I don't usually bad mouth a product but after my experiences with BTC I feel compelled to pass it along to all of you so you won't get burned like I did. I strongly recomend not buying their drives no matter how good the price! About 10 weeks ago I purchased from Fry's a BTC BDV316E 16x DVD-Rom drive. It went bad in less then 2 weeks. It would not read DVDs! Fry's replaced it with a new one and it did the same thing. Fry's refered me to BTC. I found that they only have sales support in the U.S.A. I sent them an e-mail requesting that they pass on my problem to their tech support. Couple of days later I got an e-mail from them directing me to a site to download their latest FirmWare. I did this and ran the flash program. It didn't work! It just hung up the computer. All you could do until you took the DVD out of the drive was move the mouse. Even then you had to restart windows with the task manager. Usually after 2 or 3 tries the computer would re-boot. It was worse when you left a DVD in the drive. Then the computer would either hang up with a black screen with flashing cursor on the left or it would hang at the Windows XP screen with the little blue thing just moving in it's little window. It doesn't matter, It will do either for hours. Needless to say, I sent BTC another e-mail. I'm still waiting and it's been over 2 weeks! In the mean time my neighbor brought over an Emprex 16X DVD-Rom drive for me to install on his daughter's computer. While installing it I discovered that the Mod. # was the same as the BTC drive except for the last letter. "G" on the Emprex and "E" on the BTC. I contacted Emprex and told them my problem with the BTC and asked if thr 2 companies were connected. They immediatly sent me an e-mail requesting more information on the problems with the BTC. This started a long series of e-mails between them and me. Mind you this wasn't even their product! I have been a Service Manager! I know what it takes to give good service! These guys were amazing. They would have me try things and get back to them. If I waited too long to respond, they e-mailed me requesting the results. We finally decided that the flash bios is defective on the BTC drive. After not hearing from BTC in spite of several e-mails I said the hell with it and had my neighbor pick me up an Emprex 16x DVD-Rom drive. Worked perfectly! In my last e-mail to Emprex I let them know that I replaced that BTC piece of junk with an Emprex. They immediately sent me an e-mail thanking me for my purchase and telling me that they hope I enjoy it. My hat is off to Eric Chiu. I have been building systems since the mid to late 80s and I have never had better tech service anywhere. Trust me when I say that they are the best! They do care about you, the end user and they will bend over backwards to help in a very timely fashion. I don't work for or have anything to do other than the fact that I have purchased 3 more of their drives for my customers since I purchased mine. 2 16x DVD-Roms and 1 Dual Layer 16X Burner. No problems and the quality is excellent at a very reasonable price. I usually don't blow someones horn like this but these guys deserve it. It is nice to know that if you do wind up having a problem with an Emprex drive, just e-mail them at:tech_us@emprex.com. You will be amazed how quick they respond. To offer that kind of service in this day and age is extrodinary. Sincerely, theonejrs
Everyone has their own experiences with drives,one works for one and not another, I wont really comment yeah or nah on hardware because they all work different for different computers and people. The only reason I replied to this is because I have a 16x DVD rom and a 8x DVD-RW that are both BTC that Ive had for over 2 years that have worked flawlessly with firmware updates. Josh,
Dear Josh, I too have had BTC drives in the past and they worked fine. This is the first time I ever had to contact them with a problem. Their lack of regard for the end user in the U.S. is rediculous. They won't even honor their warranty and replace the drive! My main reason for writing to this forum was to let people know that if they need Customer Service or Tech Support in the U.S.A., BTC does not have any. I blew Emprex's horn because they helped me in spite of this not being their drive. I mean 3 days, 7 or 8 e-mails to me from Them. I want people to know just how good their Customer Service/Tech Support and products really are! Even better than Microsoft! Sincerely, Russ
Bought a BDV316E closeout at Fry's for 19.99. Played only one DVD and PHHTTTT..... Garbage. You get what you pay for.
I gotten BDV316E but don't work after initial use. Next day you turn on rom does not work. I gotten it exchanged and does same thing. Updated the firmware, same thing. I've tried 049, 049 region free, 052, 060 and none work. Even tried the flash with B567 (for Fujitsu/siemens drives only) and that really mess things up. Computer wouldn't even see the drive, had to use dos and manually reflash it to old one. BTC is no help. At this point it's about to go into garbage but I like to mess with it little more. It's not dirty lens, all mechinical part work(still new drive, never really used it), just wouldn't read any discs. I'm wondering if this drive is rebadged as any other drive or if there is any other firmware avilable for this drive? It just seems that it would work with firmware update. If I can't find anymore firmware, I think I would start turning some pots inside or something.
I just bought one of the Emprex 16X DVD-Rom Drives from Fry's. Came with Firmware 0015. It is a re-badged BTC. The new 0019 firmware from Emprex and the one from BTC will not work. Downloaded the file and tried. Used their nice DvrUpdate proggie, and it will not flash the drive either. Tried dozens of things to try to get it to flash. Nothing. It is not worth $19. Am taking it back tomorrow. Gonna pay out $29 through PriceGrabber and get a good flashable LiteOn DVD-Rom Drive. Hope this is of some help to someone. P.S. Had a BTC/Emprex DVD burner. It was trash. Did not know how bad until I bought a BenQ DVD burner and WOW!!! Fast and QUALITY burns!!! IMHO isepiq
This is the continuing saga of BTC. I find it very strange that Emprex's and BTC's part numbers are the same. Somehow they just have to be the same company or at least related. I can't see any other reason that their part numbers would be the same. Emprex's interest in my BTC drive problems was almost imediate and very persistant. They wanted a lot of information about my computer, it's hardware and hardware configuration. They were almost impatient in wanting a response from me. If both companies are related then why is BTCs service so poor while Emprex's is outstanding? The thing the fascinates me the most is why the Emprex drives are so good and the BTCs so bad. Looking at the two drives, I'm convinced that they are from the same manufacturer and are identical drives. Are BTCs factory seconds? Do they even have factory seconds in DVD drives? It's not just me! I've met several people over the last 4 months with horror stories about BTC drives. Most of them purchased at Fry's! I don't think Fry's has anything to do with it as I purchased my Emprex DVD-ROM 16x and an Emprex 16X Burner from them as well. I use my DVD-ROM drive a lot and I guess I have watched over 500 movies since I bought the Emprex and it has worked flawlessly. It has never failed to play any DVD or CD. Even CDs that I have had trouble with on other drives, work with no problems! Price wasn't an issue as both drives cost the same, just under $20! It's definately a mystery!
