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Any thoughts on who makes this drive? I'm guessing either Lite-On or NEC.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040707/law059_1.html

Write:
DVD+R: 16x
DVD+R DL: 2.4x
DVD+RW: 4x
DVD-R: 8x
DVD-RW: 4x
CD-R: 48x
CD-RW: 24x

Read:
DVD-ROM: 16x Max
CD-ROM: 48x Max

I'd put my vote in for LiteOn. Why? Here are the two clues...

"automatic read speed adjustment for optimum extraction of music, video and data"

and

"a unique vibration reduction system"

LiteOn has traditionally been keen to advertise its SMART-X and VAS features. Most other drive manufacturers don't advertise things like that in their feature list.

The picture you posted is 100% Liteon. the LED also looks blue which I would love to see, but that could be faked.

Here's a pic:



Gotta love the blue led. Yeah, I'm a sucker for those kinds of things.

dhc014 wrote:The picture you posted

Picture? Where?

Edit: Looks like Ian posted a pic right as I was posting. Yep, that's a Litey, all right. Sexy!

This drive sounds interesting! Maybe I'll wait a month and pick it up instead of the 107 or 2510...

how do Memorex drives usually do? Take into consideration, whether or not it's really a lite-on drive.

Thanks!

-AX

Looks like a LiteOn. I wonder why Memorex chose not to go with the Pioneer "108," hypothesized to have DL capability.

The Memorex is a rebadged LiteOn 1613S. The other drive in LiteOn's 3S family, the 1213S, seems to be having serious problems. Fortunately, from the initial looks of it, it seems that the problems lie with a half-baked firmware resulting from a drive that was rushed to the market. So, it's possible that by the time the 1613S comes out, LiteOn would've had a chance to fix the problems currently plaguing the 1213S firmware. So I guess it all depends on how optimistic you are about the problems with the 3S firmwares being addressed.

I don't know if I'd put that much faith in LiteOn fixing its firmware. They seem to move on these days before everything is made right. The 411s and 811s never seemed to get the firmware they deserved for example.

digitaldoc wrote:I wonder why Memorex chose not to go with the Pioneer "108," hypothesized to have DL capability.

It might be due to the fact that Pioneer has been slow to add support for some 8x media. In particular, media from CMC. I can't imagine Memorex has been too happy that their 8x DVD-R media doesn't work at 8x with their Pioneer based True 8x.

Pioneer still hasn't announced their 16x drive yet, but we all know that NEC and Lite-On will release theirs soon. I'm sure Memorex wants to get their drive on the market ASAP. Who knows though.. if the 108 rocks, they might switch.

That's because almost immediately after the 811S came out, the 11S family was dead and obsolete. It was replaced by the 2S family (and very close cousin of the 2S family, the 51S family... I actually tend to consider them in the same family because they share so much in common...). So not long after the 811S came out, the firmware development went into the 51S/2S family. And the 51S/2S is a long-running series, culminating in the 832S. And as a result, we've also seen a lot of firmware work and firmware changes that have taken place from the early GSB4 to the latest US0N/VS04. So I think that the firmware work for the 3S will depend in how long this family will last before it gets supplanted by the next generation. My guess is that this series might run for a while, in which case, there might be hope for some improvements. *crosses fingers*

Usually the Memorex liteys come out before the retail liteys themselves...

code65536 wrote:That's because almost immediately after the 811S came out, the 11S family was dead and obsolete...

Uh uh...well, they still need to support thier product!

Hello!

I´m think it´s a LiteOn.

But i will wait and see, what this drive can do.LiteOn (almost) always bring a drive on the market, that have worst (writing-) quality, i heard and read it from all 8x DVD-writers and some CD-writers, too.

Maybe the drive can bring good performance after many FW-updates, but when it´s new on the market I doubt that this drive have good writing quality.

WARNING: Rant alert.

