TDK DVD burners...any good?

[Tullphan]

In particular, this model. It's $194.95 AR.
Comments?


Edit: Link fixed.

 

[JBT]

link is broken, I was wondering about this topic too as I am interested in them...

 

[fredtam]

Review of TDK dual format.

 

[billyjak]

I have the TDK indi DVD +_ DVD/R/RW, it just replaced my Sony DVD 500AX +_ Burner.
The drive came with Roxio Easy CD and DVD Creator 6 and their DVD Player which is really Power DVD, they just call it Roxio DVD
The Sony had much better DVD movie features but the Roxio is good enough for basic stuff.
I also like their program called Drag to Disk that will play on any Computer, you just drag files to the disk until it is full then when done it can be opened on any computer.
The TDK comes with a 2 meg cache vs Sonys 8 meg, but I have burnned the same DVD's on the TDK as with the Sony and actually the TDK is faster.
It also burns at 4x with buffer underun.
I am very happy with the TDK, I traded my motherinlaw for the Sony because I wanted a Black Burner to match the case.
The Sony software Sonic also works with the TDK
I would recomend the Drive to anyone, burned about 12 movies since I got it last week. No problems whatsoever. Highly recommended, but if you want better software look elsewhere or buy your own.

 

[Lager]

Is TDK dual burner their own manufacture or a rebadged OEM of a different brand?

 

[Tullphan]

Link fixed

 

[cheapherk]

I just bought this burner used from someone on the sale/trade forum. I LOVE IT! No coasters & DVD's play great in my stand-alone DVD player. I don't think you'd regret it.

 

[billyjak]

The TDK review came with Pinnacle software, mine had Roxio so they switched it.
TDK won the editors choice over Sony and Omega and others, see here
The TDK is also a better price.
Overall it is a good buy

 

[AndyHui]

The TDK Dual Format burner is a rebadged NEC 1300 drive.

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: AndyHui
The TDK Dual Format burner is a rebadged NEC 1300 drive.

So is that a good thing??

 

[AndyHui]

Well, it's not too bad, I guess. It's a lot cheaper than the Sony 500AX, which was the competitor at the time. It's good value for money, which is what I have to say about the NEC drive. If the TDK drive is more expensive than the NEC, you might want to go straight to the NEC, unless looks are important to you.

You might want to also have a look at the new Pioneer A06, which is a little above that price range.

 

[Smilin]

I've got one, works great.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: Tullphan

Originally posted by: AndyHui
The TDK Dual Format burner is a rebadged NEC 1300 drive.

So is that a good thing??

Yes NEC makes some solid DVD Recordable drives.

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: billyjak
The TDK review came with Pinnacle software, mine had Roxio so they switched it.
TDK won the editors choice over Sony and Omega and others, see here
The TDK is also a better price.
Overall it is a good buy

It appears the link you posted was for the Dual Format drive. The TDK I was referring to wasn't dual format. The dual format is $299.95 with a $20 mail in rebate as opposed to $239.95 & a $40 mail in rebate.
Is there a need for a dual format drive? Is it worth the extra $60?

 

[cobo]

The drive you linked to is a rebadged NEC ND-1100A. You could get an oem version for considerably less. It was $139 at Newegg when they last had it in stock.

Right now Newegg is selling the black NEC ND-1300A oem dual format drive for $174.99 shipped.
It's $179.99 with Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 "Basic DVD" Software.
ND-1300A/BLACK at newegg
The price includes a $15 instant rebate - don't know how long that's good for.
You can also get a free Newegg.com Black Baseball style hat when you order the drive.

 

[matrixwalker2002]

when you buy a single format drive, you always risk the chance of that format going down which would render your burner useless (by then, CD's will be a thing of the past). The $60 is kinda like an extended warranty. Do you spend the extra $60 on security knowing that your burner will last for a long time? or by the time that one format goes under, DVD burners could be so cheap that you could easily replace your current one with a much faster and much cheaper one if the format you use goes under. really depends on you.