Member Avatar for dcc

I'm going to purchase a NEC DVD/RW, and I've been looking at the 3540A, and just as I've decided to purchase it they now have the 3550A available for about the same price. Looking at the spec I don't see any difference between the two as far as writing goes, can anyone here tell me what the difference is between the two?

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Dani AI

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Short summary tied to the thread: pointed to NEC material and noted practical read/write differences — in practice the ND-3540A vs ND-3550A question usually comes down to small firmware/media tuning and support rather than big spec differences on paper. The useful distinction is found by looking at firmware revisions, supported disc media (MIDs), and community burn-quality reports rather than raw advertised speeds.

Practical checklist to decide between the two:

  • Firmware and changelog: newer revisions can add write strategies and fix compatibility/read issues. A model with more recent firmware releases and clear update history is preferable for long-term compatibility.
  • Media compatibility and burn testing: consistent results are driven by MID match and burn speed. Identical comparisons should be done with the same brand/type of media, the same firmware, and the same write speed; then verify the disc and run transfer/verify tests. Note that some drives cannot produce reliable PI/PO scans, so look for community quality scans from drives that can.
  • Features and quirks: confirm bitsetting/book-type behavior for DVD+R(DL) if playback compatibility is important, check RW/DL handling, and verify DMA/UDMA support. Small mechanical or laser pickup tolerances can cause one unit to behave slightly better on particular media.

Buying and troubleshooting notes: prefer known-good media (brand MIDs with a track record), use an 80-conductor IDE cable and proper master/slave settings, update firmware only from trusted sources, and treat crossflashing or unofficial hacks as warranty-voiding and risky. When price and availability are equal, selecting the newer model (with active firmware support) is a sensible default; when burn quality matters, rely on side-by-side burn logs and community test results before deciding.

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Member Avatar for chrisbliss18

According to on NEC's Swedish site:

ND-3550A complies with the new RoHS-directive, meaning that all components are lead-free.

Member Avatar for dcc

Thanks for the response Chrisbliss, sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner.

I found the same information, the only other difference I've found is in the read and write ability, one reads better than the other, and one writes better than the other.

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