-Rs, if I try to burn data to these using the drive will I cause any damage and is it possible to upgrade the firmware to to increase the max DVD burning speed

[steveryan]

Your burner should write them at 8x.

[donthaveaclue]

thanks steve!

yes, nero reports max 8x so it'll burn them at that speed, no harm done. Firmware is 2.40 which seems to be fujitsu-siemens specific as it's in one of their notebooks. There seems to be 2x and 4x firmare updates for the same drive available from NEC..
http://www.de.nec.de./softwareoverview2.php/id/1333

..you obviously can't upgrade 2.40 to 4.24, hence the warnings! Would a firmware upgrade allow for an increase in burning speed or is the max burn speed physically limited?

Regards

[chas0039]

Some discs do not do as well at slower speeds so you might want to check the burn quality. Most often +R discs do better at lower speeds. I also have had good luck with TY at lower than posted.