which would you choose? Pacific Digital or Buslink?

[UALOneKPlus]

I bought the BB Buslink 52x24x52 for $80, with the $20+15 in rebates available to make it $45.

I also went to OfficeMax, and bought a Pacific Digital Mach48 48x12x48x CD-RW for $20, as a product substitution for an advertised i/o magic 48x12x48 CDRW that was out of stock (which was $20 AFTER rebates).

I installed the PD CDRW tonite and it works great. However, I wonder if the Buslink is a better deal for the higher speed.

Bottom line - I have the PD CDRW for $20 with NO rebates to send in, or I can choose the Buslink CDRW for $45 AFTER rebates.

Is the Buslink worth the extra cost and hassle?

[Spazmogen]

Is the Buslink worth the extra cost and hassle?

Yes.

Windows should see it as an LTR 52246s drive.

In other words: it's a Lite On drive in disguise.
You can use the Lite On firmware without having to worry about voiding a warranty!

Click on: http://www.liteonit.com/webfw/LTR-52246S/R526S0A.zip

As I write this 6s0A is the latest firmware for the drive.


I did an owner review on it here: http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7271

[BuddhaTB]

In addition to what Spazmogen said, if the Pacific Digital drive is a Lite-On, Keep It!
However, if the Pacific Digital drive isn't a Lite-On, I would return it and keep the BUSlink drive. We can pretty much guarantee you that the BUSlink drive is a Lite-On LTR-52246S.

[cfitz]

I will reiterate what BuddhaTB said. Pacific Digital has also been known to sell LiteOn drives, although not exclusively. If the Pacific Digital is a LiteOn, then depending on what specific model it is, you may be able to overclock it with new firmware up to a 52x LiteOn (if you are of a mind to do that sort of thing).

Do the boxes say "SMART-BURN" on them? Do they have stick-on serial numbers that resemble this?



How do the drives identify themselves in Nero InfoTool (manufacturer, model and firmware version)?

cfitz

[UALOneKPlus]

Not sure if it's a lite on or not:

Vendor: CD-RW
Product: CDR-5W48
Firmware ver: VSG3

In addition, the UPC on the box reads:

Rtl 48x12x48x CDRW IDE
P/N: U-30127

[cfitz]

That's a LiteOn LTR-48125W in disguise:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=8098

You can not flash that model to the 52x version.

By the way, the serial number bar code picture I posted is not the UPC code. It is a separate stick-on label (not printed as part of the box artwork).

cfitz

[UALOneKPlus]

Thanks for the info!!

I think I got a steal for this CD-RW drive then, at $20!!

I have no desire to flash it to a higher speed. I'm moving from a 12x10x32 drive, and the 48x12x48x is plenty fast for me!

So I'm going to keep this drive.

The Buslink 52x24x52x drive is still sitting next to my PC in its shrink wrap, not opened yet. I'm tempted to keep it and put into another PC, but don't really need it right away right now since the 48x12x48x works so well and so cheaply.

[UALOneKPlus]

One really funny thing about this Pacific Digital drive is the box hardware min requirements:

128 MB RAM
Win 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP
Pentium III 800Mhz recommended for optimal performance.

I'm using an Intel Celeron 600 Mhz w/ 256 MB RAM, and it seems to run fine with the included Nero software.

On the other hand, the Buslink 52x24x52x drive's min requirements are much less strict:

64 MB RAM
Win 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP
Pentium II 266 or higher

What gives?? Why is the slower Pacific Digital drive more demanding on min hardware requirements, as stated on the box?

[cfitz]

Because the hardware requirements don't have much meaning in terms of CD-RW drives, and some resellers list very conservative requirements so they can cover their rear ends...

Actually, the requirements, such as they are, are typically driven by the burning software, not the drive hardware itself. And even those are often greatly exaggerated.

Some manufacturers are a bit more reasonable. I have a Memorex 48MAXX drive (rebadged Liteon LTR-48246S - a newer and slightly faster model than yours) that came with Nero, and it lists the requirements as:

Pentium 166 or higher
64MB RAM
Windows 95/98/2000/NT 4.0/ME/XP

Don't worry about your system. As you have already discovered, your system is fine with your new burner. Also, notice that the Pacific Digital numbers were "recommendations for optimal performance", not requirements.

cfitz