In the following days I will be buying a dual format DVD burner for my PC, and after reading various reviews and forums I have narrowowed my choice, which indicates that the NEC ND-1300A and the Pioneer DVR-106D drives are the best values that money can buy. Now I need to decide which one will provide more compatibility with the majority of burning softwares and flexibility for further firmware upgrades. I also see that the Pioneer drive offers buffer underun protection, however I'm not sure if the NEC does have the same protection. I have read that the IOMEGA 4216A and TDK 404N drives have it (which I believe are identical to the NEC) but have never explicitly read that the NEC posses it. Not even NEC's website mention such detail. Please comment as freely, detailed and specific as possible with your hands on experience and facts. The more details you share with me, the best the decision I will make. Thank you very much, jmr
I looked at both these drives and the NEC was cheaper but I opted to go with the Pioneer as it looks to be more compatible with programs out there and also I have seen good prasies about the pioneer drive. Avlogic.com has both the drives with free shipping. Adobe Nero and some of the others support both drives. Now it just comes down to if you want spend some more cash for the name pioneer. I opted to. PC World Mag gave the A06(Retail ver of the 106d) a top 10 rating #101 and that was another indication for me to get it. Also the price of the 106D is a good bit cheaper then some of the compairable drive.
Sparker, Thank you for the info and your comments. I've have searched http://www.pcworld.com to read the Pioneer DVR-A06 review, but haven't find it. Please let me know if you have the link for it. Also, now that I know that you were also looking at the ND-1300A, please let me know if you found, as a fact, that it posses buffer under run protection. Thank you very much, jmr
Go here http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,112036,00.asp and that is the blurb/review on the A06 I specifically didn't notice/look for the buffer under run feature while making my decision. I choose the Pioneer solely on its merit and feedback from other sites. Also I did a search for some of the programs that I may use with it and it was supported as was the NEC. Searching the net for the nec turned up nothing about the buffer under run so I am inclined to believe that its not in there.
I'd go with the Pioneer, people have been having problems with the NEC. I have a pioneer and a NEC (not multiformat though) and the Pioneer is more reliable and rips a lot faster.
Sparker, I already read this article but found nothing about the A06, but just on the A05. If I'm not mistaken, the TDK Indi DVD 440N is the NEC ND-1300A, and also believe the TDK 404N is a 440N with a typo error. I went to the TDK website and found nothing on the 404N, but just on the 440N. I took the information of the 404N from etnas web site @ http://etna.rpc1.org/nec/index.html (but it could be a mistake). At least it has the EXACT SAME features and specs, and includes buffer under run. According to that article the TDK is a very good performer and wonder if it's really a ND-1300A in disguise... Sly, Which Pioneer and NEC drives you own? If you have a DVR-105 then compare-wise, we are not being fair with the 106. Also, please let me know what kind of problems people are having with the NEC drive & firmware. Thank you BOTH ! ! !
dvr-105(-R) and nd-1100a(+R). Both drives work perfectly, but the Pioneer is a little faster and there is hacked firmware for it that lets you rip faster and makes it region free.
I'm also interested in people's opinions re the DVR-106A and the NEC ND-1300S. I don't care so much about ripping speed or reading copy protected CDs and such (I have a dedicated Toshiba DVD-ROM drive for that purpose). I'm more curious about the quality of burned DVDs with each drive and any media compatibility issues there may be. Can someone who owns a ND1300 for exmaple elaborate on their success rate burning to various media? Pioneer has been a staunch supporter of the DVD-R medium from the very beginning and therefore I expect them to provide superior compatibility. But, I'm not sure which drive wins in the DVD+R battle. Maybe I should hold out and wait for a few months. I hope prices will be in the $100 range by then and I can make a better informed decision.
I am also looking at the NEC-1300, but the AD version. I know absolutely nothing about DVD, although I am trying to learn quickly. I would like to know if this is worth investing in so if anyone has any revies of this drive I will greatly appreciate it. Thanks
