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  • kellvarsen - Friday, November 26, 2004 - link

    I would like to congrtulate the Anandtech team for this DVD-RW roundup as they prooved once more that they are better and more thorough with the testing than Tomshardware.And by this i am reffering to the writing quality test mainly ,which in my opinion is the most important and eloquent of them all.Great HL2 review also!!!
  • Tabajara - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link

    I've heard several people say that the new Plextor 716A drives are defective, and are mostly burning DVD coasters, specially dual layer ones. Pioneer Europe isn't selling them yet, and this also point to some kind of manufacturing problem. I was waiting for this drive, but now I don't know if I will buy a NEC or a Pioneer one. I would buy the DVR-108 if a new firmware version enables the user the choose the booktype to be used.
  • JaRb0y - Thursday, November 4, 2004 - link

    Curious, did you get the NEC 3500AG to write Fujifilm 48X CDR media at 48X? It appears you did, but I heard NEC limited the speed on some types. My drive does 32X on the Fujifilm TY, am I missing something?
  • DonB - Thursday, November 4, 2004 - link

    "ND-3500A is priced $10 lower than Pioneer's DVR-108D at $68" Prices are really coming down. I bought the same NEC 3500A just a few months ago for $95 + shipping (from NewEgg).
  • eleewhm - Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - link

    you guys sure know how to review dvd writers???
    looks like you are good at opening up the drives only

    Since when does NEC 3500 overdrive MCC003?????? 6:72??...it only writes @8x speeds....

    pls relook at the way you guys post the results...and understand nero numbers before publishing the article...

    see how ppl are thrashing you guys here in singapore...we have a bunch of serious ppl here doing testing ...

    http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?p=11...


  • Maverick215 - Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - link


    >NEC follows a pattern for each firmware revision: 2.xy, where:
    >
    >X = Type (Retail, OEM, Rebadge)
    >Y = Revision number
    >
    >Till today know patterns:
    >
    >X = 0 (OEM)
    >X = 1 (Retail)
    >X = 2 (I-O Data)
    >X = 4 (Freecom)
    >X = 7 (TDK)
    >X = B (Ricoh)
    >X = F (MadDog)
    >----------------------
    >Y = 6
    >Y = 7
    >Y = 8
    So what 2.26 really represents is the same generation of firmware with feature tweaks from an oem that rebadged the drive. The firmware wasn't released for the "retail" drive. We must distinguish OEM from rebadge now. OEM in the more "traditional" is a drive intended for resale, such as in a system(this is what you'll find at newegg and similar being sold as NEC). OEM rebadge would be a drive intended to be sold by another company with that company's logo etc if they desire, the insides of all these drives could very well be exactly the same, and often times are, since this saves the OEM a great deal of money. At most you'll get different revisions of the same line. (On the flip side you'll see companies such as HP that buy 16x drives from whoever is the cheapest, so Lite-On one month and BenQ the next)
    --
    NEC does have more support than just the "official" there are several "hacked" firmwares
    that provide all kinds of features not in the official releases(bitsetting included), though I think they go beyond the scope of what you were trying to portray.
    --
    So, more fairly you would represent that the drive being OEM(system) might come with a 2.x7 firmware most likely 2.17(see above). An important distinction. Since this would seem to give this drive the same flaw as the pioneer (bitsetting only in DL) that disqualified itfrom winning..
    But, I still don't need dvd-ram :)
    Picking and chosing features from untested firmware and not doing the same from another drive has introduced a clear bias(bias in a scientific sense, which is information/data which skews the results of your study/review due to a sytematic error in your study/review design; I am NOT implying you have a bias to one product or another) in the selection of the winner.
    ==
    as an aside, further confirmation that my assumption about the nutech drives is correct
    email correspondence with Chris Geerlings,
    Field Application Engineer from nutech I inquired to using any of the firmwares from the benq ftp. And he wrote back:
    "I know the (G7)K9 works, the others I haven't tested yet."
  • asteamerandy - Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - link

    In you review:

    "If LG had implemented bitsetting into their GSA-4160B, it would have helped their product climb the ladder ..."

    "The booktype setting feature offered in this unit also makes this a great drive. The GSA-4160B is a bit on the steep side ..."

