$taples - EIDE Pacific Digital Internal Double-Layer DVD Drive $24.98 no MIRs

[TestGuyCT]

http://www.staples.com/webapp/...d=124904&cmArea=SEARCH

Max DVD Write Speed (+R/-R) 16x/8x
Max DVD Rewrite Speed (+RW/-RW) 8x/4x
Max DVD Read Speed 16x
Max CD Write Speed 48x
Max CD Rewrite Speed 24x
Max CD Read Speed 48x
Internal or External Internal
Manufacturer Pacific Digital
Connectivity EIDE
Compatibility PC
Cache Buffer Size 2MB

 

[Harvey]

Pacific Digital rebadges drives from a number of manufacturers, including Lite-On. It's a crap shoot until you find the coding on the box that tells you the actual maker and model of the drive in the box.

Staples lists the model number, U-30265. It may be followed by some more numbers (RV1, RV2, etc. are typical) that will identify the maker and model.

I phoned my local Staples (San Fernando Valley, Ca). This is a closeout item. There are no more in my area so I couldn't find anymore info. If you can't get this one, wait for the next deal on a Memorex burner @ Fry's. Memorex drives are Lite-Ons, and they regularly offer 18x dual layer burners for $29.99 AR. For example, this one, today.

 

[Schmide]

maybe add 0.02 cents for free shipping???

 

[isekii]

the batch i got from staples last time were Benq drive DW16xx dont quite remember which since i'm at work.

They were a pain in the ass to flash tho... to the benq firmware.

 

[ParatoOptimal]

The online specs could be wrong but they lilst +RW/-RW at 8x/4x.
I think that precludes it from being a BenQ 164x or 165x which has 6x for one of those specs.

 

[GtPrOjEcTX]

None at my local Staples (Clarksville, IN)

 

[konakona]

ordered one with a mechanical pencil
dont really care how fast it is, cheap enough as is and it burns stuff. I could afford the wait with two machines to play around with..

 

[Tomer]

Thanks!

 

[MintBoy]

These are Benq DW1620 drives if anyone is wondering. At least, that's what members of cdfreaks are reporting.

This is a top notch burner for super cheap. The burn quality of DW1620's blow new drives out the water when used to burn at 8x.

This is a steal and one of the last opportunities to get what is/was one of the best DVD burners out there.

 

[jjmIII]

wish it was black...

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: jjmIII
wish it was black...

Mine came with black/beige bezels.

I purchase mind a long time ago tho.. and it was a Benq drive. It also included a copy of nero oem.

 

[Schmide]

got one with a felt pen. $27 shipped

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Mint_Boy
These are Benq DW1620 drives if anyone is wondering. At least, that's what members of cdfreaks are reporting.

This is a top notch burner for super cheap. The burn quality of DW1620's blow new drives out the water when used to burn at 8x.

This is a steal and one of the last opportunities to get what is/was one of the best DVD burners out there.

Really? Those have been out of production for at least two years.

 

[estew33]

I have one , came last night. How do you tell what drive it is. The part # on the outside of the box is U-30265, at the bottem of the box it's U30265-RV2 On the back of the box, Label Parts#: 1852-16-BQ-3. Hope this heps

 

[ChunkiMunki]

ordered one, good deal thanks TestGuyCT

 

[cobo]

The U30265-RV2 is a BenQ 1620. I received two of them on Thursday. As far as I can gather that's the only drive anyone has ever received in the PD model 30265 box from Staples.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Then you should be able to cross flash to 1620 firmware. Go to CDFREAKS.COM for assistance if you're new with crossflashing. I bought four boxed Sony drives last year from Office Depot. Under $10 AR. 1650 BenQ.

 

[ChunkiMunki]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Then you should be able to cross flash to 1620 firmware. Go to CDFREAKS.COM for assistance if you're new with crossflashing. I bought four boxed Sony drives last year from Office Depot. Under $10 AR. 1650 BenQ.

what is the benefit to crossflashing the pac digital drive? i'm dum...

 

[hottnucks]

I just got mine yesterday, along with my bag rubber bands ; ) This drive is indeed a Benq DW1620. Haven't flashed the firmware yet. They have a few posts on cdfreaks about this drive.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: ChunkiMunki

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Then you should be able to cross flash to 1620 firmware. Go to CDFREAKS.COM for assistance if you're new with crossflashing. I bought four boxed Sony drives last year from Office Depot. Under $10 AR. 1650 BenQ.

what is the benefit to crossflashing the pac digital drive? i'm dum...

BenQ firmware is much more powerful. You can check burn quality and alter bitsetting. Also better burn quality.

 

[Zap]

I ordered the drive with a pack of Sharpies (can always use more). Sharpies got here yesterday, invoice inside said drive coming from another location. Geez, for their own sake they should re-order shipping so everything comes out of one warehouse if possible, instead of closest warehouses for an individual item. UPS shipping must have cost more than what they sold the Sharpies to me for (around $3).

 

[esquared]

Zap. A couple years ago I ordered paper clips along with my main item to get me over the 50.00 mark for free shipping from Staples. Same thing happened to me. The paper clips were sent separately in a fairly large UPS box (maybe 12x12x8), stuffed with their brown paper to protect the paper clips.

 

[konakona]

sorry to dig it out of its grave... I hope you guys are all enjoying your drive. Mine has worked fine now, but since some of you said cross-flashing would give better burns... I finally decided to give it a shot.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f92/n...-g7z9-cvt-file-168564/
according to this thread, g7z9 my drive has is an OEM firmware for 1620, which is IOMagic's equivalent of G7P9, which in turn was a popular one for benq.

BQFlasher wont work for me (error initializing ASPI -> Host Adapter inquiry failed) and B7W9RPC1 from The Dangerous Brothers says the drive is not allowed to be upgraded.

What gives? I am using Vista Business x64 (maybe 64bit is a curse, I hope not)

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: konakona
sorry to dig it out of its grave... I hope you guys are all enjoying your drive. Mine has worked fine now, but since some of you said cross-flashing would give better burns... I finally decided to give it a shot.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f92/n...-g7z9-cvt-file-168564/
according to this thread, g7z9 my drive has is an OEM firmware for 1620, which is IOMagic's equivalent of G7P9, which in turn was a popular one for benq.

BQFlasher wont work for me (error initializing ASPI -> Host Adapter inquiry failed) and B7W9RPC1 from The Dangerous Brothers says the drive is not allowed to be upgraded.

What gives? I am using Vista Business x64 (maybe 64bit is a curse, I hope not)

There is a different way to flash it besides BQFlasher.
I dont quite remember what I did, but I flashed mine.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Mint_Boy
These are Benq DW1620 drives if anyone is wondering.

Yup, mine's a Benq. It is longer than the current drives on the market, meaning it probably won't work in really short cases like the X-Qpack (with a normal PSU).