NEC 3550A oem questions

[Dr Klovernutz]

YEAH!!!!
I have my new NEC 3550A burner

Its all installed.
The NEC is the Master (jumper) and its in the top slot and at the end of the ribbon cable.

The Bottom/ SLAVE:
HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8162B


I haven't upgraded to the new firmware 1Y6 RPC1 as of YET.

I did have some questions for some you who have this drive.

1. I burned a DVD movie from file with NERO 6618.
I am using verbatim 8x media +R.
The burn started at 8X shopwing about 7:30 burn time
BUT in the end it took about 9 min.
is this normal?

Also I ripped a 6.8G movie in DVDD in about 8:45. NIICE

I don't see me using the SLAVE drive much at all.


NOW i did have a question about my old burner NEC1300A
AS i stated before in a previous post, is started acting weird when burning DVD (such as dropping to 2.4 speed, and getting verificqation errors in Nero and random fails) But as a CD burner is always seemed fine.

Is the unit worth putting in a different computer for purposes of CD burner/ DVD READER, or should I not trust it as a burner???

opinions welcome
(reason I ask, I have a friend who bought a base cheap computer with no CD burner, i was gonna give him the drive for a CD burner)

thanks for everyone's help

[Chewy]

BUT in the end it took about 9 min.

that's fine, the nec was just slowing down to get a good burn

I'd give the old nec to the friend especially if it would not be expected to see a lot of use.

[Dr Klovernutz]

thanks Chewie
Now i burned an image in ImgBurn
it said max burn 8.4X
average burn speeed 6.0X

this is normal?

Lastly, I know the common thought is never burn faster than 4X
is that still true (i remember back when CDs should never be burned faster that 16X)

I have 1G DDR SDRAM
2.6 P4 HT

what should I burn at and what media should I use (I have 100+ blank Verbatim 8Xs)

thanks
-Dr K

[Chewy]

test your burns with cdspeed, if 8x is as good as 4x then go for it
each batch of verbatim may be a little different
try a quality scan at 8x or 12x, whichever gives the best results is the best scan speed

[mill]

Chewy if you were two buy to of the same burners would it be the nec or the benq?

[Chewy]

Hard question, about an even choice, the nec's are probably more durable,
easier to replace(benq's are harder to find), but the benq is so much better at scanning. I am using 2 nec's(3540/3550) benq 1650 and LG 4163B in
my main boxes. Really much better to mix dual burners with complimenting
features.

[mill]

Thanks Chewy I have one slot yet in the monarck and am trying to decide which or what burner to buy, maybe i should go with somthing different

[Dr Klovernutz]

I had posted a week or 2 ago about purchasing a NEC 3550A.
Well I did and I downloaded the mod firmware "1Y6 RPC1 " .

Now It is my understanding that this firmware is supposed to be region free. After I flashed the drive the Region was Not selected. I put in a US DVD and it selected Region 1 and only allows me 1 more change. I restared the computer and the resion stayed selected to region 1. I re-flashed it with the mod. firmware and and It stayed at Region 1 with only 1 change left. My last DVD+R drive was region free and everytime I restarted the computer the Region would not be selected and I would re-start with 5 changes.

Is this how it is supposed to act?
-DrK

[Chewy]

mine says the same, I don't use anything but region 1 so I can't test

I use the modded firmware for bitsett, remove riplock(nec 3520/40) and the improved write strats

[NightTran]

mine with 1640 is no region at all can't change to any thing, I dont know if it is bad or not, but burn qua is great and fast too

[Dr Klovernutz]

I have a question about burning CDs with the NEC 3550A

I use Nero for DATA CDs and Fuerio! for Music CDs
I just started burning CDs with this drive and I noticed with Feurio! (haven't tried with Nero yet) that I am unable to sucessfully burn at 48X. My media is compatible with 48X and so is this burner. yet whenever I get past 35X (Feurio! shows actual burn speeds as the progress through the burn proces) the CD fails because the Recorder buffer drops to ZERO! Is this normal for this drive, my internal buffer stays full, the drive buffer is what fails.

I currently have it set at 32X and if i don't run any heavy apps. during the burn It is always successful.

my system:
Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name XXXXXX
User Name XXXXXX

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 2600 MHz (13 x 200)
Motherboard Name Dell Dimension 4600
Motherboard Chipset Intel Springdale i865PE
System Memory 1024 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Phoenix (08/26/04)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter GeForce FX 5200 (128 MB)
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 (128 MB)
3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Monitor Dell 1800FP (Digital) [18" LCD] (7R47732C06QK)

[Chewy]

32x is about as fast as you want to push the envelope with cd burning,
it takes a little luck, a very good blank, and a optimally configured computer to go 48 or 52x. Converting mp3's to wave(cda) for audio is fairly cpu intensive and copy on the fly works best between 2 drives that are on seperate cables. 32x .15MB/s = only 5MB/s but that drive has to spin pretty fast

[Dr Klovernutz]

ok
I wasn't sure if something was going wrong here with Feurio!. Mainly since Feurio! doesn't have a drive for this burner (yet) but it does have one for the 3500 and a bunch of other newer NEC DVD drives so that is the one I chose (you must choose one) .

[Dr Klovernutz]

This here is a question for anyone who has this drive:
NEC 3550A with the RPC 16Y mod firmware.

I have noticed something with the DVDs I am burning with this drive.
Keep in mind I am using the same spindle of Verbatim 8x DVD+R

With my old burner, when i looked at the "purple" side of the DVD I would see a smooth burn area.

With DVDs I am burning with the NEC 3550A, when I look at the "purple" side I noticed that I can see various rings (slightly) on the burn area.
Is this normal or something I should be concerned about.

I am using IMGBURN for burning, could this be causing this.

The DVDs verify, and I have had no problems with any of the DVDs I have watched.

Let me add, the the rings i speak of are really only noticable when looking at under a light.
but they are there

[Gary D]

Have you scanned a disc since getting your new burner? The best way to verify is with Nero CD/DVD Speed. Get it from my signature. This is a thread at DVF started by Chewy. Ignore the PIEs and concentrate on the PIFS. Also read the thread link by geno888 to cdfreaks for a good looonnnggg read to understand technically how it works.