Toshiba SDR-5002 ... any happy (or not) users out there?

[plonk420]

i just started looking for DVD-RW drives and found this little item on Pricewatch starting around $200USD. first thing i wondered is if prices were gonna fall any time soon (which i doubt)... but the biggie was "are there any users out there with this drive? and are they happy for the most part with it or not?"

i'm just a starving student, so, while the DRU-500A or whatever makes me salivate, i can't really afford it ATM. i also don't want to get screwed like i did with the Hi-Val 2x2x8 CD-RW (repackaged POS Philips drive that died within the first year) i bought when CD-R was a toddler of a (mass-market) format.

anyone?

[gooki]

I have both the Toshiba SDR-5002 drive and the Pioneer 104.

Pro's for the Toshiba SDR-5002.
Available in factory Black :)
Faster CDR speed (16 speed is good enough for me that I nolonger need a separate cdwriter).
It seems read a bit faster as well.
Quiet, no fan.
Price.
Works with Primo DVD.

Con's for the Toshiba SDR-5002.
Doesn't like all media (it rejects 1 in 3 of my optodiscs, likes all of my prodisc DVD-R's, haven't tried with princo or ritek yet. This may have already been fixed with a firmware update - I just haven't had the chance to look around yet).

[gooki]

Just thoguht I'd say even with that one problem, I'm still very happy with the toshiba writer.

[plonk420]

thanks for the reply =)

*looks around to others...*

¬_¬

[Karl Beem]

Cons: Doesn't recognize the Lord of the Rings Extended DVDs let alone play them. Yes, I tried another copy. That's the only DVD it has trouble with.

Writes -RW as 1x. That may be normal, but I didn't anticipate it.

Pro: Consistently succeeds in writing inexpensive Meritline 2x DVD-Rs as 2x.

[SVCD4Me]

I'm happy with my Toshiba. I have only burned 3 coasters so far. My fault though on 2 of them, didn't test the image on RW first. The 3rd one I don't know what happened, the drive locked during writing and i got a "resetting destination device" error message using VOB instant CD/DVD. I use seventy five cent 1x DVD-R media from Meritline. White top, purple bottom. Burns CDs nice too. I just burned a few yesterday for the first time... Seems like lightning compared to 64 mins writing a dvd. I can't say I really mind only writing at 1x, but when 2x get cheaper I'll use them. I think this writer was a great deal and only extra $7 for black :)

[davepyne]

same prob as Karl Beem( LOTR extended fersion doesn't play). Also won't recognize ritek 1-4x dvd-r's. Other than that its been good. It used to give me BSOD screens all the time, but i finally discovered that it was my sound card causing the blue screens(soundblaster live). Ever since I removed the card all is well.

[Vikroda]

I was unhappy with mine so I returned it. It wouldn't play dual layered movies so I emailed tech support for an upgraded firmware. They said that I would need to mail my drive to them and pay a fee for the service! I said no thanks. Someone emailed me an updated driver (thanks) but I never installed it.

If you want something inexpensive try the Cendyne from Staples (rebagged Pioneer A05). Currently $230 - $50MIR - coupon.
Anandtech Forum (http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=40&threadid=1041620&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=)

[smiller667]

I got my Toshiba recently, maybe burnt 10 discs so far (Mitsubishi/Verbatim, Ritek G03 and Prodisc), no coasters so far. I am happy with it and it reads all my dvd-9 discs (I don't have LOTR SE though). Price was <150$ at an auction for a factory-sealed retail box :).

[davepyne]

ive had no problems with DVD 9's either. couldit be the firmware version? mine is 1030. maybe it was just a defective drive.