NEC 3500A firmware 2.18

I bought a new NEC 3500A couple of weeks back. I see that there is a 2.18 firmware update available. I have backed up about 20 of my DVDs without anyproblem so far . all of them play perfectly on my dvd player. should I consider installing the firmware or just leave it. whats the benefit of installing the 2.18 update.

 

I am sorry. i should have posted this in [bold]DVD±R drives[/bold] threads

 

I'm not DVD drive technical enough to say what the benefit would be by upgrading the firmware but probably would be a more stable drive with less errors if I were guessing.

Anyway, I also have an NEC 3500A drive and upgraded my firmware to 2.18 right after I installed it. No problems here.

Mike

 

some people say if it is not broke, don't fix it

i usually prefer the newest firmware because it updates the write strategies for better writing quality and compatibility and sometimes even bug fixes

just because it is working doesn't mean it can't be better

 

It's a tossup. really depends on what you are wanting it for. The NEC 3500A is pretty new, I would say that it supports most of the media types on the market today. That is all firmware really does, it takes your burner to "school" so to speak, and introduces it to new types of media that may coming out onto the market. Sometimes it updates drive specs such as speed and whatnot, sometimes it doesn't.

As a general rule, like kchev said, [bold] If it isn't broke, don't fix it...[/bold]

The reason being: Unless you are[bold] ABSOLUTELY[/bold] sure of what you are doing trying to update it, I don't recommend doing it. You [bold]MUST[/bold] match the firmware to the drive you are trying to update [bold]PERFECTLY[/bold] or you may destroy your burner permanently. Just having a firmware program that is "close" will not work. The drive model must match the firmware.

I have a older NEC 1300A drive that I updated recently and had no problems but I read up on the subject for about 2 hours. Then I checked, double-checked, and checked again to make sure I had the right program. Like I said it's up to you, as new as the 3500 is I really don't see any benefit from it as yet.