Well, NEC and some people say that NEC2500 and 2510A are hardware identical but with different laser power calibration, dunno what to believe, for sure several people who tested NEC2500A->2510A had good results

(in reply to Lechium)

Ok, so I might as well get the 2500, is the 2500D the same as the 2500A?

Thanks for the help,
Joe

(in reply to emperor)

2500A/D should be same drives

(in reply to Lechium)

Well we will find out. haha

Thanks
Joe

(in reply to emperor)

Q1: Is AOpen's DRW8800AAN same hardware as NEC2500A ?
Viewed from AOpen's webpage, both drives look like twin in
appearance and specification.

Q2: If so, can DRW8800AAN be flashed to hacked NEC2500A->2510A
BIOS ?

Q3: If so again, what is the best BIOS ? the hacked 2500A BIOS or
HP520n one ? I mean considering SL and DL DVD+R/DVD+RW
Bitsetting capability, wide 4X DVD5 DVD-R compatibility, without
panel LED flashing and tray open problem.

Mainly I have been using slower Pioneer A04 burner and excellent
LiteOn 166S reader to backup DVD movie titles, over 200 more
done. Most titles are backup by using two DVD5 -R media. You know
the splitting procedure takes skill and much time. Recently, I'm
considering to upgrade my DVD burning. The burner options are first
the cheapest AOpen one, genuine NEC 2500A, or waiting NEC2510A,
or the promising Pioneer A08 ? All the local media sellers here
suggest not using BenQ, Philips, and LiteOn drive and +R media for
movie backup.

Thanks in advance for your kind responding.

(in reply to emperor)

[Deleted by Admins]

(in reply to HKao)

Yes the AOpen can flashed to NEC2510A (with 2500A ID) by using Herrie's DOS flasher. You can also backup the AOpen firmware and return the drive back to its original state if you wish to. Which firmware you should use is a good question, the latest from Herrie will do the job just fine, without any problem and with the media tweaks from Herrie

(in reply to Deleted User)

i am completely new to this...i got a nd-2500a installed in my dell 8250....it recognizes and plays dvd's, but when i try to burn a dvd-r, it says no media in drive, is this a firmware problem...can anyone guide a newcomer to get this to work, thanks so much

(in reply to emperor)

Interesting, doesn't work either with DVD-R or DVD+R media? If so probably your drive is broken

(in reply to garyman)

can someone help a newbie with a OEM nec nd-2500a, i have a dell 8250, and it recognizes the drive, it plays dvd's, but it doesn't recognize dvd-r discs when i go to burn from sonic, do i need nero to get this fixed, i'm pretty clueless here, do i need to "flash" this thing?....help

(in reply to emperor)

my message says "please insert recordable disc"...i havent tried dvd+r yet, i have no software with this thing, is nero or roxie, going to make this work....probably a dumb question, but do i need to get one of these packages?

(in reply to garyman)

You can download a Nero demo at www.nero.com works full for 30 days

(in reply to garyman)

is this the "obvious" fix for my problem?

(in reply to emperor)

Well we find out once you tried it

(in reply to garyman)

thanks for helping, i'm reading as much as i can on this drive and it's capabilities, but i might have got in over my head with an oem device, i'm under the impression that nero or roxie is absolutely necessary for using this device, correct?....sorry if thats an obvious "duh" question...anyway, emporer, thanks again...i'm sure i'll be in and out of here, to learn more

(in reply to emperor)

Yes you need a DVD authoring software to burn DVD media, Nero/Roxio or CopyToDVD!

(in reply to garyman)