OK, what the #$@! is up with Memorex thinking that the two-tone face plates are "cool"? They're butt f-ing ugly! That alone would make me NEVER buy a Memorex drive. That, and the fact that it's an OEM Lite-On.

Has Lite-On actually made a DVD burner with good DVD write quality? I know (from experience) that their first gen 4x drives sucked. Man, I remember when Lite-On actually made GOOD burners people wanted to buy. But then, I also remember i286 pc's with 640K RAM and 40MB HDD's that had to have two partitions because DOS 3.3 couldn't handle >32MB drives...

Let's see...last good Lite-On....52327S w/QS0B firmware. Even that drive sucked the big one with later firmwares. What's up with that? Litey forget that little thing called "quality control"? Hmm...sounds like Glock (JamieW would know what I mean ).

TheCDBurner wrote:Has Lite-On actually made a DVD burner with good DVD write quality?

Yep, I have one right here. It's called the SOHW-812S.
But admitidley mine is a "handpicked" unit of the rack at Walmart...
I've had three NEC ND-2500's that couldn't outburn it except for Ritek G05 media.
Actually QC maybe LiteOn's biggest problem. Too many daft buggers gettin out the door.

pchilson wrote:I've had three NEC ND-2500's that couldn't outburn it except for Ritek G05 media.

*wonders if using the MXL RG02 could help, as LiteOn's G05 strat is just fubar*

I will agree that LiteOn's current tried-and-true family, the 51S/2S, works quite nicely. It's the 11S that they abandoned and the 3S that still looks like a beta that are giving them most of the black eye that they've gotten with DVD burning.

I will say the drive will be the LiteOn version to start off shipments then later Memorex will move to using NEC drives (they do this often)

and I do have probelems with a great deal of LiteOn's optical storage products, espc. if they use the Media Tek chipset as it requirs a crap load of host resorces to run very simple functions

code65536 wrote:

pchilson wrote:I've had three NEC ND-2500's that couldn't outburn it except for Ritek G05 media.

*wonders if using the MXL RG02 could help, as LiteOn's G05 strat is just fubar*

Well, it's just really that infamous "4x to start" zone that blows it...
I've two of them left, I may just have to sacrifice one on the MXL RG02 strat just to see. (All for the good of mankind)

ill let you guys know when we start carrying this drive in staples

Here's a good Question for the gang. The D2 has an external version. Would like to know how they are doing that. I don't think it is going to be usb since the burst transfer rate is about 11MBS (8X). My guess it's going to be IEEE1394b. You have to have at least a 22 MBS to support a 16X drive.

beach-hobo wrote:Here's a good Question for the gang. The D2 has an external version. Would like to know how they are doing that. I don't think it is going to be usb since the burst transfer rate is about 11MBS (8X). My guess it's going to be IEEE1394b. You have to have at least a 22 MBS to support a 16X drive.

From press release:

Featuring both USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394a FireWire interfaces, the external drive offers universal connectivity at blazingly fast speeds of 480 Mbs for USB 2.0 and 400 Mbs for FireWire

I wonder if a 1213S to 16x firmware swap is a possibility. Strange that LiteOn would let Memorex rebadge and sell their drive first. Perhaps they want to work the firmware kinks out first w/o "spoiling" the LiteOn name.

digitaldoc wrote:I wonder if a 1213S to 16x firmware swap is a possibility. Strange that LiteOn would let Memorex rebadge and sell their drive first. Perhaps they want to work the firmware kinks out first w/o "spoiling" the LiteOn name.

Wouldn't be the first time Lite-On has done this. Here in the US, TDK and Memorex often ship their Lite-On clones before Lite-On.

digitaldoc wrote:I wonder if a 1213S to 16x firmware swap is a possibility. Strange that LiteOn would let Memorex rebadge and sell their drive first. Perhaps they want to work the firmware kinks out first w/o "spoiling" the LiteOn name.

Their rebadgers are their best customers, so they get first dibs on production. What is left after that then gets sold under the LiteOn name...