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Digital Research CD-RW or Norcent Drives ?

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Digital Research CD-RW or Norcent Drives ?

Postby FaKringle on Thu Jan 16, 2003 6:07 pm

Hey people!

I have a $50 gift certificate to Best Buy and I want to get a burner. There are two brands there which are around that price range; the Digital Research DRCDRW481648 and D522452 (which is a bit more), the Norcent RW400 or RW320.

Any experience with these drives? I did a search and some of the Norcent drives are Lite-On, but some have a different chip which make them crappy.

Any suggestions? This would be my 1st burner so I have no experience with them. Anything I should look for? Anything I should avoid?

Thanks!
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Postby TheWizard on Thu Jan 16, 2003 6:31 pm

Which Norcent drives are Lite-On? The 48X12X48 and 48X16X48 are not Lite-On drives, they are BenQ drives and their quality is not very good. That being said, look toward Digital Research because you have a chance to get a Lite-On drive in the box. Try looking at the product code on the box, the drive you want starts with "LTR".
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Postby BillyG on Thu Jan 16, 2003 6:57 pm

I'd stay away from the Norcent drive - the one I bought couldnt burn at 48X speeds on Fujifilm 48X rated CD-R's and it takes longer to read/rip a CD than my Lite-On. A mediocre performer.

I also heard the Norcent doesnt work with Easy CD Creator 5, though it works fine with Nero (which is bundled with most budget CD-RW's).

Digital Research also uses Acer and BTC drives, but its also a shell game with them, you never know what you will get.

Honestly I'd wait until I could get a Buslink, Memorex, (or maybe) TDK and Sony drive under $50! These drives are all made by Lite-On.
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Postby TheWizard on Thu Jan 16, 2003 7:50 pm

BUSlink sometimes deposits other drives in their boxes, but they are mostly Lite-Ons. Just a heads up.
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Postby eliminator on Thu Jan 16, 2003 10:48 pm

Get a TDK 52x for $69 (incl.MIR) !
Wake up ATI :-)
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Postby FaKringle on Fri Jan 17, 2003 3:41 am

Thank you for all the responses. I'll check it out on Sat and see what I find. I'll stay away from the Norcent.

BTW, where did you find the TDK fo $69?

Thanks!

**Edit, nevermind I see it now :D
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Postby eliminator on Fri Jan 17, 2003 10:29 pm

BestBuy...$99 - $30 MIR (in the store deal !) 8)
Wake up ATI :-)
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Postby j_c_hallgren on Mon Jan 20, 2003 8:51 pm

My on-line chat tonite with a Digital Research rep confirmed that external 48x drives are BTC or BenQ.

The 52x externals are BenQ, he wrote...

And software is NTI or Nero...but random luck on which! They will supply unlock code for Nero if you get NTI and then download Nero...

See my other post Subj = "Just WHAT D522452EU did I buy? (1st CD-RW) And CD-R's?" for log of chat.
Last edited by j_c_hallgren on Tue Jan 21, 2003 8:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Quite new to this CD-RW stuff!
With my Micro-Solutions BackPack 232010 (LTR-48246S) unit...
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Postby Ian on Mon Jan 20, 2003 9:26 pm

Has anyone actually used a Benq 52x yet? I mean, their other drives have pretty crappy reputations.. but is it possible the 52x is ok?
"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt." - Steve Jobs
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