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    Ultradrives has HP Pavillion faceplates for DVD-R

    Discussion in 'HP' started by brianstretch, Jul 7, 2004.

  1. brianstretch

    brianstretch Notebook Virtuoso

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    Ultradrives just received HP Pavillion faceplates that fit the Toshiba 4x dual format DVD burners they have on sale:

    http://www.ultradrives.com/product_info.php/cPath/47/products_id/573
    http://www.ultradrives.com/product_info.php/products_id/525

    I placed my order, Priority Snail should deliver it early next week. Total damage, with shipping: $158.05. Not bad. I'll let everyone know how it works when I get it. Anyone interested in my "old" DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive?
     
    brianstretch, Jul 7, 2004
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  2. Venombite

    Venombite Notebook Virtuoso

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    That's a pretty good price, especially since it also has the correct face plate included. You see these drives on eBay or even other companies and they sell the drives with a standard face plate or with none at all. Thanks for the info, let us know what happens, I'm sure there's going to be a few people interested in upgrading.

    -Vb-
     
    Venombite, Jul 8, 2004
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  3. brianstretch

    brianstretch Notebook Virtuoso

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    I installed the drive yesterday. The faceplate isn't the same as what the zv5000z comes with, it winds up being recessed 3/8th inch into the case, and the color is a little lighter, but the more I look at it the more minor an issue this becomes. If anything it's good not to have that huge faceplate hanging off of the drive, like when you go to pick up the notebook.

    The drive tray has a more solid feel to it than the original Teac, seems like a very well constructed drive.

    Tried burning Ritek 4X DVD-R's... and got errors at 4X and 2X speeds with the current build of Nero 6. I used Fedora Core 2 DVD .iso images to test with as I can boot them and do a md5sum check of the entire disc to see if so much as 1 bit is wrong. Burning to a Pioneer 2X DVD-RW was successful. I'm thinking that I need a firmware update from the included Rev. 1030 (dated 2-20-2004, says Nero InfoTool) to fix compatibility with the Riteks. That's dissappointing, Toshiba's desktop burners are reported to have no problems with Riteks, really it's very rare for any drive to have problems with them. I've emailed Ultradrives for help on this, hopefully I'll get a reply back Monday when they're back at work.

    If I can get the media compatibility fixed I'm going to be very happy with this drive and will highly recommend it. We're not there yet though.
     
    brianstretch, Jul 11, 2004
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  4. brianstretch

    brianstretch Notebook Virtuoso

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    I just picked up a box of Fujifilm 4X DVD-R discs from Best Buy (on sale, plus Memorex is evil) and those tested OK. So, a firmware update to fix media compatibility with the Ritek discs is in order.

    OK, I'm reasonably happy, hopefully I can get new firmware soon. Go ahead and buy the drives if you want one [ :D].
     
    brianstretch, Jul 13, 2004
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  5. brianstretch

    brianstretch Notebook Virtuoso

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    Toshiba replied back 4 hours later:

    "There are no firmware updates currently available for that drive.
    However, you can always check for new firmware updates at
    www.sdd.toshiba.com. On the left side of the webpage is a search box
    labeled "find." Type in "firmware" and a list of results will
    show on a
    new window. For right now, I would suggest you stick with the media
    brands that are working well with the drive."

    Well, it's not what I wanted to hear, but it was fast and clueful. Two out of three isn't bad.
     
    brianstretch, Jul 13, 2004
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