Beyond the Office
September 7th, 2004
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PC World
Technology Advice You Can Trust
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Our editors' favorite PC and console games and hardware, a look at the
evolving world of digital music, tips on burning CDs and DVDs, and
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September 7th, 2004
Burning Questions: The Perils of Non-Retail Drives
Assoc. Ed. Melissa J. Perenson
Go online and you'll find a slew of cheap DVD burners. Some drives
have trusted brand names you've seen on a store shelf near you, like
Sony, Pioneer, or Lite-On; other drives may be offered by companies
that are equally familiar, but that don't typically sell their drives
at retail. NEC, for example, doesn't sell drives to consumers under
its own name: It makes them for other companies.
But whatever drive you're considering, read the fine print carefully
before you pull out your credit card: Usually these cheap drives are
cheap for a reason, and they carry a hidden premium.
OEM Packages
Whether you find these unusually well-priced drives online via
PriceGrabber.com or Pricewatch, or at a mom-and-pop shop, chances are
you're looking at what's known in the industry as an OEM model; some
of the drives are even labeled as such. OEM (or "original equipment
manufacturer") is the designation vendors use to indicate a product
intended for sale to another manufacturer, as opposed to you, the end
user. If you're shopping in a computer store, a tip-off might be that
the salesperson is hawking a drive without a retail box or packaging,
which is known in the industry as a "bare drive."
PriceGrabber.com:
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/214009/21421685/754904/0/
Pricewatch:
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/214009/21421685/754905/0/
At first blush, an OEM drive might sound like a great deal--after all,
it's made by a name-brand vendor, and it's going for a great price.
For example, you might pay just $76 for the Sony DWD18ABG, an OEM
version of Sony's popular DRU-700A. The DRU-700A goes for $150, or
even $180 if you buy it directly from Sony.
What most people don't realize is that while buying an OEM drive might
save them money in the short term, they might regret the choice down
the line. Manufacturers consider OEM drives to be completely
differently from their retail products. And if you buy one, you have
no direct connection to the manufacturer. OEM drives carry no
manufacturer's warranty; lack the burning software that typically
comes with the drive; and are ineligible for firmware upgrades.
Take the case of Sony, which has received calls from users who
unwittingly purchased an OEM drive. "The OEM burners don't include the
software, and don't include tech support," says Sony spokesperson
Elizabeth Boukis. Similarly, Sony's firmware upgrades are available
only for those who buy its retail products.
Are Cheap Drives Worth the Price?
According to PriceGrabber.com, the pricing engine that powers PC
World's Product Finder, three of the top five most popular DVD burners
are OEM models. Not surprisingly, the main appeal of these drives is
their cost; competing drives with the same specs are available, but
they're more expensive.
But just how much are you really saving? If you buy one of these
drives and use software you have left over from an older burner, the
software might not recognize the newer drive--and it almost certainly
won't allow the newer drive to work at its full potential. For
example, the new drive may work at 4X rather than 8X. A software
upgrade may do the trick, but you'll be the one doing the detective
work to figure this out. And if a free download isn't available,
you'll need to pay for a new version of the software.
If you don't already have software, you'll have to pay $70 to $100 for
either Ahead Software's Nero 6 Ultra Edition or Roxio's Easy Media
Creator 7, the twin gold standards of burning software. Add that to
the price of the OEM burner, and you're already spending as much, if
not more, than you might have if you bought a retail drive that came
with one of these packages, or at least with a current limited edition
that supports the drive's capabilities.
Check our Product Finder for the latest pricing on these packages.
Ahead Software's Nero 6 Ultra Edition:
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/214009/21421685/601386/0/
Roxio's Easy Media Creator 7
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/214009/21421685/601387/0/
No Firmware Updates
Factor in the other elements you miss out on, and your new drive may
seem even less of a bargain. If you buy an OEM drive, your drive's
firmware is frozen at the time of manufacturing. That's an important
point considering that most vendors use firmware upgrades to do
everything from fixing speed glitches to adding additional media
support and new drive capabilities; see my column on this subject:
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/214009/21421685/601388/0/
For example, we recently tested the Sony DRU-530A for our October 2004
Top 10 DVD Drives chart:
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/214009/21421685/754906/0/
The drive performed well on all of our tests but the one for
rewritable performance. As a result, Sony says it will have a firmware
update on its Web site to correct this snafu.
If you'd bought an OEM version of Sony's drive, you'd be out of luck.
That's because drive makers, including Sony and Pioneer, program their
firmware updates to work with drives that have ID strings the updates
recognize, whether the drive bears the company's own brand or that of
an authorized partner that is repackaging and selling the drive at
retail. If the drive's firmware identifies it as an OEM drive, that
drive won't be able to use the firmware upgrade.
Firmware updates are usually the responsibility of the company that's
the last link in the chain, and those companies generally keep users
up-to-date as needed. Typically, the last link is the vendor that
markets the drive. In the example of Pioneer, the drive is
manufactured and marketed by the same company. Drives marketed under
such brand names as Kano, LaCie, Pacific Digital, and TDK are made by
other companies, such as NEC and Pioneer. TDK and vendors like it
provide tech support and upgrades for the drives they sell. But OEM
drives that are sold online or at retail stores aren't backed by any
drive vendor--if you buy one, you're on your own.
A final word of caution about buying drives: Beware of unusually low
prices, or oddly worded ads. Some sellers might not call a drive an
OEM, or they might say it's an OEM drive with a warranty--but that
doesn't mean you're getting the manufacturer's warranty. For example,
a call to A2ZComp.com--an online retailer offering the OEM version of
Sony's DRU-700A drive for $109--revealed that the drive's warranty was
through A2ZComp.com, not Sony.
For tips on buying a DVD drive, read "How to Buy a DVD-Rewritable
Drive":
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/214009/21421685/754907/0/
Have a question or comment? Write to Melissa Perenson:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Read Melissa J. Perenson's regularly published "Burning Questions"
columns:
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/214009/21421685/239045/0/
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For a full list of this week's Editors' Picks, go to:
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