My DVD burner SUCKS!

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

My crappy Phillips DVD burner (model DVD8701) sucks. It refuses to burn past 8X and is incredibly inconsistent. I'm using 16X DVD-R media. It's definitely marked as a 16X burner. It might be just that it burns DVD-R at 8X max, but I doubt it.

Alcohol reports this. It moves up to 7.5X-8.0X range, and then suddenly drops to 0.3X-0.5X. What gives?

[gvblake22]

What software have you tried using to burn DVD's? Have you checked to see if there is a firmware update or something for your particular drive?

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

What software have you tried using to burn DVD's? Have you checked to see if there is a firmware update or something for your particular drive?

I've used Nero and Alcohol 120% (it's a bit outdated). I dunno about firmware. It's from a Dell.

[gvblake22]

You could try contacting Dell (you pay for their 24/7 tech support so you might as well use it).

After a little searching I found the specs of your drive and it only supports 16x writing speeds with DVD+/-R media. You sure that's what you are using (not +/- RW)? Also, what version of Nero are you using?

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

You could try contacting Dell (you pay for their 24/7 tech support so you might as well use it).

After a little searching I found the specs of your drive and it only supports 16x writing speeds with DVD+/-R media. You sure that's what you are using (not +/- RW)? Also, what version of Nero are you using?

Yup, it's DVD-R. It's Nero 7 (I forgot what specific version).

[Lead Head]

If you do a little searching on the dell forums, you'll see that people have had massive problems with the Philips burners for some reason. Was it the OEM dell drive? If it is, then its more then likely your problem. Just check the Dimension CD/DVD section


If your burner is in fact a dud though, I'd recommend Lite-ON for first choice, BenQ, HP, NEC and Plextor

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

Originally Posted by Lead Head

If you do a little searching on the dell forums, you'll see that people have had massive problems with the Philips burners for some reason. Was it the OEM dell drive? If it is, then its more then likely your problem. Just check the Dimension CD/DVD section


If your burner is in fact a dud though, I'd recommend Lite-ON for first choice, BenQ, HP, NEC and Plextor

Lol, yeah, I haven't checked the forums yet. It's is the OEM drive. Keep in mind the drive is literally a rebadged BenQ 1640 drive. There was a discussion where several people had successfully upgraded the firmware so the drive was recognized as a 1640, fixing many of the problems.