I was going for a NEC 2500 or 2510 drive, but i saw an HP 420i for about the same price.
I would like to have :
bit settings,
DL recording,
rip lock remove if possible (i have pioneer drive for rip anyway).
I normally use Verbatim and TDK, Maxell if i have too, and Memorex for cheap stuff.
So im going for a NEC 2510 unless the HP420i is a better reader, or if the NEC is oem, as HP is retail. (5$ more for the NEC one).
help 
they are all the same drive.
the 2510 has DL but rip is locked at 2x as are all stock 2500 drives no bitsetting except for DL media
hp420 is a single layer drive comparable to 2500 it is not DL, rip is locked at 2x bitsetting is supported
2500 no dl, rip locked to 2x, no bitsetting
however if you use one of herries firmwares (i use 1.07v2b4) you can have bitsetting, rip lock is removed, DL is available (in 1.07v2b5)
if you have an officemax in your area depending on the ad they may have a maddog 8x dvd burner which is a nec2500 @49.99 AR (89.99 out the door 40 MIR)
thk for the reply,
1- So reading is the same with the HP and NEC ? (I saw somewere that an HP firmware gave better reading of scratch disksā¦is it the firmware or the driveā¦)
2- BitSetting, DVD+R converted to DVD-ROM is supported in HP firmware right (automatic or soft patch) ?
3- They are the same drive so i can, one day upgrade the HP420i to DL with Herrie firmware ?
Just making it clear so i can chooseā¦ LOL still hard.
I wonder if the 2510 laser calibration for DL is as important as NEC tell usā¦
ā¦and if I flash my drive will I lose that calibration anyway, it has to be in the flash too but probly at a safe location ?
thk for your help.
Any news if theres gonna be a firmware that can add DL capability to the 420i?
herries latest firm from may!
you can use it on your hp
I noob how do I use booktype (bitsettings) with the HP 420i drive ?
Where is the software for it ?
damn i canāt edit my postā¦
Iām guessing with DVDinfo pro as for the NEC drives ? right ?
Because i was sure that HP had made support official but I did not find a soft on they web site for it :S
Youāre right. Bitsetting is possible with DVDInfoPro.
There is a tool from HP, too, but you have to install the HP software provided with your burner prior to be able to use it. It is located here
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/information_storage/software/
and is called dvdbitset.exe.
THANK YOU !!!
I found that dvdbitsetting .exe file !!
Now im at
70% HP420i
20% 2500
10% 2510
sure of getting that drive, yep HP is winning as of nowā¦
But why is HP saying : CD-r 24x and cd-rw 10x max when NEC is 32x / 16x.
Is HP drive made with inferior NEC drives. From forums i saw that itās a typo made by HPā¦but is it?
In NERO, does the HP420i drive show : 32x cd-r and 16x cd-rw as for the NEC drives ā¦?
(or i need an hack firmware for it ?)
Almost made my choice 
Yes, it is a typo. AOpen, for example, mention 24x CD-RW for their OEM ND-2500A. This is a typo, too! 
I found the HP420i to be much more expensive than ND-2500A and even ND-2510A (which officialy supports DL). 
Outgoing from your wishes in your first posting, you may want to purchase the HP 520i (is it out in the meantime?), which officially supports bitsetting and DL. For DL on the HP 420i youāll have to flash to a hacked firmware, so you can take the cheaper ND-25x0A as well, since it is the same hardware. And for that reason the HP cannot be a better reader than the NEC, where did you get this? It is only a matter of firmwareā¦
Well for me bitsetting is no1 and HP have official support for DVD+R (dvdbitset.exe on ftp). NEC only have it in DL or in hack firmware.
As for DL, i cant find any media over here for now, and still donāt trust the durability of that mediaā¦But anyway if i really need it then, i could go hack firmware.
As for priceā¦ the HP in on sale
as for : āAnd for that reason the HP cannot be a better reader than the NEC, where did you get this? It is only a matter of firmwareā¦ā
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showpost.php?p=587292&postcount=66
maybe he was just lucky (using HP firmware 1.27 or 1.28) ? Too bad no one else confirmed that.
Still not 100% sure, but HP is looking good
Oh, I see! Yes, I think, he was just lucky, or perhaps the HP firmware has different (maybe better) error correctionā¦
And you get HP cheaper than NEC? Then Iād buy it too, because, as mentioned, itās the same hardware! 
Wellā¦ firmwares may enhance error correction, so in principle it may affect the reading ability.
I never used pure HP firmware, but I know herries v2 firmware is HP based. Iām pretty sure he didnāt touch anything of its reading function.
But my experience sayā¦ HP based Herrie firmware does not make a better reader compared to 2500A based Herrie firmware. If one canāt read a disc, the other makes problem at the exact same spot. Nero read curve is virtually same. I still have some hope that NEC(or HP orā¦ whoever) may release a good āreadingā firmware in the future.
(But maybe that is the hardware limit.)