Found another Cendyne/Pioneer deal

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craftech wrote on 1/21/2003, 5:35 PM
That's why I posted it a few days before the deal began. You can't really wait too long to order (not that you should jump into things, but there are a lot of smart shoppers on the internet.

Go to a staples store and try to match the deal. Depends upon the help in the store.
I think I described how to do that above. Watch out, in order to get the rebate you must have purchased the unit between 1/19 and 2/1. The rebate has to be sent in within 15 days of 'purchase' or they will reject it.

riredale wrote on 1/22/2003, 12:55 AM
Happened to me too. The lady on the line said I could try to get a price match with a local Staples store, but it was unlikely. We'll see...
PimpSled wrote on 1/22/2003, 3:54 PM
I got mine; installed and burning CDs. Thanx for the tip. Though I did not get the great deal some got but $200 after rebate is good for me.

Now how to make a DVD ?

Thanx for the info.
craftech wrote on 1/22/2003, 7:44 PM
For those of you who purchased the 105.......Don't flash the firmware upgrade to firmware v1.21! It has caused a lot of problems with many people. Some equally bad firmware upgrades for the 104 have been a problem as well. That was after Pioneer put out a notice that the 104 had a "mandatory" firmware upgrade. The last decent firmware upgrade for the 104 was v 1.31.
The problem is that it is very difficult to flash it back without hacking. Read about it here:

http://forum.firmware-flash.com/viewtopic.php?t=10424

Keep an eye on the woeful posts by the misfortunates who are "flash happy" on that site. There are a few dubious workaraounds for those of you who already did it.

John
DataMeister wrote on 1/22/2003, 10:18 PM
What did the link you provided have to do with updating to the v1.21 firmware update?
craftech wrote on 1/22/2003, 10:29 PM
Look through the various threads pertaining to the Cendyne/Pioneer 105/A05, there are several regarding the update. This is the most popular website for DVD burner firmware discussions.

http://forum.firmware-flash.com/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=abc1717fe8e42e4091e7689640dd9fbb
riredale wrote on 1/23/2003, 1:50 PM
An update:

I had ordered the burner online last weekend, only to receive the email stating that Staples was out of stock and my order was cancelled.

Today I called the local Staples store, and they had just gotten a good-sized shipment. I took my online order paperwork down to the store, and they honored the price. Woohoo!

The label on the case labels it as a "DVR-105" made by Pioneer. Included is NeroVision Express, WinDVD, and a blank disk (I assume it is a 2X DVD-RW).

Net purchase price at the store is $200, and a mail-in rebate is worth $50. The rebate printout says the drive must be purchased by this Saturday (25 Jan 03).
DataMeister wrote on 1/25/2003, 1:33 AM
Well, I'm happy to say also that I tried taking my nullified reciept to the store and they gave me the discounted price also. Woo hoo.

Now to figure out who makes the most compatible blanks for this drive and then who sells those blanks the cheapest.

JBJones
craftech wrote on 1/25/2003, 10:28 AM
If you belong to BJ's wholesale club, you can get a five pack of Fuji DVD-R for $13.99. They work flawlessly with everything because they are made by Taiyo Yuden.
Taiyo Yuden's own brand can be purchased for around $2.50 apiece at various vendors. Also very good although more expensive are Apple and Pioneer 2x media. They seem to be the best. Stay away from ALL 4x media!!!
In terms of inexpensive media:
Stay away from Princo and Optodisc
Ritek works pretty well, but there are major issues with them buring at only 1x speed with the 105.

This was recently posted on a German site:

"Pioneer just stopped the delivery of all 105 drives a week ago due to terrible drive and media problems..."

The bottom line is that Pioneer has been incredibly irresponsible with the quality of their firmware updates in that they have been using the public as guinea pigs.

My personal recommendation as well as that of the firmware forum:
DO NOT upgrade to firmware 1.21

http://forum.firmware-flash.com/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=abc1717fe8e42e4091e7689640dd9fbb

John
rique wrote on 1/25/2003, 11:50 AM
Do you have any recommendations on CD-R/RW media for this drive?
rique wrote on 1/25/2003, 5:16 PM
I just got back from Staples where they have Optimun CD-Rs on sale. A spindle of 50 for $10.94 and a $10 mail in rebate. I figured for 94 cents I'd take a chance and glad I did because I've burned 5 data disks so far and they work fine with this CenDyne drive. Haven't tried any burning of music CDs or VCDs yet but I imagine they'd work too. I think the sale goes on for another week.

As a warning, I have some 3 year old old Hi-Val CD-RWs which are not recognized by this drive at all. Also have some 3 year old CompUsa CD-Rs which this drive (using the included Nero Express) doesn't recognize for burning but can read previously burned data from another drive off the disks. Strange.
DataMeister wrote on 1/25/2003, 8:59 PM
I burned some computer data onto a TDK brand CD-R and a CD-RW yesterday. Worked fine.

And by the way, my Cendyne 4X came with firmware 1.21 already installed. I guess we'll see if there is a problem from a factory instalation.

JBJones
nolonemo wrote on 1/27/2003, 2:58 PM
Back in stock at Staples online. But codes posted above don't work. There is a $40 off code at naughtycodes.com

riredale wrote on 1/28/2003, 1:09 AM
The 05 drive seems to work fine, though I haven't purchased any 4X media yet. On the web I had a chance to read some of the postings over at http://forum.firmware-flash.com and one fellow seemed to have a lot of very positive experience with Ritek 4X-certified media bought through www.hypermicro.com. Prices are amazingly cheap, too-- around $2 a disk even in quantities of just 10. Now if I can just burn through my collection of Apple, Fujifilm, and GQ blanks...

A lot of the commenting on the firmware board has to do with hacking the firmware so one can burn at speeds higher than otherwise allowed. If you think Pioneer is colluding with blank manufactuers in order to raise prices, then I guess hacking makes sense. But I suspect Pioneer is just trying to make sure its burner doesn't get an unsavory reputation by turning out coasters that were the result of crummy media.
craftech wrote on 1/30/2003, 12:04 AM
The rebate offer ends Feb 1, so I'll give you another tip if you still want a 104 or a 105.

Go to a Staples store and use one of the online ordering workstations to place the order, enter the coupons, and then go to the CASHIER to pay for it. Bring the OfficeMax ad if you want a pricematch for the 104. You will probably get a pricematch on the spot and the coupons are already on the order. They just have to subtract the difference for the pricematch.

As for the 105 since it is a Staples ad anyway you won't have to wonder if they will accept online coupon codes because in effect you placed the order online, but went up to pay for it at the register.
It should work without a hitch.

John
craftech wrote on 1/30/2003, 7:55 AM
Code: 79169 $50 off $200 (exp 2/7/03) instore or phone.
Code: 79473 $50 off $200 (exp 2/21/03)online
So you could get a 105 for 139.99 or pricematch a 104 and get it for 129.99.
If you follow the directions I gave in the previous post you could try handing them one of these (available through e-mail)and possibly knock off another $15.
http://www.couponlist.com/staples/staplessave.htm

If you luck out with all this you get the 104 for $114.99 or the 105 for $124.99. Worth a shot if you haven't gotten in on this deal or you were one of the ones who waited and got a rejection e-mail from Staples.


Happy shopping,
John