Installing a DVD-rw drive

[Jay boy]

I'm thinking of getting a new DVD RW Drive, but was wondering if it's hard to install. I usually get the computer shop to install it but pay extra for labor, so could someone like myself do it?

[bighap]

If you know how to use a screwdriver and are capable of plugging in 2 or 3 cables you are set. It is extremely easy.

[Jay boy]

Cool, thanks alot Bighap, I'm out to get my new a06:)

[bighap]

Cool. Let me know if you have any probs.:)

[Jay boy]

Well, I came back empty handed. I decided to wait until I could find a drive that I liked and at a reasonable price. I went to www.canadacomputers.com and saw a Toshiba SD-R5002 DVD-RW, my question is are these any good? The price is $168, pretty good especially in Canadian currency. My a04 I got as a present, luckily it worked like a charm, so I have little experience with dvdrw drives as you can see :p

[strider2x]

the A06, i got for $200 with $30 rebate, that not really expensive.

[EVOEvo]

i got 2 of these SD-R5002 DVD-RW drives they work great i made over i say around 375 burns with these i bought my first for 200$ shiped like 6 months ago and the other off ebay for only 120$ usd shiped used about 1 1/2 months ago and there the same as the a06's the 2x ones just with a dif name there even made the same and look just alike

[EVOEvo]

i found this one on ebay i dont know how much it would be in canada $'s but its a good price in usd it would cost 133$ usd shiped to canada i dont know if thats cheap or not but u can also look at the pics of it if nothing else :)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2755876808&category=44956

[seaneyb2003]

Its ok its best to get a pioneer 106 as its dual band it writes -/+ at 4x this only does -r so and its an oem so nothinng comes with it except the ide cable.Stick with a 106 you carnt do nothing wrong with them

[EVOEvo]

yeah but the Pioneer A06 DVD-RW Retail $258 canda thats like a 100$ price dif only thing good about the a06 is 4x +media is dieing out the media and burners cost less then - now i dont think + will last to much longer i seen a 2x + on ebay for 100$ shiped and a 4x for like 160$ which is relly cheap for a 4x just like this link 98$ shiped for a 2x + drive

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2755844524&category=44956

[bighap]

You don't need the ability to burn to both -r and +r. Just get a 105 like this here (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2755899814&category=51069)

[EVOEvo]

thats a relly good price to bad they didnt have that b4 i got my 2nd drive

[seaneyb2003]

tell you what go to www.svp.co.uk and have a look at there prices £99 pounds for a 106 dirt cheap!

[Jay boy]

Heh, I don't have a credit card yet so I can't order off ebay. And speed isn't really a problem, as long as it can burn, slowly but surely it's fine.

Thanks everyone.

[EVOEvo]

u dont need a credit card to buy off ebay all u need is a email address to make a buyer account and most sellers on ebay accepts money orders :)

[Jay boy]

Thanks for the help everyone. The computer that I'm installing my new drive in is a 550mhz, 64mb SDram piece 'o crap, I don't mind if the burner is a little slower but can I still burn sucessfully with this?

[bobfffg]

yes.

i'm almost certain that burner has buffer-underrun technology incorporated, so you should not get coasters caused by the speed of your pc. with those limited resources, make sure you image to a local drive and then burn (rather than on-the-fly reproducing) or you'll run into problems.

Leave the buffer settings as they are, make sure your drive is reasonably defragmented and give the pc a chance by closing other programs to free up memory.

hope that helps, good luck.

[seaneyb2003]

Also set your dvd burner to master as well :)

[Jay boy]

Thanks everyone, I'll be getting the drive in 2 weeks!

[seaneyb2003]

good good :):):)

[Jay boy]

Got the drive, now how do I set it to master?

[bighap]

With the jumper pin on the back of the drive. It tells all in the manual.