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General => Marketplace => Compatible Products & Services => Topic started by: DeadPenguin on December 04, 2007, 07:13:58 am

Title: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: DeadPenguin on December 04, 2007, 07:13:58 am
Anyone know why the price spiked on Sony XL1B3 units?

I understand basic supply and demand, but what made them go from $99.00 to $300+ so fast?

Any likely hood they will ever get back closer to the $99.00 price?

Regards,
Blair
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: colinjones on December 04, 2007, 07:18:07 am
They are discontinued, so I guess people are profiting of the rapidly reducing supply side...?
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: tschak909 on December 04, 2007, 03:35:10 pm
basically yes.. and this is exacerbated by two things:

(1) the fact that the XL1B3 supply is dwindling fast (I have three of em)
(2) the fact that the closest match still in production, is the Powerfile C200/R200 (which is horrendously expensive new)
(3) the fact that Sony has NOT announced there will even be a replacement. the units weren't hot sellers, and this is the first system i've seen that actually made good use of them (Sony's own software sucked so badly, and don't even get me started on WinMCE's My DVD's!)

oops, I guess I meant three..... dadaist joke?

-Thom
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: Thraxius on December 04, 2007, 06:44:21 pm
I made the mistake of not buying 4 of them when I had the chance.
I have 2 myself and I am really sad to say that I probably won't be getting a new one because there are none out on the market. LinuxMCE uses them well. I was so upset because no matter what system I was looking to use they all wanted to just use them as a Ripping station. Which was upsetting. I use it as a DVD player and I love it. Now I only have 300 dvd's I have to look through and put into my DVD drive.

Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: tschak909 on December 04, 2007, 06:55:06 pm
I put my box sets in the jukebox, and rip the rest.

-Thom
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: colinjones on December 05, 2007, 12:48:29 am
Thom - do you know if they were/are multi-regionable? Even if I get one second hand, they were never available in Australia, so it is very unlikely that there are any Region 4 devices....
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: tschak909 on December 05, 2007, 12:52:38 am
I don't see any reason why not, the devices inside are standard Panasonic DVD-RAM drives with a different loader mech.

-Thom
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: colinjones on December 05, 2007, 03:32:18 am
Alternatively, is it that LMCE understands specifically how to use this particular changer, some generic understanding of changer products or simply the way the changer presents itself to LMCE that allows it to work well with LMCE? Just wondering if any changer product would do as well (really hard to find any decently priced ones at the moment anyway!) or whether each needs to be tested fully first....
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: tschak909 on December 05, 2007, 03:49:31 am
there is support specifically for each type of changer, currently the following ones are supported (if you look at the Powerfile_C200 code)

* Powerfile C200 (very expensive)
* Powerfile R200 (even more expensive)
* Escient (outside of most middle class budgets)
* Sony XL1B series

each one has specific support, and is predicated on a combination of mtx being able to manipulate the changer, and for the embedded drive layout to be programmed into the device driver for each device. The XL1B is especially different because the firmware is very brain-damaged from a typical changer perspective, there is a lot of assumption done by the official Sony software as to how the drive should act, and thus a lot of workarounds had to be implemented in mtx (the status data is completely different than your typical autoloader), etc.

-Thom
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: Matthew on December 05, 2007, 04:17:55 am
I don't see any reason why not, the devices inside are standard Panasonic DVD-RAM drives with a different loader mech.

Do you know how to replace the internal drive? Faster ripping, DVD-R, or maybe Blu-Ray?
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: tschak909 on December 05, 2007, 06:19:03 am
if you're clever enough, but it's not a straight replacement... take a look inside the case, and you'll see what i mean.

-Thom
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: Matthew on December 05, 2007, 08:19:38 pm
if you're clever enough, but it's not a straight replacement... take a look inside the case, and you'll see what i mean.
I looked inside, and wasn't sure that the drive component was completely removable, or that even removing the internals of a new drive would give me matching SW/plug interfaces and HW mounts. Or that just any new drive would match. It's pretty raw in there.

I examined my PowerFile C200 several years ago, and had the same uncertainty about replacing its even slower CD-only drive.

