Pioneer DVR-108D - Crowning a new Champion
by Kristopher Kubicki on August 31, 2004 12:02 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Final Thoughts
Without a doubt, this is the best DVD Recorder that we have tested to date. We are looking forward to catching a glimpse of some of the BenQ and NEC solutions in the upcoming weeks, but until we can obtain samples, we have to claim the Pioneer DVR-108D as our recommendation for best DVD recorder. The nearly identical NEC 3500A specifications excite us, and we are anticipating looking at the drive later this month. Particularly, the drive may have promise for those interested in bit setting capabilities (which are not supported in the DVR-108D).When compared to our reigning DVD recording champ - the Plextor PX-712A - the choice becomes even simpler. While we have enjoyed many months of Plextor's service as a standard against which to measure our other drives, the DVR-108D outperforms the PX-712A in every test that we have. Considering the additional features like dual layer and DVD-RAM, we really find it difficult to find a fault with the drive. And just to make everything all the sweeter, the Pioneer drive retails well under $100 on our RealTime Price Engine.
We look forward to testing our Pioneer DVR-108D with more 16X media as it becomes available, but until then, the drive can remain our number one 12X DVD burner - even if it is marketed as a 16X unit.
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KristopherKubicki - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
Degrador, fixed, thanks.Kristopher
Degrador - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
Bitsetting basically describes what type of disc it is (only matters for DVD+R(W) and DL discs). Having a drive able to let you set the bitsetting means you can write discs that seem to be DVD-ROM discs not writables, and so old dvd-players can handle them better.Another thing I noticed in the article, the image shows the Ritek R03 discs burnt at only 4X on the Pioneer, yet you say "Even at that ambitious burn ..." and "the Pioneer wins this bout both in speed and write quality". Wrong image link perhaps?
KristopherKubicki - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
saechaka: someone said a hacked 3500A firmware supports bitsetting. I think its a pretty moot issue nowadays but some people find it really important.Kristopher
saechaka - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
what's the significance of this bitsetting? and will the 3500a be able to utilize that feature? thanksDegrador - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
Under the features table, you have the drive listed as writing DVD-RAM at 2X. This drive actually doesn't support writing DVD-RAM, only reading.Perhaps another thing of note is that the retail version has better noise management / control than the OEM version.
Also, is there any chance of doing some benchmarks with the newly released 1.10 firmware?
Thanks
Budman - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link
Pioneer DVD burners Rule!!