Fall 2004 DVDR Roundup: Dual Layer and 16X DVD+R
by Anand Shimpi & Virginia Lee on November 1, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Write Quality Tests MCC 004
We read the 16X MCC 004 media in our Plextor drive with Q-Tools to check for errors that the various burners may have written. Again, only these drives were able to write to the 16X media properly for the PX712A to read.As we described in our second section, PO errors are the ones to look for when testing certain types of discs with burners. These errors can render a disc unreadable and should be minded if they exist in the double digits or even too often in a small area for them to be corrected. The media written with the four drives that we were able to read with Q-Tools were virtually PO error free.
Shown below are the results for those drives that were capable of writing to MCC 004 16X media successfully.
It is obvious that there were no problems writing readable discs with the Sony, LG, Pioneer, and Nu Tech drives.
PI errors are not as ruthless as PO errors. For example, though Q-Tools has read 404,647 errors on the MCC 004 media written with the 710A, it doesn't mean that the disc is completely bad. Most of these errors were found towards the end of the disc, but data can still be read off that portion of the media.
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The screenshots above show that the DRU-710A has performed a successful write, but the read back on the Sony unit towards the end of the disc was a bit shaky. We mentioned earlier how media is prone to warping on the outer portions and this is where most of the errors can occur. Plextor Q-Tools confirms that by detecting over 400,000 PI errors within the last 1GB or so written to the MCC 004 disc. Take a look at the graphs from LG's GSA-4160B...
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Again, about 99.9% of the PI errors are at the end of the disc. The Nero screenshots show nothing in terms of trouble with writing or reading from the disc on the LG drive, mainly because it was able to correct these errors with ease.
The DW1620 and DVR-108D have done a better job at writing to the media with 6052 and 5614 PI errors respectively. We're disappointed that the other drives could not write to the MCC 004 media or could not be read with Q-Tools like the burn LiteOn's SOHW-1633S performed.
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Sabresiberian - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link
#15 DL is important to me because I know the price of media will drop and I want the drive I buy to be as useful as possible for the longest time possible. I might be buying it today but I will be using it tomorrow :) Overall you make some good points :)I think this is a difficult time to do this kind of article, because other improved versions will be available before the end of the year. For example, the Plextor 716A will be released with SATA capabilities.
I think its wierd that you couldn't get the Plextor drive in time, as I know this product has been reviewed by others.
southernpac - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link
A recent (17 August) article in PC World advised extreme caution when buying an OEM (versus retail) DVD burner. It said that OEM units "carry no manufacturer's warranty, lack burning software and are ineligible for firmware upgrades" (therefore costing more in the long run). Many examples were given. I would appreciate advise as to whether this is percieved to be a real concern. If so, NEC has no retail outlet - how would you buy a non-OEM unit?southernpac - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link
A recent (August 17th) PC World article advised extreme caution when buying OEM vs. retail DVD burners. It claimed that OEM versions carry no manufacturer's warranty, lack software and are ineligible for firmware upgrades (therefore actually costing more in the long run). Many examples were given. I would appreciate some advise as to whether this is percieved to be a real risk. If so, NEC has no retail outlet - how would you buy a non-OEM unit? BillGatak - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link
How about overburn tests? I have many times wanted to burn 50-100MB more than a standard single-layer disk but failed because my drive or software won't do it.Codyman - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link
I'm kinda wondering if a PX716A couldn't get crammed into this test somehow. Been waiting for this review in hopes that it would've been in this test and I haven't been waiting the extra couple months for nothing.danidentity - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link
I'd like to see a list of recommended media for different speed grades (4x, 8x, etc.) for different burners.techfuzz - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link
Why weren't the firmware on all the drives tested brought up to at the very least the most recent officially released version? For example, NEC's current official firmware is v2.17 where the v2.16 used in this roundup is the original firmware as-shipped from the factory?!Bozo Galora - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link
firmwares are on www.cdrinfo.comecouser - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link
Doesn’t Samsung make a Dual Layer DVD burner? If so why isn’t it in this roundup?MIDIman - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link
Yay! I'm a winner! I was waiting for this article, but couldn't wait long enough, and picked up the NEC two weeks ago. Couldn't be happier.Here's hoping for better Ritek 8x/16x support...