Pioneer DVR-110D: Dual Layer Double Time!
by Purav Sanghani on September 15, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Introduction
Our last look at a drive from Pioneer, which was the DVR-109D, turned us off a little because of the lack of performance that we saw in its predecessor back in our Fall 2004 DVD roundup. In the fall, Pioneer's unit came in just behind NEC's ND-3500A with its speed and quality over the rest of the lineup.
This time around, we would like to expect that Pioneer's firmware team has taken past performance into consideration and have made improvements to their release firmware, version 1.08. Now, firmware changes from time to time, some with additional features and others in speed and quality improvements. But there are those firmware releases that introduce new issues, which can cause drives to perform even worse than the previous version.
A few weeks ago, we tested Plextor's new budget drive, the PX-740A, which is based on BenQ's DW1640. The PX-740A performed just like the DW1640, which is not a bad thing at all. Today, we will compare the DVR-110D from Pioneer to Plextor's PX-740A along with drives from our Summer 2004 DVDR roundup to see how it matches up.
Our last look at a drive from Pioneer, which was the DVR-109D, turned us off a little because of the lack of performance that we saw in its predecessor back in our Fall 2004 DVD roundup. In the fall, Pioneer's unit came in just behind NEC's ND-3500A with its speed and quality over the rest of the lineup.
This time around, we would like to expect that Pioneer's firmware team has taken past performance into consideration and have made improvements to their release firmware, version 1.08. Now, firmware changes from time to time, some with additional features and others in speed and quality improvements. But there are those firmware releases that introduce new issues, which can cause drives to perform even worse than the previous version.
A few weeks ago, we tested Plextor's new budget drive, the PX-740A, which is based on BenQ's DW1640. The PX-740A performed just like the DW1640, which is not a bad thing at all. Today, we will compare the DVR-110D from Pioneer to Plextor's PX-740A along with drives from our Summer 2004 DVDR roundup to see how it matches up.
Special thanks to Marken Communications for supplying us with Verbatim brand test media.
Special thanks to Antarra Communications for supplying us with Ridata brand test media.
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DigitalFreak - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link
But who can afford dual layer media? I don't care if the drive can burn DVD+-R/DL @ 20x, if I have to pay $3/disc for the media...Anton74 - Friday, September 16, 2005 - link
It makes for a good backup medium. Tapes of similar capacity are far more expensive, and far slower as well.Not to mention, the price of the media will undoubtedly drop over time.
Questar - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link
Still reviewing DVD drives? $50 items?I'm left speechless.
LoneWolf15 - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link
Yeah, because all of us would like to buy three or four, spending money and time to RMA if necessary because Drives A, B, and C didn't have good write quality standards across multiple media manufacturers and burnt horrible discs, or burned 80% of the media on the market at 2-4x instead of max. rated speed.
Just because a product is inexpensive doesn't mean it's not worthy of a review. Heck, I'd like to know which 120mm case fans produce the least amount of noise, for example. Do I want to buy ten just so I can test it out myself?
In the same way, DVD burning today is much like second-gen CD writers about nine years ago. Media differed by manufacturer, and some drives did a lot better writing than others. The problem is rarer today now that technology has matured, but with DVD burners, the technology is like a child; some growth has been achieved, but it's still a long way from maturity. All of us here want the best for our money. Don't you?
vijay333 - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link
Yes. Who cares how cheap they've become? It's a matter of how often you actually use them these days - you'd still like to get the best possible product. Falls into the same category as mouse reviews...wanderer27 - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link
Firmware is at v1.17 on the Pioneer Site. Why are we looking at v1.08 issues ?PuravSanghani - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link
At the time we tested this drive, 1.17 had not yet been released, which we stated in the review. We would also like to get some feedback from those who do have newer firmware versions applied on the performance/quality of burning to various types of media.If you do have the DVR-110D, or any other product we have reviewed in the past for that matter, with newer firmware than we have tested with, we would like any input you, our audience, can provide to help the rest of the community.
For those looking for reviews besides DVD writers, we have quite a line up in the coming weeks so keep an eye out!
Purav
DigitalFreak - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link
I would like to see an updated review with the 1.17 firmware, if it fixes any of the issues they had. However, it appears that 1.17 has only been out for a week, so they probably had the article done awhile ago.Lifted - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link
you heard me, fix it!n7 - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link
BenQ DW1640 still has the crown!