CDRLabs.com

Looks like the NEC ND-4550A is available in Japan through IO Data at retailers

Akiba has picture at the following links and some information


Look at all the DVD-Multi Goodness ^^


http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/akiba/hotline/20050910/ni_i_dd.html#dvrun16r



it also looks like utopia has an OEM of the drive available soon:


Good old utopia and the shady business practices that we all love so much (the utopia version could just be a 3540 with hacked firmware ^^… just kidding)

Yeah, YSS did a review of the IO Data version:

http://homepage2.nifty.com/yss/nd4550a/nd-4550a.htm

I'm guessing he picked it up at one of these shops.

(NEC 4550A)
Now available at Alternate.de € 57.-(black) Firmware Version 1.06

http://www.alternate.de/html/shop/produ ... no=CEAN38&

Harry

Yep, my contacts at NECSAM have it too. Expect to see it in the US soon.

when CDRLABS make a review of nec nd-4550 ?

diogogrosso wrote:when CDRLABS make a review of nec nd-4550 ?

Dunno.

Ian wrote:Dunno.

What means "dunno" ?

It means I don't know.

diogogrosso wrote:when CDRLABS make a review of nec nd-4550 ?

cdfreaks published today a short review of the NEC 4550A:
http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/230

12 diifferent MID codes were already burned and scanned for this "first look" ...

Sigh.. I wish they'd just do a full review instead of trying to be first by putting out a preview.

Ian wrote:Sigh.. I wish they'd just do a full review instead of trying to be first by putting out a preview.

Wow... not even a transfer rate test for media burned on the drive... how the heck should most people know how a LiteON 1653s reacts to burn quality media I'm a little surprised they didn't even have 3x DVD-RAM, if they didn't have 5x It shouldn't be THAT hard to find I would think.

At least they didn't say exclusive!!

Ian wrote:Sigh.. I wish they'd just do a full review instead of trying to be first by putting out a preview.

That´s not new, happens often at Cdfreaks

But I must say that their previews/first looks better than what some other "Hardware-Mags" called a review

But sometimes (LG 4165) no review will come

Could you please also comment the review already published by YSS on september the 13th
of the "I-O DATA DVR-ABN16R" version of this NEC ND-4550A drive ?
12 pages accessible from this link:
http://homepage2.nifty.com/yss/nd4550a/nd-4550a.htm

Is this review by YSS any better than the first look at cdfreaks ?

frank1 wrote:Could you please also comment the review already published by YSS on september the 13th
of the "I-O DATA DVR-ABN16R" version of this NEC ND-4550A drive ?
12 pages accessible from this link:
http://homepage2.nifty.com/yss/nd4550a/nd-4550a.htm

Is this review by YSS any better than the first look at cdfreaks ?

I'd say it's much MUCH better. There are multiple drives used for the testing the burned media. A very nice selection of media is used. And some transfer rate tests are also provided. Although it'd be nice if I could understand Japanese

frank1 wrote:Is this review by YSS any better than the first look at cdfreaks ?

It's not really a fair comparison. One is a full review.. the other a preview.

I think it's nice to have some results out there ASAP (First Look article) so that the readers can at least get an indication as to how the drive performs.

Wow... not even a transfer rate test for media burned on the drive...

There are some more scans (done on a BenQ 1620) and a tranfer rate test done with the NEC 4550
in this thread related to the "preview":
title: " CDFreaks "First look" at the NEC ND-4550A DVD Burner "
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=150554

Wesociety wrote:I think it's nice to have some results out there ASAP (First Look article) so that the readers can at least get an indication as to how the drive performs.

If testing isn't going to be done properly, why do it at all? The methods used have huge potential for be misleading.

frank1 wrote:

Wow... not even a transfer rate test for media burned on the drive...

There are some more scans (done on a BenQ 1620) and a tranfer rate test done with the NEC 4550
in this thread related to the "preview":
title: " CDFreaks "First look" at the NEC ND-4550A DVD Burner "
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=150554

Good for them.... but why aren't they in the preview itself?

dolphinius_rex wrote:If testing isn't going to be done properly, why do it at all? The methods used have huge potential for be misleading.

I don't see anything that was not "done properly".
If someone misinterprets the data it is their fault, not the data provider.
Again, I say it is better to have SOMETHING available then nothing IMO.
And as Scour pointed out, this First Look article is better than most "full reviews" found on other hardware sites.

Wesociety wrote:Again, I say it is better to have SOMETHING available then nothing IMO.

I agree

Now, I'm not saying CD Freaks is doing it for these reason, but when a website whips out a quick preview, its usually for money or bragging rights.

Personally, I'd be more impressed if they would have followed YSS's lead and spent a good week or two hammering on the drive and then put out a full review. Not run a few quick scans, post the results on the web and then do a full review 2 months later.

I do agree though that they're previews are better than most of the reviews put out by general hardware websites. Places like Anandtech could learn something.

Anyway, feel free to discuss the ND-4550A but no more review bashing.

that does look like the mad dog one alright, but in black and minus the ugly logo
thanks to the member who pointed it (the deal @ circuit city) out