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Micro Advatage 16X Dual Format DVD +/-RW

B

BPB

Senior member
I'd like to pick up a new DVD+/-RW for a buddy, is this Micro Advantage worth it? I did see where back in December some folks here were saying it was an AOPEN drive and not worth it, but I figure maybe AOPEN's put out some updates or maybe it's no longer an AOPEN drive.
 
Actually, I've got that one too, thanks. But I thought if the other retail drive is nice it might be better for somebody not too tech oriented, like my buddy. It's got a software bundle that would work for him and is easily returnable if it has a problem.

By the way, it's $58 for the NEC at Newegg but I now always pay the extra $5 for the warranty. So to me it's $63. I've been burned once too often on OEM stuff dying after 30 days, not just from Newegg. I've had two prior DVD +/-RWs die on me, and one CDRW, so when I go OEM I get the warranty.
 
I bought one back in Dec., thinking that it was a Lite-On 1633 drive (and wanting to use it with KProbe to scan DVD burn quality), but then found out that it was really an AOpen, and not knowing much about them, returned it.

There haven't been too many reviews on these so far, seems to be a middle-of-the-road drive, nothing exceptionally bad, although nothing exceptionally good, either.

The MicroAdvantage-branded one apparently doesn't come standard with the three interchangable colored faceplates like the AOpen retail kit does. (Black, Beige, and Silver faceplates.) You have to order additional faceplates for $10 from MicroAdvantage.

However, I also found out that DVDInfoPro is adding error-scanning support for the AOpen drives, with the help of AOpen's engineers. So apparently these drives will be capable of some sort of error-scanning. But at the same time, it looks like the author has totally discontinued the free, ad-supported version of the software, making it payware-only now. I'm unsure if that event was any way related to adding scanning support for some of the newer drives. It uses a Ricoh chipset, different from the MediaTek and NEC chipsets.
 
MicroAdvantage / AOpen is the worst of the current 16x DL drives - get a NEC or a Benq and use it with good media, which is now very cheap. All the drives are running around the same price, so it's not worth the hassle to deal with a poor drive just to save a few bucks.

 
Originally posted by: bocaboy
MicroAdvantage / AOpen is the worst of the current 16x DL drives - get a NEC or a Benq and use it with good media, which is now very cheap. All the drives are running around the same price, so it's not worth the hassle to deal with a poor drive just to save a few bucks.
Click to expand...

"Worst"? Why is it so bad? Can you point to some threads or reviews discussing that? I was under the impression that the Plextor 16X and the Lite-Ons were among the worst 16X DVD burners currently, with the Benq 1620 and NEC 3500 being the best, and the 3520 being close to the best (new platform, immature firmware, not quite caught up with the 3500).

To be honest, the AOpen 16X is still in the "unknown" category for me, so I would be interested in any further information.
 
OK, now I'm more confused. So, if I don't pickup the Micro Advantage, should I get the 3500a or the 3520a? I figure if not the Micro Advantage, I'll get an NEC. By the way, I too would like to see a post or two backing up the bad AOPEN claims.
 
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