DVD Burners

For those of you that rushed out and bought the first generation DVD burners (like myself) you have probably had to replace it already. I bought a TDK 840G last year from Best Buy. At the time, it was fairly reasonable ($240) and would burn up to 8 x. Sad to say, 8 x media is now finally available for the last few months. It seems the new dual layer burners are going to suffer from the same lack of support from the major media producers. I ended up replacing my TDK with a SONY DRU-710A from Best Buy. TDK give offer to fix my old drive, since I had been on record since March with issues with it. I sent it off today, so we'll see how long it takes them to replace it.

The reason I went back to Best Buy for a replacement is an interesting story. Plextor just put out a dual layer 4x burner and only Best Buy for some odd reason had them in stock. I ended up going to two stores, the one on Maryland Parkway and then the one out in Summerlin off of the 215 (not quite the middle of nowhere, but you can it from their parking lot). The reason I drove the 30 plus minutes is that they had the last two drives in town. A guy from the computer department at Best Buy called their computer center and verified they did have two of them, so off I went. When I arrived, they didn't have any on the shelves. I spoke to a guy name Joel in that department, who after about ten minutes of searching, did find that they had two drives in stock, but of course, he couldn't sell them to me. They were Best Buy online purchases, so they were waiting to be picked up by the people who bought them. I asked when that would be. He response was "when ever they come in the store".

I ended up speaking to a customer service supervisor. She did offer an external Plextor for $50 more or a discount on another drive. I declined both since I was told they had a drive and it was available. I did feel bad, but then again I was not in a forgiving mood after being made to jump through hoops. In the end, that is how I ended up with the Sony. She extended the return policy to let me take home the Sony and return when the Plextor drives come in. Keep in mind, that I buy the majority of my electronics from Best Buy, so that may have factored in their decision. So, if you are going to another store to get an item, my advice would be to speak to the person there yourself and get their name and title. Probably wouldn't hurt to speak to their boss as well. Happy holidays.