PHILIPS DVD+-RW DVD8631

Thanks for the advice about PHILIPS DVD+-RW DVD8631 which came with Dell Dimension 8400, It wont't burn & ejected the disk and gave error.
I have contacted wtih Dell Tech Supp. online(its quicker than waiting on the phone. First, they sent me same Phillips drive for replacement, it has same problem.Finally, they sent me a NEC-3450A and its working fine now. just installed new NEC drive and that it...
Dell support tried to have me reinstalled OS, but I refused to do, and I said if you want me do it,I will ship this computer back to you...

 

Good for you. Always stand your ground.

 

I dont know what you guys did wrong, i got my dell 4700 back in march, and it came with the philips 8631, i havn't had a problem with it at all, i have my lots of dvds of music videos that i have downloaded useing sonic my dvd, they all worked great, and just last week i started making Backups of dvds i Buy useing a program i bought at Staples called 123 copy dvd, it compresses dual layer dvds and makes them fit on single layer disks, ive made more than 20 copies without a problem, maybe the drives you guys got were defective or something.

 

Hi snotragg,

In a few words:

There was a bad batch of drives done.
I bought my Dimension 8400 in Jan 2005 and I had one of them.

Trust me, it was the drive, mine and all 100,000 others ones

I now have the NEC-3450a and I am 100% happy.

Not long after that, seems a new batch came out and they seems to be no problems with those drives now.
So you are one of the lucky ones.

I had to argue 2 hours with Dell Support to get this drive replaced and NOT with an other Philips DVD8631.

Search the forums, you will see several of us were stuck with a totaly useless drive !

I will not go in more details, as I will get upset again

 

I just want to say that I have not had a problem with my Philips DVD8631 drive. The only change I made to it was a firmware upgrade. But I plan to use it alot because my Dell 8400 still has 7 months on it warranty. If its gonna break it needs to do it in the next 7 months.

 

I've had my computer for a few months now, and burned a crap load of DVD's. A full spindle (50) and I've been working on a project where i'm doing some home videos on DVD (Cyber Mole -- http://www.cmgamingcomplex.com ) So, I did what I thought was best and bought what I have read to be the best/universal discs on the market: Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD-R

I then tried to burn some copies on them, and all I was able to do was create a bunch of coasters. Very disconcerting, since I had just bought a 100 spindle for production. Found this thread and read up on things. (I went back and checked and it appears that I can burn just find on DVD+R)

So, I went to: support.dell.com and if you click on your systems and peripherals, and enter in your order #, or find it with the search, it will tell you all about your set up.

Click back on the my systems and peripherals after it's added, and click on the "resources" tag.

There will be a column for "Downloads" - Under it, click on "view"

Click, "Find Downloads"

Click, "Removable Media Storage Devices"

You'll see the drive down below that.

Download the new firmware to your desktop

Now, that's if you want the new version. I'm not saying it will actually work. I'm trying my second disc now. The first disc did NOT burn correctly at 8x speed, so i'm trying 2.4x.

I'll let you know how that goes.

 

I was wondering if someone can help me out with something, I dont know what i did, i think maybe i erased something i shouldnt have but my comp doesnt know that the drives are there, I have tried restore points but i had just deleted all but the latest one, I click on the drives under device manager and this is what is says, .............(Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware but cannot find the hardware device. (Code 41)

Click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter for this device.)

 

I have just got finished with Dell chat and I am really impressed. They are sending me the NEC drive,plus my $50 rebate that they tried to denie me. These guys really rock.

 

My primary drive in my 5 month old Dell, Philips DVD+RW DVD8631, is dead. The green light comes on foe about 8 seconds after I insert a disk, then goes out. Windows Media Player says there is no disk in drive. I did all that was recommended by Dell and Microsoft on their sites. I cannot burn or play CDs or DVDs, play games, run software disks, etc. At a computer store I described my symptoms and was told I needed a new drive. This is the first time I've had one bite the dust. I've e-mailed Dell twice in three days, but, I've yet to hear from them. If my PC is under warranty, they must make things right, as a drive is indespensible. Right? Mark.

 

Hello. Does anybody have an answer to this problem.
My F.Siemens PC running XP has a Philips 8631 DVD running 2x16 FW .

I would like to get rid of the Region settings and make i Region free.
I've seen FW from BenQx B7VP may solve this problem. However the FW loader program rejects to upgrade the DVD drive saying it is wrong FW version.

Cheers, Newbie

 

They just sent my replacement. Its another Philips drive but the model number and manufacture dates are different. This was made June 2005, the old one was Jan 2005. The model number is 8701 instead of 8631. It seems to be a better drive all around so far.

 

Just thought I'd add my two cents, bought a dimension 8400 with the dreaded 8631 in april and it crapped out on me about a week ago.

I did as someone suggested and emailed there support line thing (instead of phoning) and they replaced it without much bother two days ago, with an NEC-3450a .

I just mentioned that I'd heard a lot of bad stuff about the philips drive and that seems to have worked, now i just hope this nec drive is the sauce.

 

Hi there,

I also received the NEC-3450a after arguing like 3 hours on the phone.

Anyway, this NEC drive is 100% and I am very happy with it !

 

I spent a friutless and frustrating hour hour or so on the phone with dell support. The connection must habe been bad because i couldn't understand what the guy on the other end was saying? Maybe it was a language problem? Or, support was in another country. If I don't get an e-maolm from Dell by Monday, I may have to try again. I can't believe that it's taking so long. Other people say that Dell support is quick and efficient, and thwey have absolutly no problem getting a new drive. In all my years of PCs, I've never had a drive go dead, and I feel totally lost without one. And, considering the cost, I think Dell should replace it as my computer is still under warranty. Would sending them a letter (snailmail) do any good? markf505

 

I got a package from Dell today. But, I sticker on the outside said "refurbished". Inside was a Philips DVD+RW DVD8631 drive. Could it be one of the drives from early 2005 that we are complaining about? I hope I didn't get another bad drive. A return label was enclosed, so if it doesn't work, I'll send it back. I was on Dell Chat a number of times, doing the same troubleshooting steps over and over. Finally, I insisted on a NEC drive. Could I send it back and insist again on an NEC? Or, wait and see how this one performs? Mark