What to buy, memorex, mad dog, epo, or hi-val

[Rich]

Hi,

I just bought a Memorex 16x DVD-Rom to replace an old I/O magic (Pioneer) that flaked out.

The memorex recoginzes movies great (my only purpose for it) but it makes a shhhhh-shhhhh-shhhhhh-shhhhh when it first starts to rev up and then it goes nearly silent and revs nicely. Then on reving down it does the same thing. Once the door didn't close all the way. (no interference). The box says taiwan and the drive says china.

I'm taking it back sunday and am considering trying a 2nd memorex. This drive is about 1.5 inches shorter than the norm.

Also they have locally at the compusa Mad-Dog, Hi-Val, and Epo. Do you know good-bad things about any of these 4 DVD-Rom Drives? (16x)

Or who makes them. The Epo website is lame.

gotta go to work

thanks so much for any help

Rich

[cfitz]

Your Memorex DVD-ROM is actually a Lite-On XJ-HD166S. Does this look familiar?


(from the good online retailer NewEgg - http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp ... 112-05.jpg )

That is a good drive that has nice utilities for updating firmware, testing quality of DVDs, and making it region free. And the swishing sound you hear is perfectly normal:

http://www.liteonit.com.tw/ODD/english/ ... tech-3.htm

I don't know about the drawer not closing that one time, but on the whole I would say keep the Memorex.

Don't get Mad Dog. They generally resell the lowest quality drives, and if a rebate is involved they will probably not honor it.

cfitz

[aviationwiz]

My Mad Dog drive is fine for just playing movies, but if your going to be doing ripping, Mad Dog is not the way to go.

Lite-On DVD-ROM drives are the best around. I highly recomend them.

[burninfool]

I buy all my hardware online now and only buy manufacturer products that way I know what I'm getting for the best price.
www.pricewatch.com
www.pricegrabber.com

[CowboySlim]

I bought a DVD-ROM this month to rip movies. I like the Toshiba SD-M1712. If I say that it is the best IMHO, the thread could get quite long, so I won't.

[Rich]

Hi,

@cfits, no it is silver and black and has only one button, compusa # 304859, and I don't think lite-on's are made in china (yuck); the box say taiwan which would be perfect, but the drive says made in china.

Thanks for all the replys. I wish it were liteon. My Memorex 52/24/52 is a liteon and it's fantastic.

I'd still like to know who makes the hi-val and the epo.

Thanks again,

Rich

[cfitz]

It really is a Lite-On. I know that the coloring is different, and it only has one button instead of two, but those are just minor cosmetic changes that are common in OEM versions. Check the large picture in this Memorex brochure:

http://www.memorex.com/photo_archive/pd ... 254_SS.pdf

Note the way the front of the drawer is convex (a little bulge outwards). And note the little smile-like chunk carved out of the center of the faceplate, immediately under the drawer where the DVD-ROM label is stenciled. Also check the placement of the headphone jack, volume control, access LED, and emergency disc eject hole - all the same. And along the side of the drive you can see the cutouts in the steel case are the same. On the top, you should be able to see that the indentations in the case are the same. Even the size, with the abnormally short depth as you noted, is a unique characteristic of Lite-On's newest drives including the 166S.

Moreover, Lite-On does in fact have manufacturing plants in mainland China. My 166S, which is Lite-On branded retail product, was made in China. And, as you know with your CD-RW drive, Memorex has a history of rebranding Lite-On drives and selling them as their own.

Most importantly, check the features. The Memorex drive lists SMART-X and ABS anti-vibration system as features. Both are registered trademarks of Lite-On.

The size, the features, the country of origin, the unique ABS noise, the appearance - everything says you have a Lite-On 166S.

cfitz

[Rich]

Hi Cfits

I believe you. Maybe I just got a lemon. This shhhh noise though is not normal. I've had 7-8 cd and dvd devices including 2 laptops. None of them have made this noise, nothing near it. The noise I got from my Toshiba 32x cd drive which was maybe noiser than any, was only about 5% of this. Plus, I have this new dvd drive in an ADS enclosure and it was 'rocking' as it starts spinning. Somthing is faulty and it has the cd off center or something as it starts.

I have to wait til I get to work where the drive is (in about 5 hours from now) and then I'll look closely at it. If it is a liteon I'll try another one.

The one I had in that enclosure was a I/O magic ( Pioneer dvd-115ag ) and it became very tempermental about reading dvds. This memorex recognized dvd's instantly and played quite nice.

I'll look at it tonight and if I can get myself going (I have to ride my bike about 4-5 miles to swap it at compusa) I'll let you know what the new one is like. Plus, though I hate compusa's tap programs, this will only cost 9.99 to guarantee it for a 1 year replacement.

thanks again,
Rich

[cfitz]

You're welcome.

This shhhh noise though is not normal. I've had 7-8 cd and dvd devices including 2 laptops. None of them have made this noise, nothing near it.

It is possible that something is wrong with yours. After all, you did report the drawer got stuck onece. The shhhh noise, however, is normal for the 166S and 165H, and perhaps the 163 and 163D as well. So don't return it just based on hearing some swishing noise.

Maybe I can find the recording I made a year ago.

cfitz

[aviationwiz]

Maybe I just got a lemon.

I'm sure you did, Lite-On has a history of having bad Build Quality, particularly in thier DVD-ROM drives.

[cfitz]

Here is what the 166S sounds like:

http://myfilelocker.comcast.net/cfitz77 ... _sound.mp3

First you just hear case fans. Then you hear the drawer closing, followed by swish of the ball bearings in the ABS mechanism spinning up with the disc. Next you can hear the wobbling sound of the unbalanced disc because its rotational speed has increased but the ABS hasn't yet balanced it. This gives way to a smoother whir of rushing air as the ABS bearings settle into place and the disc accelerates to speed in a balanced state. Then the disc slows down (since it is a DVD and doesn't need to spin at high speeds for playback) and I hit the eject button. You can't hear me press eject, but you can hear the ABS bearings begin to swish again as the disc spindle brakes and the bearings roll freely. This is followed by the sound of the drawer opening, and then the dying swish of the ABS bearings as they slowly spin to a stop. All the sounds are normal.

cfitz

[CowboySlim]

This gives way to a smoother whir of rushing air as the ABS bearings settle into place and the disc accelerates to speed in a balanced state.

I've got my drives out of the box and I'm on my way down to Goodyear to have them computer spin balanced.

[cfitz]

This gives way to a smoother whir of rushing air as the ABS bearings settle into place and the disc accelerates to speed in a balanced state.

I've got my drives out of the box and I'm on my way down to Goodyear to have them computer spin balanced.

Let me know if it works out - I'll try the same...

cfitz

[ksolomon]

The Toshiba 1612 With the Hacked firmware is the Fastest DVD
player around. Even faster then the 1712 because the 1612 has more Cache.,.