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    Wrong DVD drive??

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by razor be, Sep 10, 2006.

  1. razor be

    razor be Notebook Enthusiast

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    hey,

    I have a 9400 and, and i only could select the 8x DVD+-/Rewriter internal drive...

    but now if i want to brn DVD-r, I can only burn at 6 speed :(

    my drive is a TSSTCorp DVD+-RW TS-L632D.

    Anyone have this drive, and what's your max speed?
     
    razor be, Sep 10, 2006
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  2. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    I don't have that drive. There could be several things that are affecting your speed. Manufacturer of dvd, software that you are using, type of media that you are burning etc. The 8x is the max speed, but that does not mean that it will burn at that speed all of the time. Normally, it burns at a lesser speed. 6x is actually a really good speed (IMO).

    I doubt it will help, but if you really think that something is wrong, try updating your drivers (support.dell.com)
     
    Amber, Sep 10, 2006
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  3. socarwolverine

    socarwolverine Notebook Consultant

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    Your drive is most likely bad, I had it in my e1505 and it burned DVDs at 0.8x... and no thats not a typo, it burned at less than 1x consistently. I chatted with dell and they got me an NEC drive, works like a charm.
     
    socarwolverine, Sep 10, 2006
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  4. phantastic

    phantastic Notebook Enthusiast

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    Most likely not a bad drive. The drive's firmware decides what your media is a how fast it will write to a prticular media. If you try 3 different manufacturer 16x discs you will probably get 3 different burn speeds. I have 7 burners in my house and each one gets different speeds depending upon the manufacturer media ID. Usually when the manufacturer updates firmware, included is new media ID's to support higher writes. Also some "8X" drives write 8x DVD+ and only 6X DVD-. I googled your model and it was listed at 8x8x8x6x6x although I couldnt decipher what it burned at 8x and what it burned at 6x. You can also get "hacked" firmwares which will force the drive to burn at high(er) speeds even on slower 2x and 4x media. I would be worried if I were getting .8x speeds but now 6x. From personal experience experimenting with hacked firmware and standard firmware updates, burning at 4X is the best way to go anyway. You get the cleanest results, it takes about 12minutes to burn a full 4.7GB and very few "coasters". If you are interested in this type of stuff check out club.cdfreaks.com or rpc1.org
     
    phantastic, Sep 11, 2006
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  5. bTaryag

    bTaryag Notebook Consultant

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    What about burning CDs? the CD burn speed on that TSST drive is supposed to be 24x. What do you get?

    I had that same TSST drive on my e1505 - I got speeds burning CDs like 6x, I spent two hours chatting and speaking with Dell reps. They eventually sent me a NEC drive that works fine....
     
    bTaryag, Sep 11, 2006
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