(DEAD)CenDyne 24x10x40 $34.99, after $40 rebate & $25 coupon at OfficeMax

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Megamorph

Senior member
Nov 25, 2001
568
0
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Just got my drive. It's a Verbatim. The serial # is 002-0251999. The Verbatims also have a silver sticker on the front of the box that says "VERBATIM 24x Media Included".

I assume this is a rebadged Lite-On? What's the difference between this and a real Lite-On?
 

nergee

Senior member
Jan 25, 2000
843
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Got an Acer here also. Shouldn't be too bad for a kids system.
$39 AR still a good deal.
 

JameyF

Senior member
Oct 5, 2001
845
0
76


<< Just got my drive. It's a Verbatim. The serial # is 002-0251999. The Verbatims also have a silver sticker on the front of the box that says "VERBATIM 24x Media Included".

I assume this is a rebadged Lite-On? What's the difference between this and a real Lite-On?
>>



That number seems fishy to be a lite-on. If it is a lite-on, the difference is the Firmware that it uses. I am working right now to get the dos version of the 5s07 Lite-on FW on a my web host so you can switch the verbatims over to Lite-on FW if you wish. Be careful...upgrading the FW can trash your drive if you do it incorrectly.

EDIT

Here it is. Be sure to use this link to find out useful information before you flash your drive. Also, you MUST disable DMA to flash to a newer Lite-On bios once you have gotten your drive flashed through Dos. Again...This is NOT for the faint of heart. I have not verified the bios change yet on both of my drives, but it seems to have flashed the first one successfully. I am only posting this for those of you who wish to try it. I will run a few tests and post the results later tonight.
 

freeway

Senior member
Sep 11, 2000
384
0
71


<< Just got my drive. It's a Verbatim. The serial # is 002-0251999. The Verbatims also have a silver sticker on the front of the box that says "VERBATIM 24x Media Included".

I assume this is a rebadged Lite-On? What's the difference between this and a real Lite-On?
>>



My Acer also had a sticker on the box that says "VERBATIM 24x Media Included" so you can't go by that. I realy like the Acer. I have burned several cd's so far with no problems. Of course I just replaced my memorex 2X2X6 I bought in '99, so I guess anything would seem great.
 

MysticMan1

Platinum Member
Aug 20, 2000
2,711
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JameyF

Nice going JameyF, where did you find the DOS program?
I have also posted the link to the DOS program at the brginning of this thread.
 

Asif

Golden Member
Oct 25, 2000
1,276
0
0
damn , I got an Acer too according to that serial # but it has a sticker on the front that says Verbatim media included, maybe a Verbatim?
i don't want to open it to check the tag on the drive
and the local BM is out of stock to try and trade for a lite-on
 

stockjock

Diamond Member
Aug 29, 2000
4,205
2
76
I got mine today... On the outside of the box it said Verbatim. On the drive itself it says TEAC...thats good..
Right???
 

mattcham

Senior member
Mar 15, 2000
258
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Got my Cendyne drive today.
It is an ACER.

On Nero v5.5.7.8 CD Recorder info, my Acer is correctly
identified, and it says that max CD-R speed is 24x.
However, when I try to burn using my 32x media,
max allowable burn speed is only 20x
(via pull-down menu).

My current Cendyne BIOS = P.MJ (Date=Feb 2002)
Newest Acer website BIOS = P.JJ (Date=Feb 2001)


Should I flash the BIOS to the older P.MJ version?
Why is Acer website carrying a 1-year old BIOS?
Is the P.MJ BIOS just a Cendyne OEM BIOS and not an official Acer BIOS?
Could it be that the latest version of Nero (v5.5.7.8) is not new enough for my Feb 2002 "P.MJ BIOS")?
Anyone have the same problem with their Cendyne Acer CRW2410A drive?

 

Neuroanatomist

Senior member
Oct 9, 1999
392
0
0
hmm.. just came back from my local Costco and they had 10 Cendyne 24x10x40 all nicely stacked ($99)

I checked ALL ten boxes and the exterior serial numbers were 12 digits and ALL Lite-On's.

(by the way, both these boxes and the the Acer I got from OfficeMAX had the same exact Verbatim 24x CD-R media sticker and PC World Top 10 CD-RW stickers.. only reliable indicator is the digit serial number difference..


..only problem was that Costco put their security tape (fiber reinforced packing tape with their name) all around the plastic wrapper on the outside of the box.

I think I'll just wait and see if these Acer's are really good or not.



