NEC AD-5540A -- any good?

I was hunting down the ND-6650A and found that it was discontinued by the manufacturer and I found the AD-5540A at newegg. Does anyone know if it is any good? I was thinking of still getting a hold of Dell Spare Parts to see if they had any of the ND-6650A units still since those would be covered under my system warranty but if not then I will likely get an AD-5540A instead.

 

Well, Dell should be able to tell you what part they can sell you that will still meet your system warranty.

 

Well true. However I already know that the ND-6650A was among the list. Possibly that the tech support reps don't have access to that drive because the last time I spoke to them I specifically asked for the NEC drive and they still sent me the crappy Phillips brand drive. Likewise if Dell Spare Parts doesn't have it then I will ask what they do have and make a decision based on that.

P.S. - It was brought up in another topic on this forum which drives there were. It was Sony/Lite-on, Phillips/QSI, NEC, and another one which I forget what it was. I've had the first 2. The Sony one was ok except it spit out quite a large number of coasters for using high-quality Taiyo Yuden dvd+r discs.

 

Hmm, if they waffle on that question I would assume that they are no longer able to provide the same model. I do wonder what they would offer as an alternate.

Just another thought, something to ask if you have contact with Dell reps again- would you be able to use the same drive as the XPS m1710? Or even from one of the business-line units? Maybe you could grease the wheels and ask specifically for a 'better' drive than what you have and see what the reps say. I'm not terribly familiar with this particular family of drives, so excuse my ignorance if I've just asked a stupid question. I also know Dell likes to overcharge, but do keep me posted.

 

Unfortunately that won't work through the normal reps. I've already asked for a "better" screen and they have responded with that they can only send what came with the system originally.

 

Well no luck there. They won't cover it on system but another odd thing did happen. While on the phone the dreaded NMI error appeared. Which was nice because I could claim it just happened. We reseated the memory and I explained to them what I did. This included going through the extended tests in Diagnostics which I believe took well over 2 hours to complete before. After reseating the memory they agreed to take a look at the computer and replace as many parts as necessary. It is going to the depot.

I've explained the following to the rep....

If there are any cosmetic damages. This includes but not limited to scratches, dents, or cracks...

If anything is broken that wasn't before...

If anything is missing that wasn't before...

I will be *****ing them out real hard.

He has given me my word it will not take more than 5-8 business days so I said ok and setup a pickup by DHL for between 2-6 on Friday. They have asked me to keep the battery and the hard drive.

I also asked why it isn't possible to use the on-site service. He said they can only send 1 part out at a time that way and this way they can replace as many as needed. I went with that and hopefully I won't regret it. At least I won't have to worry about them tampering with the OS setup.

I did admit I was using a 3rd party wireless adapter but that I also kept the original one for warranty purposes. So.... I reinstalled the original adapter so that when they get it they will see the Dell Wireless Draft-n adapter that came with the machine originally.