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Hi people: I am thinking of buying the Verbatim 52x24x52 CDRW Internal Drive: Style # VBT522452A - I saw that Office Max is selling one for $29.99 (after mail-in rebates). I couldn't really find any reviews on this one - any experience with these out there? Thanks!

I don't mean to troll the thread, but BestBuy has Busline 52x (Lite-ons) for $19.99 last I checked. I'm not sure if this is still active. Just thought I'd throw it in.

Thanks Voltron - I just checked - they are all out of stock....

gappuram wrote:Thanks Voltron - I just checked - they are all out of stock....

Check your local Best Buy store. Last time I stopped off at my local Best Buy on Tuesday, they still had a bunch in stock. Make sure to check the over-stock area too.

Thanks BuddhaTB, I already checked - they are all out... any views on the Verbatim anyone?

It's a genuine Lite-On, just flash the fware !

Is the Verbatim 52X24X52 the same drive as the Cendyne Lightning 52X24X52? The front and back look identical except for the printing.

Thanks

They should all be the same LiteOn, but Verbatim has their own fware (easily flashable to LiteOn).

I have the most recent Memorex (52x24x52x) branded Lite-On. As such, I expect that I could flash the latest Lite-On F/W into it. However, I'm concerned that my bundled Ahead S/W may not work. From reading previous threads, I understand that after such a flash, the CD-RW will show up as a Lite-On brand in Device Manager, etc. OTH, I've read that the bundled S/W looks in the registery for the serial number. Assuming that to be the case and flashing in Lite-On F/W doesn't change the serial number (changing only the brand name and possibly the model number), the bundled Nero S/W should still work.

Opinions?

Slim
Who spends more time updating the Ahead S/W than burning CDs.

No, actually the bundled software won't work with the Memorex drive once you have flashed it to a LiteOn. Why? Because the serial number is coded to only work with a drive that identifies itself as a Memorex. All of the Nero software is the same. What determines how it works and with what it will work is the serial number. Since you aren't changing the serial number, Nero will continue to look for a Memorex drive. But your newly flashed drive will identify itself as a LiteOn, so Nero won't work.

I think you will still be able to use the Nero Express interface, however. Is that sufficient for your needs?

You can also purchase an upgrade to a full retail license for $19 via Nero's web site:

https://secure.nero.com/en/Wizard.asp?Item=230

Or, you could leave the drive as it is. Are you experiencing problems with burn quality that you think might be improved by new firmware?

cfitz

As usual, cfitz, thanks for the reply.

I thought that there was more to it than just the serial number.

Everything seems to work fine. No real reason to update. I'll not update until Memorex posts one.

I'm sure that Express has every feature that I'm currently using, but then I may as well keep all the features provided with the full Nero.

Right now, I'd rather have the $20 than a LiteOn F/W update and a full, nonOEM Nero.

BTW: That testing of my 16x - 24x Memorex CD-rewritable that we were doing a while back? What a nightmare. Just did a disc scan: 1.14% good, 98.73% damaged, 0.13% unreadable. You remarked at the time that it was collapsing as I was testing it. Taking your advice, ordering some Verbatim rewritable media from Buy.com tomorrow. (My daughter needs a bigger xD Picture Card anyway.)

Thanks,
Slim

Okay, that is a reasonable plan. If you really feel that you need the new firmware, though, let me know.

As for the Memorex CD-RW media, join the club!

cfitz

I have had this drive since the first of the year and am very happy with it. The only thing that seems a little weak is their support site. There have been no firmware upgrades on this drive yet. One other peculiarity, 16X rewrite takes less time than 24X.

alarntson wrote:One other peculiarity, 16X rewrite takes less time than 24X.

With the LiteOn based drives like this one, 16x rewriting is CLV, meaning the speed is constant at 16x. Unfortunately, 24x rewriting using CAV, meaning that it starts at about 11x and only reaches 24x at the very end of a full disc:



As you can see, under the best of circumstances (a full burn), you can achieve only 18x average, which isn't much higher than the 16x CLV burn. And if you don't write a full disc, you will never reach the 24x mark and the average will be even less. For example, burn only half a disc and your average drops to around 14x.

So, what you are seeing is normal. It's one of my beefs with LiteOn. I just don't understand why they won't enable P-CAV rewriting on their "24x" rewriters.

cfitz

New record low price 19.99 @ Fry's !!

($49.99 - $30 mir)

cfitz wrote:

So, what you are seeing is normal. It's one of my beefs with LiteOn. I just don't understand why they won't enable P-CAV rewriting on their "24x" rewriters.

Does this mean they could enable P-CAV via a firmware upgrade?

It would make sense that Lite-On could enable P-CAV with a new firmware, but they haven't done so with any of their drives, as far as I know.

I purchased this drive at Best Buy this week for $19.99 after rebate. The one that was packaged for me was an Asus CRW-5224A. This has been mentioned in a more recent post on this board.

From what I can determine it is a fairly well liked burner (the ASUS) so I am keeping it. I'll be trying to flash with the latest ASUS firmware (1.20) later this week.

I had also heard that some of the Verbatims were Lite-Ons. That is what prompted my initial interest in this drive. On a slightly related note, Circuit City has Buslink 52x24x52s on sale $29.99 after rebate. These MAY be Lite-Ons, but again "Your mileage may vary."

BusLinks are original LiteOns, most of the time.