Need advice on purchasing my new DVD Burner!

[Eagle_916]

Hi to all on the forum! I need some help! I wanted to wait till the Lite-On DVD+_R/RW drive was out before I upgraded, but I think I am going to go with Pioneer still. I currently own a Pioneer DVR A03 DVD-R/RW Drive. For people that do not know this drive burns at 2X on DVD-R and 1X on DVD-RW Media.

Here is my dilemma and why I do not really want to upgrade, but I eventually will have to I know. I am using a program called Prassi Primo DVD. I know I know you are probably going to tell me why I do not just junk Prassi and go to the new version that is made by Veritis called Stomp, but here is why! I am able to burn 1X DVD Pro DVD-R media from http://www.meritline.com at 2X on the Prassi Primo DVD Software. Stomp Record Now Max I have tried, but it would only let me do it at 1X, and that sucks. In addition, I currently have about 350 DVD-R DVD Pro Blanks sitting on my desk still out of my 900 I ordered.

So, here is my dilemma:

1. I am torn between purchasing the new Pioneer DVR-106D 4X DVD±R/RW DVD Burner, or just using my old burner until it dies. I can purchase this bare bone Burner drive for $200.00. If you ask me that is a steal of a deal!

2. If I did get this burner, what are the chances of ever being able to burn my DVD Pro blanks at 2X speeds, because Prassi will not recognize this drive. I know this, because I talked to both Prassi and Pioneer just a few minutes ago. Is there any software that will allow this bescides what I am using?

3. If there is any chance of some hacked Firmware that will allow me to do this, do you think it will be released this year? Is this new drives firmware hackable? I am not using hacked firmware right now either. I do not care if it would void my drives warranty, just as long as I could burn at 2X again. My media is worth the sacrafice at 80 cents a pop!

4. I am open to suggestions, comments, and any help anyone can give me on this subject matter. I build computers, but when it comes to DVD Burners I do not know very much.


Thanks for any and all help or suggestions you can give me!

Eagle_916

[bighap]

If you want to burn at 2x with Stomp just get a 2x firmware hack here

[necrolop]

I have my Pioneer 103, its actually I believe a compaq OEM one, I got it on ebay a very long time ago. It has v1.55 firmware on it, and Ive been trying to upgrade it. I cant get it to work, it says it doesnt have the correct kernal and upgrade fails. What should I do, because Compaq no longer exists.

[precisionmods]

Eagle,

A PX engine update will solve the problem with Prassi/RecordNow Max and the A06/106 not being recognized.

Necrolop,

You need to flash your OEM drive into thinking it's a retail drive. Put it on the secondary bus as the primary drive, and run this utility:

http://kickme.to/dvd105s

[RAISTLIN]

Eagle, as long as you are going with 2X media, I would just stick with a 2X drive for now. The faster drives will offer no benefit unless you plan to use faster media.

I would keep the 03 series drive until it dies. At least by then, you would pay probably half what you would pay now for an upgraded drive. This will also buy the time needed for patches (PxEngines, etc.) and firmware updates (hacks for 2X or 4X for all overrides) so the newer drives will work the same on all burning utilities.

Besides, it will probably take a while to fully crack the 106 firmwares anyway--you have to alter it to override for both the +R and -R formats, and there will also be hacks in the works for 2X/4X overrides for the RW formats as well. Another reason to stick with the established 03 to 05 series drives--the bugs have been worked out for the most part, and you can easily get patches/hacks for RPC Free and 2X/4X overrides.

As for the current retail version of the Prassi utility offered by Stomp, this may not be too hard to fix. Loading a cracked firmware enabling 2X4All should allow 2X regardless of what app. you burn with. My 2X hacked fw for my A04 allows 2X in Primo, RecordNow DX (the OEM Retail version of Primo Pioneer packed with the A04's), CloneDVD, IC7, Ulead Movie Factory, Sonic MyDVD (crappy utility), and Magix Movies to CD/DVD. You have to manually select the 2X speed in some of these utilities--the Auto or Max setting will not always enable 2X if the app. runs it's own media check or uses ASAPI instead of ATAPI to access the drive. Check the drop down box for burning speed in your retail versions (RecordNow Max, DX, Platinum...etc) and see if you can specify 2X. That's what I did in Primo and RNM DX when I tested it to compare it to Primo.

The rebel in my just refuses to use the retail versions--gotta use that Prassi freebie instead...hehe. Like precision and bighap said, a PxEngine and fw hack should solve it completely and you won't have to fork out any more $$ right now--at least not until you burn another 300 DVD-R's, eh?

Good luck!

Raist