I have LD V1.4 firmware installed on my NEC 3500 and it does not rip any fast then 6x. I rip the same cd in my Liteon 163 DVD-Rom and its 12x in no time. I tried it again in my NEC 2500 and it has herries 1.07 in it and it only hits about 6x also I tried it in my Liteon 1633 and it only hits about 6x. The only device that comes close to reading at 16x is the plain old DVD-Rom. Now I remember why I keep the DVD-Rom in the machine, because none of the DVD burners rip very fast. I have another question I have read in here some where about using a 80 wire cable. I guess these are the newer cables and maybe this is the problem. Can someone let us know if this maybe the problem.