Pioneer DVR-104 DVDR/DVDRW
how is this burner?
is this a good one?
i'll have to check up on it too
but..anyone have any opinions on this burner..
pls..feel free to voice them

thanks

I might be able to get it for about 120...

still works...and everything..
would that be a good deal?
or no?
thanks

It's a pretty good burner however I would spend the extra money and get the Pioneer105/Cendyne105 drive as it will be much easier to find and it has the 2x4all firmware hack which allows you to burn cheap 1x discs at 2x. There are 2x firmware options for the 104/A04 but I see more people posting problems with it than 105/A05 users. You can pick up the Cendyne105 at Staples right now for $230 or less and it is simply a relabeled Pioneer105 (Just make sure it says 4x DVD-R/-RW on the box and not 4x DVD+R/+RW on the box). I have this drive and it works flawlessly and every piece of DVD burning software I have detects it as the Pioneer105. The other advantage is that once 4x media comes down in price a little bit more you will be able to actually use the 4x speed on the Pioneer/Cendyne105 whereas the Pioneer104/A04 will only be able to burn at 2x no matter what. I hope this helps.

Moving this to CoOp.

I have a 104 and it works well, although it is only a 1 X drive.

There were 2 models of this drive. The earlier ones were capable of writing at 2 X, with the right media (Riteks etc.), but the newer ones seemed to have trouble at 2 X and many folk never managed it. I am using firmware 1.31 and luckily mine was the earlier type.

If you can confirm that it writes at 2 X, it doesn't seem like a bad price, although the 105 is getting cheaper now, so if you want faster speeds, this would be a better bet.

the a04/104 is a 2x drive, the a05/105 is a 4x drive.
s.v.p are doing the 105 for £145.
imho, a realistic price for a good used 104 = ~£80

Yes but hwjchim is from the US so that price he listed is in USD.

ok thanks guys....on all the given info...i appreciate it

Originally posted by aaronjon
the a04/104 is a 2x drive,

It may be referred to as a 2X Drive, by Pioneer, but many folk cannot get the l8r versions to write at 2x. So IMO that makes it a 1x

If you manage to get one of the early versions that does work at 2x, it will only work with certain media and with the right firmware.

The problem is, there doesn't seem to be any easy way of distinguishing the old & new models.

i have a a04, and when new it would only burn at 2x certain discs that PIONEER SPECIFIED in THEIR firmware, and as far as i`m aware, this is still the case, albeit the number of these have increased with the updated f/w.
this is what the f/w scandel is/was all about.
i use the 2x 4 all cracked f/w which does as it says, but i cant guarantee 1x discs burning ok at 2x.
and with some of the crap media about, who can guarantee anything.
i do believe that using the more expensive tried and tested branded media is cheaper in the long run, plus with the a05/105 out this seems to be stablising the quality/price of 4x discs and it may suit the slower writers better to use them at 2x.
the new model is the a05/105. lol.

Man after reading all of this stuff I won't recommend a 104/A04 drive to anyone.