UK bods - Any suggestions for DVD source?

[uberlad]

(quick tale of woe followed by request...)

Right, I used to have a 6X Pioneer IDE slot loading DVD drive. It was great but like a fool I was taken in by the thought of something greater, in this case SCSI. When I got my CD-R drive I thought that I should take advantage of the SCSI card, and upgrade to the SCSI interface version of the drive.
By the time I"d managed to scrape the necessary monies (moving costs!) together I couldn't find the drive anywhere.
So I decided to get the lesser choice, an RPC2 Toshiba 10X 40X. So far the drive has upset me a lot, first it killed windows (SCSI ID of 0) then refused to play DVD's, then failed to rip audio at 10X, and finally refused to read a CD I was trying to back up.

AS you might have guessed I'm not happy with the drive (although I admit that most of these problems could well be my setup) and I'm hoping to send it back.

My request is for anyone who can name me a web site that still sells the Pioneer 6X/32X SCSI slot loading DVD drive (303S I think model number), or even a mail order place as I"ve run out of ideas of where to look.

Many Thanks

Uberlad

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8 out of 10 women say they would feel no qualms about hitting a man.
5 out of 10 referred to me by name.

[SteveC]

sorry, I don't know anyone who's got one.

You tried Scan (www.scan.co.uk) ?
Or even AUT (www.buypcbits.co.uk) ?

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Cheers,
Steve

"Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

[Taz]

The only place I can find which still sells the SCSI version, (Pioneer 305S), is Simply Micros but there very expensive (£126.99 + VAT). The 16x/40x IDE Slot load version is available from most places and about £40.00 cheaper!

[Paulr]

Can you hold off for a little while?
I too have the Pioneer 32x/6x SCSI slot loader.
A great piece of equipment, once you own a slot loader you never want to go back to a tray (unless you have any of those damn 3 1/2" CD's)
Anyway, Pioneer are releasing the 40x/10x in slot load SCSI format.
NT Compatible did have a link to an early review of it where they put it head-to-head with the Toshiba.
They rated the two drivers very close to each other, but the Pioneer slot wins in my eyes
Anyway, the 40x/10x SCSI is available in Australia (of all places, no offence meant to any Aussies, but not usually the first place to get this kind of thing) and is getting a worldwide release soon.
As for the 32x/6x SCSI, I bought mine from Dabs about a year ago.
They have taken it off their list of items but it might be worth while giving them a call to see if they can get hold of it.
Being as big as they are, they can probably source one for you.

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D815EE, PIII 700E, 512MB PC100 RAM (Hyundai), 2x 30GB ATA-100 IBM HD, Matrox G400MAX, SB Live!, Adaptec 2940UW, Pioneer 32x/6x SCSI DVD-ROM, Yamaha 4416 SCSI CD-RW, Internal SCSI ZIP Drive, Iiyama VM Pro410, Windows 2000 Only

[uberlad]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Yeah, I tried scan, they don't keep any back-stock and took it off their site about a month ago. I@ll look at tyhe other suggested sites though....

The reason I would prefer the 6/32X is that it is a region free drive, and most of my DVD's are region 1 (although there's a perfectly functional DVD player in the house, so I spose I could survive should it come to it.)

All drives made since that one seem to be RPC2, which can only be a bad thing in my books 8-)

Uberlad



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8 out of 10 women say they would feel no qualms about hitting a man.
5 out of 10 referred to me by name.

[uberlad]

SteveC, I've happened across the page before and I'm thinking that I"d rather have a slightly slower drive than one I have to either unlock every 5 region changes (the toshiba) or wait on a hacked firmware (the pioneers faster than 6X).

Hell, if it comes down to it then I know I can get the 10X pioneer and at least it will play nice with my CD-R while I wait for someone to realease RPC1 firmware ;-)

I've contacted Simply to try and get word on backordering, I"ll see what they come up with for the mo.

thanks for the hints, keep 'em coming.

Uberlad

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8 out of 10 women say they would feel no qualms about hitting a man.
5 out of 10 referred to me by name.

[The PIT]

What do you do when the dit doesn't work. The link is www.simply.co.uk. If I edit the orginal message it shows that yet if I view it on this thread it still shows www.somply.co.uk. Doh

[The PIT]

And ain't editing dit to edit

[foft]

They fixed the Toshiba to permanent RPC1. The Doctor did the 8x (which I own) and also the 10x AFAIK.

Never tried Neo's patch, but he was first even if you did have to reset every five times!

[foft]

Sorry, should get my facts before posting. It was only the 8x(just checked the page) Though someone has also patched the 12x.

[SteveC]

Erm... RPC2? *COUGH* *COUGH* http://perso.club-internet.fr/farzeno/firmware/ *COUGH* What RPC2? Ahem...

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Cheers,
Steve

"Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

[The PIT]

You can also try www.somply.co.uk which have another 10X scsi cd for sale made by either Poineer or Panasonic I can't remember which.


[This message has been edited by The PIT (edited 26 September 2000).]

[uberlad]

foft, have you had any problems with the drive? Is it possible that I've just tried to slap it into a screwed up system and it's the system that doesn't play nice?

I spose I could splash out on my planned KT7 + Thunderbird and see if a clean install makes everythgin seem less spoilt.

Uberlad

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8 out of 10 women say they would feel no qualms about hitting a man.
5 out of 10 referred to me by name.

[foft]

uberlad: Nope, no problems with the drive. Except of course waiting for the RPC1 hack It is a bit clunky (compared to this luvly Asus CDROM), but has always worked fine. I ripped audio with it a couple of times(using CDParanoia) and while not good as a Plextor or Asus drive it was still damn fine. BTW do Plextor make DVD ROMs yet? If so then that would probably be a good choice (based on past form...). BTW if your Toshiba is broken why not change it at the shop?

Sorry, don't know where you can get the Pioneer. Guess you tried the obvious (dabs, scan, md, stak etc.). Why not advertise in MicroMart or summit?

Mmmm K7 Thunderbird.

[uberlad]

Yeah, I"m going to RMA it, but they'll say 'nothing wrong' and charge me 20% restocking. I doubt they'll go for "BUt your salesman said it was an excellent drive, and I don't think it is" as a reason to waive that fee.

Yeah, Micromart seems the easiest way, but that'll leave me without a DVD drive for a while.

Might just get the 10X SCSI slot loader and wait for the Region Free firmware hack we all know is on the way 8-)

Indeed, Mmmmm thunderbird. Unfortunately this DVD drive palava has scrubbed that idea for this month, oh and my DVD habit 8-)

Uberlad

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8 out of 10 women say they would feel no qualms about hitting a man.
5 out of 10 referred to me by name.