Just got a new PC, a Dell. A present from the boss for my birthday, very nice of him...when I started looking around in My Computer, I found the DVD drive to be a tsstcorp dvd+-rw ts-h653a. I googled this and got some website called photodex or something? Does anyone out there know what this is? Any good? Perks such as bitsetting/Booktype...I'd go with a BenQ but can't find 'em anywhere. Thanks in advance.
Congrats on the Dell! When it comes to my birthdays and christmas's,I get hosed, LOL Just like that commercial, Daddy got Hosed. Did that dell come with the bootdiscs or do you have to make your own? The newer HP pcs,you have to make your own bootdiscs. I looked at both samsung and toshiba for that model and came out with squat. What's the current firmware version? I couldn't find anything about your drive. It's a Toshiba/Samsung. Lots of those drives going in HP bundled PC's as well. My sister has a TSST as well and I couldn't find anything about it. Edit: Benq drives are getting very scarce. I picked up a slightly used 1650A for a fair price at ebay. Lots of remanufactured 1620's there. I just searched for Plextors there and lots of PX-716A's for under $80 including shipping. They have been opened and test burned only-and the user feedback on some of them is 100%: http://cgi.ebay.com/BLACK-PLEXTOR-P...QQihZ016QQcategoryZ116249QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem If link doesn't work,go to ebay/buy/computers/dvd-/+rw drives/internal/and enter Plextor for the quick search. Those PX-716's will booktype,using Plextools-which comes with the software in that link. Very quiet,8 mb buffer as well. You can use that TSST burner as the reader and the new booktyping drive strictly for burning-which should extend the longevity on that new burner. It also makes an even easier backup process setup.
Test burn a plus format disc,and then check it with this free utility: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd-r_tools/dvd_identifier.cfm It'll tell you if it's booktyped like this: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD+R:MAXELL-002-000] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- [bold]Disc & Book Type : [DVD+R] - [DVD-ROM][/bold] Manufacturer Name : [Hitachi Maxell Ltd.] Manufacturer ID : [MAXELL] Media Type ID : [002] Product Revision : [Not Specified] Blank Disc Capacity : [2,295,104 Sectors = 4.70 GB (4.38 GiB)] Recording Speeds : [1x-2.4x , 4x , 6x-8x] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ DVD Identifier - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disc & Booktype: That's what is says when they are booktyped or you'll get [DVD+R] - [DVD+R] for disc and booktype.
Did a test burn with Recode and the option to "Booktype to DVD-ROM" was grayed out and DVD Identifier gave me back the result as a +R. Didn't know why I didn't open the case sooner to see what the guts of the PC looks like but when I did, looks like the internals are running on an SATA system so I figured I'd go with an external burner. I was thinking about picking up the LG GSA-E10L at Best Buy...$80 and I'll just use the unknown drive to do the rips. I also read somewhere on cdfreaks that this drive bitsets +R to ROM right out of the box...Though I could spring for the PX-7555SA but that's a little pricey at $120. *UPDATE* Just got back from Best Buy and since I had a little extra cash, I picked up the GSA-E10L along with the GSA-H22L. Hooked 'em up and did a few test burns and yep, Booktypes to DVD-ROM right out of the box. Too bad I don't have my PX-740/BenQ1640 to do some Disc Quality Tests. I'll just have to see how well these drives will perform in the long run...
I just got a new Dell with this drive in it and updated to the latest firmware available from Dell and it has bitsetting. So far a nice drive.
When it decides it doesn't want to open unless there is a disk in you will need to clean and/or replace the small belt on the pulley under the disk tray... stock samsung fault. Otherwise good and reliable drives for the price.
