Pioneer DVR-A03 DVD-R/CD-RW

[lagreat]

Is this a hot deal or what?

For all those who missed compgeeks deal last week. Harmony computers have this drive for 509 + 14.99 shipping.

Link

 

[lagreat]

Forget the link above, this guys are asking 523 when you order it. I just had to cancel my order. Found another site with even cheaper price and best of all it has free shipping. Total 488.49 shipped.

Connection

 

[volfan]

Newegg.com has it for $495 shipped.
Link

 

[allisolm]

Don't know how hot it is since Pricewatch lists about a dozen places that sell it cheaper.

 

[sparks]

They're probably reducing the price because HP is about to release their DVD+RW drives and Pioneer wants to sell as many as possible. As for me, I think I'll hold off until someone wins the format wars.

 

[amnesiac]

I think this is the same drive that Apple calls the Superdrive they put in their new G4's. If that's true it's a great device; my friend's been burning DVDs like crazy.

As for the format wars I think DVD-R already has a huge head start thanks to Apple..

 

[silent tone]

AFAIK apples software doesn't support any dvd rewrite standard, so it's still up for competition.

 

[jwong]

DVD-R is definitely here to stay, since it is featured in the Pioneer, Panasonic and HP drives. However, they all use different rewriteable formats: DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM. DVD-RAM is going to lose because it can't work on standalone video players.

I would bet on Pioneer's DVD-RW since they already have a standalone DVD-Recorder, plus lots of units in Macintoshes.

 

[bonusweb1]

Heres what cdr-info says in a review of the Ricoh MP5120A IDE DVD+RW Review of Ricoh
Cdr info pioneer A03 review

"Should i buy the Pioneer DVR-A03 or the Ricoh DVD+RW MP5120A?

The answer depends upon your needs. DVD-R is, for now, the format with the maximum compatibility among DVD-ROM/DVD players as most people agree. If your needs include re-writing, DVD+RW should be examined also. If only current DVD+RW drives supported DVD+R things would be easier for users who wish both recordable and re-write DVD solution in one package. Last the drive's price is expected to cost almost the same as the Pioneer DVR-A03."

Pioneer announced a few days ago a price cut due to decrease in production costs beacuse they are selling a higher volume.
I wonder if this is included in the current price or if that price decrease will some a a few weeks.
Pioneer press release about price cut.

 

[kombatmud]

I would recommend highly against buying anything at Harmony computers. I have several friends who have ordered from them, and had bad experiences, and my dad once went to their B&M store, and says that they frequently practice bait and switch.