What's the difference between the two? I think the '40 is a bit faster, but will all the 3520 firmware support the 3540? thanks,
AlanD...............You are being paged. I'm sure the 3520 and 3540 use diferent firmware. As far as other differences, AlanD can elaborate since he has both drives.
i believe the hardware is diff. internally as well, but, yes, aland is THE man about the necs...he is VERY knowledgeable and has done his research, i would wait for his reply as well.
the hardware is different, you can't crossflash a 3520 and 3540 also, the only main differences is faster burn speeds and -R dual layer support right out of the box as far as burn quality, most people are not seeing a huge difference between them. but only future firmware upgrades will eventually tell for sure
Thanks for the 411. I decided to go with the 3520. Newegg had them both for about the same price, but I went with the 3520 because Ive already heard from LOTS of happy owners. I dont need the higher DL burning speeds until blanks fall to an affordable price, and I know there's lots of support for the older model. Thanks for the help! jpcm
Thanks ALAND! I ordered from Newegg for that plus $4 shipping. The 3540 is actually cheaper ($43 with free shipping), but I decided to go with the "old reliable"! Been waiting 6 days (including the holiday)... jpcm
Hi. Sorry but I'm a newbie. I just got the 3520 from newegg thru my brother but since its only OEM it doesn't have any burn software. Where can I download software or Nero, as well as the latest firmware for this unit? How do I check the current firmware too? Thanks.
OK, thanks everyone. I finally got my NEC 3520a today and installed it. It looks like it has been dropped (dent in one corner of the case), but I made two backups and it was smooth sailing, so I think I should be OK. MAN, is this thing, like, 1 million times better than that Cyberhome burner I had (I should have known, right?)! A quality product makes all the difference! cheers!
I had a 3520 until recently and it was awesome. Worked on every media I used with no coasters. It was even burning my 8x at 12x with no problems. Had some bad luck with an exploding disc which took out my 3520. When buying a replacement I saw the 3540 and didn’t see the down side in getting the newer model…That was until I started using it. 75% of DVD’s are now coasters and I don’t know why. These are the same discs which never were coasters on the 3520. I slowed the discs down to 8x and get approx a 50% success rate, but considering the quality I was used to with 3520 this is not good enough. If anyone knows why this might be happening or is experiencing similar then please help! In conclusion, go for the 3520!
@ms2002sss may i ask what kind of MEDIA you are using? and usually the general rule of thumb for burning should NOT be at maximum speed...4x or 8x you will have MUCH less chance of errors and better rate of success. MEDIA makes ALL the difference in the world to my successful backups, try Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim and you will be good; if you skimp to try to save a few bucks on crap/cheap media..you will regret it in the future when NONE of them will no longer playback. just trying to help you out, many people are under the misconception that media (regardless of what kind) make no difference in quality burns...it in fact DOES make a HUGE difference.
My error log says Disc Manufacturer: MCC 02 - RG20. They are Datawrite 8x. My problem is that they are the exact same ones that worked 100% on my 3520. The same tub which I was half way through when that drive broke. So I am pretty happy with the media.
Sorry to hear about your 3540 problems. You'd think with the success of the 3520, this wouldnt happen, but these burners are so sensitive...maybe just buy it some flowers and make dinner one night...Im sure things will be all better really soon. Seriously, I dont know what the problem is! Good media, but maybe you just got a bad 3540...Since they are about the same price right now, maybe just trade it in for a 3520: if it aint broke, dont fix it- or rather- if it is broke, replace it with the same model Good luck!
Hi Gang, I am about to buy a drive for a friend and also have the 3520 and like it. I just wanted to note that I have installed the second firmware update since they added DL support for this drive and now I too am getting coasters. My guess is they are trying to have the best specs and and risking everyone's media in the process. That to me is the problem with benchmarks, for example video cards have the same problem when two manufacturers make essentially the identical card the only way they can make it faster is by overclocking the GPU. That's a recipe for disaster in terms of video quality, and hardware life both for the video card and everything else inside of your tower. In this case they're burning media faster than it was spec'd for, also a recipe for disaster. Perhaps the first update that supports DL media is a better idea. Although seriously I have no DL media (since I am capable of quadratic equations) so I could probably regress to the original firmware just as easily, assuming I had it . Cheers, Christian Blackburn
http://liggydee.cdfreaks.com/page/ I would recommend reading here and flashing back to some earlier firmwares. It could have been a bad download or bad flash. You might want to try reflashing with the current firmware. If not, try earlier firmware.
