Yamaha F1 burner - get yours while you can

[Paul C.]

Just found this article:

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=7671

Not overly informative, but states that Yamaha is getting out of the burner business. It's a shame, as they have been quite innovative in that area. Perhaps the F1 burners will become collectors items. Let's hope they last well...

[Ronflugelguy]

Wow should I or shouldn't I? Mac 240 or Yamaha F-1? I think MAC 240!:) :) :) :D :cool: :cool:

[-=Rudy=-]

This doesn't give me the warm fuzzies about buying one. Yamaha or not, if a computer product is discontinued, manufacturer support tends to evaporate. Last thing any of us needs is to send an under-warranty drive in for repair or replacement, only to be told the parts (or an entire drive) are no longer available.

Gonna bet that if this is indeed true, they were probably losing money on the product line. Didn't they also sell drives to the pro-audio community?

[Sckott]

Keep away. Keep far away.

Mostly saying this because I too have seen the drive go to mush in months of moderate use. Many others I know have too.

[Joseph]

Agree Sckott. I checked with my local high end computer store who's opinion I respect. The scoop with the Yamahas are that they seem to break down more frequently than most and their lasers get "clogged" frequently.

[Paul C.]

Well, if my F1 dies, it dies - at the moment, I'm enjoying its features, and its working well. The F1 wasn't chep when it first came out, althought it's recently fallen dramatically in price here in Australia - perhaps that has something to do with Yamaha getting out of the game, or perhaps it was too high-proced to sell in great numbers.

Thankfully, burners are pretty cheap these days, so if my Yamaha dies, I'll get a Lite-on or something like that.

[Andrew]

Nothing to do with this thread, but Paul's avatar ROCKS! :thumbsup:

[Sckott]

Yes, get a Lite-On. Damn thing will do everything. Great solid burns, and reading accuracy can't be beat for a new drive.

Some of the older HP's and most every Plextor is high on my list. :)

[mcow1]

Originally posted by Sckott
Yes, get a Lite-On. Damn thing will do everything. Great solid burns, and reading accuracy can't be beat for a new drive.

Some of the older HP's and most every Plextor is high on my list. :)
Most every Plextor? Out of curiosity Sckott, are there some that you feel aren't very good?

[Paul C.]

Hey Andrew, thanks. Long live Major Matt Mason!:righton:

[Sckott]

Originally posted by mcow1

Most every Plextor? Out of curiosity Sckott, are there some that you feel aren't very good?

Yep. Some of the OEM TDK drives that were made by Plextor turned out to be below par of most normal CDR drive in general. Didn't do a great job of reading some "difficult" discs.

The one thing most Plextors and older HPs have is the ability of reading CDR's securely when they get either beaten or aged. Some of the cheaper non-branded CDs tend to age poorly.

Lite-Ons meet a category that competes with some Plextors with a decent price range. The best CDRW drive Plextor made was the SCSI 40X if memory serves. Built like a tank!

I'm currently using a LiteOn 40X12X48. I've over-clocked the drive to burn at 48X without a problem by a force-flash upgrade. It was the 1st drive I used to do maniacal CDR testing with, and it hasn't dissapointed ONCE. I was able to overburn most 80 Min CDs to 84 minutes, without degridation of the drive (Don't try that at home, folks, sometimes you end up with a trashed drive)

Most name brand drives, including drives under well-respected names, are below some HPs, Plextors and Lite-Ons. I won't go naming names, but there's many that range in the lower categories that fail reading subchannel data, fail reading secure with EAC, don't copy accurately, etc...

There's something to be said about a drive that burns a strong impression, that lasts, that's economical, will copy ANYTHING (basically) and has strong support under most software used. It's the little damn drive that can.

But if you're willing to do the MAXIMUM (and pay for it sometimes), get a SCSI Plexwriter. The only problem I'll say to people is, unless you're absolutely dedicated into your drive, you may find that a very expensive CDRW drive may not be justified unless you put the time into it. If you're not sure, or are willing to save money, the Lite-Ons will impress for very little money.

ie: If you have bad luck with hardware, I woulnd't go spending US$230 on a CDRW drive, internal.

Lite-On review:
http://www.cdfreaks.com/document.php3?Doc=99

[mcow1]

Thanks, Sckott. I have one of the TDK drives supposedly made by Plextor and am going to be replacing it with a regular Plextor drive I think. It has problems after ripping/burning 2 or three disks, heat is my guess. It starts giving Illegal Block errors or Can't Determine Write Speed errors. I often have to wait until the next day to do more or sometimes have to re-rip the image. I had thought about a Yamaha drive but am glad I passed now.

[Sckott]

www.pricewatch.com _ great dealer search engine!