Found this disappointing review on the Acer 20x10x40..
"Note that the drive MUST be installed as SLAVE, and that in all other cases it will not work properly."

review of Acer 20x10x40 @ cdrinfo.com
 

fouroaks

Junior Member
Feb 11, 2002
24
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0
Well i received mine today and it is a Acer are these any good or not? should i keep it or take it back?
 

mattcham

Senior member
Mar 15, 2000
258
0
0
If the Acer 24x10x40 performs anything like it's little
brother, the Acer 20x10x40, then I guess my
grandmother will be owning my new Acer CDRW
soon...
 

ScrapSilicon

Lifer
Apr 14, 2001
13,625
0
0


<< Just got my drive. It's a Verbatim. The serial # is 002-0251999. The Verbatims also have a silver sticker on the front of the box that says "VERBATIM 24x Media Included".

I assume this is a rebadged Lite-On? What's the difference between this and a real Lite-On?
>>

That would be Teac...Cendyne has a smorgasbord of manufacterers boxed up and as far as the 24x burning at 20x max...saw at cdrinfo that some of these OEM(nonretail boxed) drives are being limited ...how I do not know...Verbatim media==the enclosed blank CDs ...stockjock the Teac seems to be somewhere in the middle of the pack (gulp..hate to say the following) better than the Acer as good as the Liteon (some "things" it sucks at because it slow at it..but the return is damn near error free ..which in the case of a certain burning "task" Liteon blows) The Teac is as highly rated as the Plextor in certain tasks even bests it in some. So overall I'm not grumbling about a Teac but I'd have definitely hauled back an Acer on this run. There might even be some Aopen in these too. Do not flash different firmwares til you have positively identified what you are about to flash...thank you.
 

buckeye

Senior member
Feb 28, 2000
330
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0
The AOpen drive ROCKS...outperforms Liteon, Plextor and the TDK in several tests, and gets the "safebuy" award from the reviewers at cdrinfo. Go figure... :) by the way, it is the only one that can rip the cactus protected cds in its class.
 

borr

Junior Member
Mar 25, 2001
8
0
0
first, thanks to MysticMan1 for the deal.

I received my unit today, it is acer, manufactured in
jan. 2002, firmware version p.mj.
I tried 2 discs to test. the machine is cel 1g, i815 chipset,
onboard ultra100 IDE (slave on ide1).

1st disc took 5:31, cpu usage close to full (88-100%),
in the later stage, the buffer under run protection
was activated very often, and that seems to be the
reason that burning took so long.

burning 2nd disc failed. the error message that nero
gave was "no seek complete" or similar, can't recall
exactly.

I am returning this. Hopefully, I will get a better
replacement.
 

Asif

Golden Member
Oct 25, 2000
1,276
0
0
looks like i'll be taking my "acer" to another BM tomorrow to see if they have the liteon
i'm leaving it sealed
 

JameyF

Senior member
Oct 5, 2001
845
0
76
Check out the site I put up in regard's to the verbatim's and converting the Firmware over to Lite-on.

Here it is :D

email me if you have questions or want me to add something.
 

ss284

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,534
0
0
Does anyone know if the Costco in Edison, NJ carries these? Ive heard that costco's carry these cendynes for 90 bucks before rebate. I think I might have to exchange it because the OM's nearby only have the Acer :(.

-Steve
 

JohnMellencamp

Senior member
May 7, 2001
353
0
0
MysticMan1 can you update the serial list .I picked up an acer drive 2410A and had 24 characters in the number with PW being towards the end like mentioned ~
99B761204203336885PWP000 . Now I`m not sure whether I should return it maybe I`ll try it out myself can`t seem to find any reveiws for this drive. :confused:
 

lilstevo

Platinum Member
Mar 23, 2000
2,452
0
76
i think i got the acer too. 24 characters with PWP near end. i know everyone seeking out the liteons but how are these acer drives? some say they good some want to get rid of them.
 

vladgur

Golden Member
Jul 31, 2000
1,825
0
0
Hey guys, whats up with that 80%+ CPU utilization? Is that a normal thing for IDE burners(I got a scsi burner right now and it doesnt go above 5% ever)? Im planning to take that liteon and put it in a firewire enclosure to take the strain off the IDE bus.
Have any of you guys done CD-to-CD copy on the fly with an IDE CD-ROM and an IDE CD-Writer? is that possible? Whats the cpu utilization?
 

JameyF

Senior member
Oct 5, 2001
845
0
76
That's not normal. You might expect that for a short duration during the beginning or finalization, but it shouldn't stay at 80% CPU utilization if you have a decently fast processor. Perhaps you need to enable DMA. I copy from a IDE DVD to a 24x plextor. I haven't had any problems. Burn proof, smart burn, or most any of the buffer underrun error prevention methods out there makes it pretty safe and mostly fool proof (I did say mostly :D).