saw this for £149 in dixons was wondering if anyone knows anything about it ?

It's okay but keep in mind that there are two competeing format here (+ and -) both formats are about equal but each one has it's advantage in a different area. They do have the Nec ND1300 and the Sony Dru500ax which do both formats. What are you planning on using it for (i.e. movies, data storage, XBOX or PS2 backups)?

ok new to the dvd writer side so not really sure wat u mean,but will b using it for movies,mp3s,ps2 games

click on the DVD link at the top of this page and learn a bit more B4 buying.
Most people on here are using Pioneer (which is the - format) or the sony which will do both - and +.
As i said research B4 buying because you might think that you are saving a few pounds, but in the long run it might cost you when you are selling this cheap drive in order to buy a pioneer or a sony.

If you are planning on doing PS2 backups, the majority of them prefer quality DVD-R over DVD+R/+RW. I would recommend getting a drive that supports DVD-R then as for the other options you listed DVD+R and DVD-R are about equal. Don't get me wrong several users are using DVD+R on PS2s but several people have also tried a few brands to get them to work and they simply wouldn't. After trying DVD-R they worked fine. So for what you are looking at doing I would say that no you shouldn't get this drive as you might not be able to get your PS2 backups. You should have no issues with this if you use quality DVD-R (i.e. disks with a dark purple Ritek dye). If you want + then one of the dual format drives mentioned above (both + and - formats) if not then simply get a Pioneer drive and you should have no trouble. I hope this helps

yea that helps a lot thanks guys

No problem.

Soulreaver - I have one of these drives and can't fault it. It is a rebadged Panasonic LFD311 and is recognised as such by the computer. I have backed up a number of DVD's with it and have been 100% succesful with playbacks on a number of DVD players including PS2 and XBox which my sons own. My eldest son has also chipped his XBox and has backed up a number of games to play. He has had a few minor problems but this was due to the DVD-r media which the XBox can be fussy about. If you check out the PS2 forum on this site you may get a better idea of what will and won't back up PS2 games - I am reliably informed that the Mirror should but as the with the XBox different media brands tend to give differing results.

It only writes at 1 speed but that isn't a major issue for me. Should you ever consider buying a standalone DVD recorder this drive will be compatible with any DVD-RAM recorder (Panny e30 or E50 or Toshiba, Samsung etc.) If you want more info on standalone recorders and formats then try this link http://www.avforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=41 (I'm not sure if I am breaking any rules by posting this link but apologise if thats the case - I'm just trying to help a guy)

If it's just a writer you want then try searching for info on the Sony DVD writer as it is compatible with all formats apart from DVD-RAM. Me? I'm more than happy with my Mirror! (£155 from Staples about a month ago)

nice advice guys i found this writer NEC ND1000A DVD+R Writer it has these fetures would this be any better?


Features: DVD+R/RW write speed of 2.4x CD-R write speed of 16x CD-RW write speed of 10x Read CD, CD-R/RW, DVD, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW Headphone Jack and Volume control on front of drive Tray load mechanism supporting horizontal and vertical use

As I said above I would definitely recommend having a dvd drive that supports the writing of DVD-R (provided you use good media) as you will have a much higher success with game systems and the results with compatibility in dvd players is about the same between DVD-R and DVD+R. For your purposes this drive wouldn't be a good choice.