I'd like to see confirmation by someone actually completing the procedure before trying it.
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: DeadPenguin on December 06, 2007, 07:33:31 am
I was just curious. Looks like a supply demand thing going on. On ebay the average price skyrocketed from $160 to almost $300+.
I would really like one but I can't justify that purchase right now. If there was a similar compatible drive around  $200ish it would be nice. Anything more than that and its worth ripping .iso's to a decent sized NAS.

Regards,
Blair
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: DeadPenguin on December 08, 2007, 05:09:51 am
Is the XL1B2 compatible?
whats the difference between the xl1b2 and xl1b3?


Regards,
Blair
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: tschak909 on December 08, 2007, 05:21:27 am
yes,

basically? the drive. the drive in the B3 is a multi-format DVD+-R/RW/RAM/DL drive... the B2 does not do DL or RAM, (or dvd writing for that matter)

-Thom

Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: Matthew on December 08, 2007, 08:15:58 am
basically? the drive. the drive in the B3 is a multi-format DVD+-R/RW/RAM/DL drive... the B2 does not do DL or RAM, (or dvd writing for that matter)

I have 3 VGP-XL1B units (no trailing digit), that all say "DVD+R DL" across the bottom of a logo that is a big "RW",  which looks like everything you mentioned except -R and RAM (but I think all +R also are RAM).
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: tschak909 on December 08, 2007, 08:19:28 am
*hmm* all of the units are called XL1B on the cardboard box, and on the visible areas of the case and chassis.

you have to determine via the drive itself. The drive is a Matushita DVD-Multi drive (it reports itself as a DVD-RAM drive via the drive identifier string, and I have used DVD-RAM disks successfully)

-Thom
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: DeadPenguin on December 08, 2007, 08:32:52 pm
Local Sony store selling for $300.00.  :( Refurbs were $200.00.
I was tempted to buy one after driving an hour to check them out. Still can't rationalize paying that much.


Thanks for all of the help.
Regards
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: Matthew on December 09, 2007, 07:34:43 pm
Local Sony store selling for $300.00.  :( Refurbs were $200.00.
I was tempted to buy one after driving an hour to check them out. Still can't rationalize paying that much.

Does that local store do the refurbs themself? I'd like to ask them whether they could refurb my new XL1B to include a faster drive, or maybe a Blu-Ray (+ everything else) drive, or whether they could even mount a pair of drives, like the extremely similar PowerFile units support. Do you have their phone#?
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: tschak909 on December 09, 2007, 07:53:16 pm
You can't mount more than one drive, the chassis doesn't have support for it....as for other drive types, maybe..the issue would be fitting the loader.

-Thom
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: billytwowilly on December 10, 2007, 01:54:17 am
So this thing can write dvd+r's? Damn.. I've been looking for something like this for a while, but I gave up thinking they didn't exist for under a grand... This would be a great way to back up my raid array.. Load 200 DVD +r's, start it burning and go on vacation for a week;) Any word on another 200 + disc changer that can burn dvd+r's that is also cheap?
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: DeadPenguin on January 02, 2008, 12:35:11 am
Still looking for a dvd changer. With the XL1B3 and R200 outside of my budget.
My alternatives are a refurb Xl1B2 or a Powerfile C200.
I just want to use it to be able to watch my DVD collection from my MD's. (changer connected to core)
I am leaning towards the c200 because its used and not refurbished.
Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Regards,
Blair


Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: tschak909 on January 02, 2008, 02:11:19 am
check on ebay right now. One place has a bunch of new overstocked C200's for $169 a piece.

-Thom
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: colinjones on January 02, 2008, 03:07:46 am
Thom - could you send a link??!! Just looked and could only see 1, for US$375...
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: DeadPenguin on January 02, 2008, 03:22:13 am
Just search Ebay for Powerfile.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=powerfile&category0= (http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=powerfile&category0=)

Regards,
Blair

* I forgot to mention in the auction it states "AS IS" so you really are taking a chance.
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: DeadPenguin on January 02, 2008, 11:20:32 pm
check on ebay right now. One place has a bunch of new overstocked C200's for $169 a piece.

-Thom

Thom - Do you know if the Powerfile C200's can play 2 dvd's at once? (they have two drives right?)

Regards,
Blair
Title: Re: Sony 200 Dvd XL1B3
Post by: tschak909 on January 03, 2008, 04:09:24 am
yes. they have 2 drives.