It appears that, unbeknownst to me, Pioneer have "withdrawn from the PC component market".
Since most of my DVD burners (and certainly the most reliable ones) are Pioneer, the question is, what to specify in their absence?
I've had one or two dodgy experiences with recent Plextors, Sony/Optiarc etc. so I'm looking for a suitable replacement for the trusty Pioneers (IDE and SATA) when their day comes.
All contributions welcome. :)
I bought a pioneer from Play.com recently , a sata drive.
I'm sure there are a few 'stragglers' around but the question is, what do you buy when they run out?
For example, if I was building a duplicator today, what drives to specify?
Are you sure they've withdrawn from the PC Component market? They just announced a 12X Blu-day burner... doesn't seem to me to be the actions of a company withdrawing from the PC component market. You sure you're not getting confused with the fact that they've withdrawn from the Plasma TV market?
From the horse's mouth here:
http://www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/content/support/support/update/components_notice.html
and, yes I know about them withdrawing from plasma completely.
I'm sure there are a few 'stragglers' around but the question is, what do you buy when they run out?For example, if I was building a duplicator today, what drives to specify?
We have a box in transit , built for us.
I'll tell you what the drives are when it arrives.
Cheers Gary,
I have a couple of copiers, one IDE and one SATA both with ACARD controllers and Pioneer burners. I've had no trouble with Pioneers in PCs or the copiers (touch wood) but I have with others and, of course, they do wear out after a while, so finding a suitable replacement seems prudent.
We have a mixed bag of towers dating from around 7 years ago to present - the older units are Pioneer - all still going strong and churning out a few thousand discs a month between them.
I haven't noticed any writing issues with the more recent NEC or LG based units.
There have been problems (error messages) with some of the new towers which have arrived fitted with DVD-ROM readers as a source drive. These need to be swapped for a writer and the machines work fine.
The mechanisms on LG BD-R/RE drives are beautiful - I know they should be at the price - but they do seem very well engineered.
Thanks Gavin, that's useful. When I think what I paid for the first CD writer I bought (SCSI) perhaps 12 years ago, the LG seems positively reasonable :)
(I can buy a one to five duplicator tower and still have change for a meal out for the same money)
The new ACARD came with NEC drives.
Exact model numbers once i get it installed.
I have a LG in my home machine , with the pioneer as a spare ( safely in it's plastic bag )
Thanks Gary, it rather looks as if NEC is the preferred substitute. Meanwhile, I'm going to try to pick up a few spare Pioneers for the existing towers.
used lite-on for a while and never had a problem. Sony's are good too.
It does seem to be a shot in the foot. They must have been market leader, so to dump the entire range when it was always the one specified is a little strange. The wording of the announcement is hardly one to inspire confidence in the brand, saying effectively, don't even ask us a question about them any longer, go back to the dealer! I wonder if this is how they treat their big screen customers?
It does seem to be a shot in the foot. They must have been market leader, so to dump the entire range when it was always the one specified is a little strange. The wording of the announcement is hardly one to inspire confidence in the brand, saying effectively, don't even ask us a question about them any longer, go back to the dealer! I wonder if this is how they treat their big screen customers?
Exactly! I was considering a Kuro. I don't think I'll bother now, just go for the Panasonic instead.
Apparently they have spun off the optical disk drive division into a separate joint venture company with Sharp. Was supposed to launch about now but they have fallen foul of anti-trust/monopolies legislation. So I guess we may not have seen the last of them and that might also explain the rather terse message on the Pioneer site about support.
Grab your latest (last?) Pioneer firmware updates while they're still available?
Thanks Martin, I couldn't find anything for any of my drives dated later than 2008 so I guess I'm up to date.
I'm seeing Pioneer drives advertised again with a forward delivery date. I wonder if this is the fruit of the new enterprise with Sharp?
I'm seeing Pioneer drives advertised again with a forward delivery date. I wonder if this is the fruit of the new enterprise with Sharp?
It would certainly make sense for them to retain the Pioneer brand name in this space, rather than the unknown Sharp brand.
I think i'd be vary wary about installing any last issue before walking away, software or firmware. If bug fixing won't be carried out, and maybe even all old files removed from their web presence, then you are dead in the water. If it works now, I certainly wouldn't consider changing anything. The first time you press 'copy' in your upgraded duplicator and the already used a few times master disk has something just a little bit odd in it and the thing falls over - you will be cursing!
I see Pioneer products are back in stock most places. Scan, Aria, Span, etc. etc., including the 8X Blu-ray writer. Obviously got their distribution sorted out now.
I see Pioneer products are back in stock most places. Scan, Aria, Span, etc. etc., including the 8X Blu-ray writer. Obviously got their distribution sorted out now.
APR have them on their web-site too, but when I asked about who was importing them and what the warrenty/after-sales support arrangements were they didn't give a clear answer.