Pioneer DVR-108D - Crowning a new Champion
by Kristopher Kubicki on August 31, 2004 12:02 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Burn Tests DVD+R Media
We have a number of different brands of DVD+R media ranging in quality.CMC MAG F01
This is an Imation disc rated at 4x write speeds.
Click to enlarge.
Hold your mouse over for the PX-712A image.
Click to enlarge.
Hold your mouse over for the PX-712A image.
Both the Pioneer and the Plextor drives burn it at 4X. You can tell the Plextor tries to burn at 8X before it is calibrated down to 4X at the first quarter of the disc.
Hold your mouse over for the PX-712A image.
As you can tell from the mouseover, the Pioneer does an excellent job keeping errors to an absolute minimum, even if it does mean writing the disc slower than what it is rated; the Plextor, however, does not.
Prodisc 16x
This is a Prodisc DVD+R rated at 16x write speeds.
Click to enlarge.
Hold your mouse over for the PX-712A image.
Click to enlarge.
Hold your mouse over for the PX-712A image.
The Pioneer didn't make it past 4x write speeds on this Prodisc media. Maybe a future firmware will help fix this.
Hold your mouse over for the PX-712A image.
There were some errors toward the beginning of the disc, but not enough to render this media useless. The Pioneer and Plextor drives have done well in keeping errors down to a low number.
MCC 003
This is a Verbatim disc rated at 8x write speeds.
Click to enlarge.
Hold your mouse over for the PX-712A image.
Click to enlarge.
Hold your mouse over for the PX-712A image.
Writing to this media was a bit shaky throughout, but executed cleanly.
Hold your mouse over for the PX-712A image.
Reading the Pioneer burned disc in the Plextor shows that there was a slight glitch at the end of the write, but nothing too serious. The Plextor, on the other hand, had some trouble at the end of the burn.
36 Comments
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RyanVM - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
No SATA? Count me out.(I hope manufacturers read these comments)
Fishie - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
I decided to test that Ritek DVD+R DL (DVD 9) disc in my Toshiba M1802 DVD-ROM. It actually finished the test but it doesn't look so good.http://www.adventurousduo.com/host/ritekr9dltoshib...
KristopherKubicki - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
Ian@CDRlabs:>How can you say this drive is the best you've tested when you haven't even burned any discs at 16x?
Um? It burns the best quality discs at 12X and 8X. It doesnt have to burn at 16X to still burn better than any drive we have tested. And not that that really matters since 16X media availabilty is fairly non-existant still.
Kristopher
Fishie - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
Unfortunately, I only have Ritek GO3s right now so I cannot test 16x.I forgot to mention that I had the same results burning a Ritek 2.4x DVD-R9. It seemed to burn fine (using the latest version of Nero and DVD Shrink) but when I read it, it fails at the second layer.Degrador - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
With the 1.04 and 1.06 firmwares, yes, 12X was faster than 16X. However 1.10 starts the 16X zone a bit earlier, enough so that 16X burning is now faster than 12X. And yes, I also own one. However I use the beta firmware hack made by >:NIL - this allows overburning of 4X media (I can write Ritek G04s at 12X). Btw, booktype setting doesn't matter with DVD-R, it's not applicable.Fishie - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
I own a 108. Yes, it does read slower than it's counterparts. My Lite-On SOHC-5232K/Toshiba M1802 are faster readers. What I don't understand is why the review was done with firmware version 1.04 when they have two new firmwares out? I am using firmware 1.10 and it will burn my Ritek R03s 8x at 12x. It would only do 8x with v1.04http://wwwbsc.pioneer.co.jp/product-e/ibs/device_e...
http://wwwbsc.pioneer.co.jp/product-e/ibs/device_e...
http://www.pioneer-eur.com/eur/support_software.js...
Also, CDR Info did a review. On their tests, the write time was faster at 12x than 16x. They list a quote from Pioneer as to why this happens. As far as booktype setting: With +R DL media, it automaticaly sets it to 0000h (DVD-ROM). It doesn't support it with -/+ R.
LittleKing - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
Good review, but unless I'm looking at it wrong, the "Read Tests - Printed Media" page shows this to be a bit slower than it's counter parts.Also the overimage change doesn't work in FoxFire.
LK
Ian@CDRlabs - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
How can you say this drive is the best you've tested when you haven't even burned any discs at 16x?danidentity - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
Can't wait to see how the ND-3500A compares. If you guys want to test it, it's readily available at Newegg.And I'm not sure if you know, but it burns CD-R at 48x versus 32x for the Pioneer 108.
hjs - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
Can't wait to see the benq tested (who also has that bitsetting thing onboard)