Just make sure you get a RETAIL drive if you go Plex. If not, seriously, seek out what a Lite On drive looks like on it's face. Many stores like Staples, Best Buy and others carry Lite On drives under different names for a bargain.

A friend of mine has a Plextor, because of that I've said (and others) about them. Not sure if I like the bundled software you get with the drive. Hopefully that won't effect you one iota.

For me, get me CDRWin, Nero, EAC and CloneCD and who needs bundled software! :)

[mcow1]

I use both EAC and Nero. So I'm not going to worry much about bundled sfw. I was looking at the Plextors at Best Buy today, $99 after rebate. I'll have to find a different Best Buy though every one there had a broken seal on the box (the seal says don't buy this if the seal is broken).

[Grant]

Maybe i'll buy two F1s! They are so cheap they will be worth it. I guess I should hang on to my old HP just in case. Right now i'm enjoying the features too much. Maybe someone will buy the technology.

I imagine that Yamaha is taking a bath on the bum F1 burners people bought a few months ago. Hopefully I have the quietly improved version.

I am concerned about the overall market for quality burners, though. An audiophile company could step up to the plate and fill in for the niche market that may have only Plextor to compete with. We may see combo CD/CD-RW/DVD burners. But all these cheapo burners from Sony, and all these no-name companies definately lower the bar.

All gotta say is, take care of your Yamaha or Plextors! You're gonna need them.

[Sckott]

No, they haven't done very well since the beginning, I'm afraid. Trying to send back Ya-ha burners on a return authorization (RTA) meant that the burner usually took a trip 1/2 way across the US for nothing. I got 3 drives back saying "nothing wrong" when one coulnd't even spin up, and all were under warranty.

If you are going F1, I wish you all the luck you can have. Talk dirty to the drive, it may help! ;)

There are a lot of very amazing products Yamaha makes. And like I said, I had one of their burners for almost a year in service. It wasn't because I wanted to move on, it was because the thing died, sadly. It cost me almost $169. To make it worse, many discs I burned coulnd't be copied (or sometimes read) very easilly.

Small money? Sure. Now imagine I could have spent that money on CDs/Vinyl/SACDs. Sad.

Wanna see an IT guy go nuts? I built a CDR with over 300 drivers on it for networking and modems, VGA cards, you name it..printers... I mastered it and walked away clearing the ISO. DOH! Bad disc! I can't even recover a weekend of silly downloads and preperation.

[Sckott]

Originally posted by mcow1
....every one there had a broken seal on the box (the seal says don't buy this if the seal is broken).

No, not at Best Buy. I've seen open box stuff treated POORLY. You would think if they wanted to re-sell something, they would treat open box with respect.

Floor models of most speakers look like dead soldiers.

[Grant]

Another thing to consider is CD burning software. About the only really professional one left for the PC is Sonic Foundry's CD Architect, and maybe Nero...kind of... Most of the ones you see not are so basic or dumbed down, they make CD Creator look serious.

The future is Data Becker and cheap $40 burners, no rebate!

[Grant]

Originally posted by Sckott


Wanna see an IT guy go nuts? I built a CDR with over 300 drivers on it for networking and modems, VGA cards, you name it..printers... I mastered it and walked away clearing the ISO. DOH! Bad disc! I can't even recover a weekend of silly downloads and preperation.

So far, every disc I have burned with the F1 has been readable on everything I put it in.

[Grant]

One more thing, Pt. II:

Most people tend to rip and burn at the highest speed possible. I don't. I'm thinking that even with mnoderate use, slower speeds could extend the life of any burner.

[Ronflugelguy]

Originally posted by Grant
One more thing, Pt. II:

Most people tend to rip and burn at the highest speed possible. I don't. I'm thinking that even with mnoderate use, slower speeds could extend the life of any burner.

Makes sense to me, Grant.:thumbsup:

[rontokyo]

Originally posted by Grant
Another thing to consider is CD burning software. About the only really professional one left for the PC is Sonic Foundry's CD Architect, and maybe Nero...kind of...

I'm surprised you left EAC off your short list. Oversight? Or do you have a reason in mind?

[rontokyo]

Originally posted by Grant
One more thing, Pt. II:

Most people tend to rip and burn at the highest speed possible. I don't. I'm thinking that even with mnoderate use, slower speeds could extend the life of any burner.

What reasons do you have for this?

[Grant]

Originally posted by rontokyo


I'm surprised you left EAC off your short list. Oversight? Or do you have a reason in mind?

I don't/can't use EAC, so I didn't think about it.

[Grant]

Originally posted by rontokyo


What reasons do you have for this?

Higher speeds, of course, generate heat, an enemy to any mechanical parts. Think of how fast a CD ROM has to spin when ripping or burning at, say, 32x, even. That's a hell of a lot of stress to the parts.