    There are other instances if this abuigity. So which is it? Does the 4160B have the bit setting feature or not?
  • rcabor - Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - link

    Why do you say "DVDR burn speeds are excellent, and the drive technically supports 4X DVD+DL burn speeds, even though it does not readily advertise such. You can see our original DL tests on the drive here." But then right below that you show an image of the box that Advertises 4x DVD+R dual layer?
  • rcabor - Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - link

  • Maverick215 - Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - link

    Still not working, short story=NEC 2.26=2.16 with tweaks to rebadge specifications. they do not follow traditional revision codes 2.x6=are all same
  • yourdeardaniel - Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - link

    the PO graphs dont work for me.
  • CrazeeHorse - Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - link

    Yeah, Belzer is right. NEC have not allowed overspeeding of MCC003 anywhere, your read transfer speeds have been mis-mentioned as your write speeds. MCC003 stays at 8X!
  • Belzer - Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - link

    WTF. The write speed tables for 8x MCC DVD±R show the read transfer graph not the write speed.
    Here are the correct tables for some of the drives (pictures are missing for the LG and the rest are OEM versions so I don't bother to check them):
    MCC 02RG20
    Time Speed Drive
    6:33 10.44x BenQ
    6:33 10.22x NEC
    6:49 10.01x Pioneer
    9:29 7.05x Lite-On

    MCC 003
    Time Speed Drive
    6:26 10.47x BenQ
    6:46 10.01x Pioneer
    8:11 7.96x Lite-On
    9:47 6.72x NEC

    And it's the time not the average speed that is interesting so for MCC 004 (again pictures missing for several drives in the zips):

    Time Speed Drive
    5:50 11.38x BenQ
    6:04 11.68x LG
    6:50 10.00x Pioneer

    Also the BenQ does not cost $90, it costs $67 for the OEM version at Newegg (and you're taking the price of the OEM versions for other drives). Now if you also had bothered to update the firmware to the latest the BenQ would have had the by far best media support too making it the clear winner imo especially as a 4x DVD+R DL firmware update is expected to be released later this month for free.
  • Maverick215 - Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - link

    Ok now I can do even less... will check back tomorrow to see if its working then
  • Maverick215 - Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - link

    >I find that comment inaccurate. Pioneer USA's website is generally *months* behind the Japanese or European versions.
    I'm not sure what you're trying to say; and perhaps I wasn't clear since you don't seem to understand what I was saying. I am not familiar enough with pioneer's releases to really give you a certain answer. Though my experience with most of my personal hardware is that it is true one country will lag behind, but often times they end up posting the SAME exact firmware, unless there are language changes(do you really think pioneer USA is further certifying xyz firmware release or even recoding it from scratch? or did I miss you point all together?). Seems especially true for larger multinational corporations (left hand doesn't know what the right is doing) so you'll often see the earliest release on the "mother land" website. There will of course be a gradient of this effect since some companies are more tightly knit.
    My point was that nutech seems to have used plain vanilla OEM/Bulk firmware in their drive. So updating it with a newer firmware from the same line (not "forked" or otherwise customized) made by the same people would be the same as updating any other OEM'd drive with G series firmware. and the same as updating a retail drive with with the H series firmware.
  • Maverick215 - Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - link

    not letting me post large comments breaking them up:
    [ok I lied :)]
    I thought as much on the 3 drives issue as soon as I posted, sorry I got on a roll :)
    >>I think if it's official enough to be on the OEM's website that should be good enough to prove its quality.
  • Maverick215 - Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - link

    Odd...
  • Bozo Galora - Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - link

    Well< I got back from BestBuy and what do you know - they had them. Three on the shelf, I scooped them up and paid and out I went. The whole thing took less than 5 min.

    Cool.
  • KristopherKubicki - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    Maverick215: You are correct, those dates are exactly the dates we worked on those images.

    There are a lot of things in the editorial process that take some time to wade through, although we did the best we could.

    >I must also wonder why you chose 3 of the same drive.

    Some of those drives we did not expect to be the same when we received them. The NuTech we obviously thought was based on a Sanyo chipset (this was detailed in the review). We had no knowledge of the MSI's chipset before we asked for a review sample.

    >I think if it's official enough to be on the OEM's website that should be good enough to prove its quality.

    I find that comment inaccurate. Pioneer USA's website is generally *months* behind the Japanese or European versions.

    >BTW how did you accomplish bitsetting with the 3500..

    The official firmwares past 2.16 (our tested version) support DL bitsetting automatically, anything past 2.26 supports SL bitsetting as well. Since the drives are OEM, they almost always ship with the newest firmware available, and we thought the review should reflect that. Obviously though, we could only test on 2.16.

    Kristopher
  • Maverick215 - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link


    Thanks for the zips. I am obviously blind.
    As I said I understand you can't TEST the latest and imediately post the review. But typing one or two sentances that outline updated firmware changes (esp if those changes occurred several weeks before your submission) wouldn't take much time (unless you type REAL slow) You obviously had to go back to look at the results of the drives that you already tested to do your final comparison. Wouldn't drastic differences warrant a little more investigation rather than to just say NEC/etc is more mature, end of story?
    --
    These dates are the apparent test dates (yes I know modified != created, but it's the best we have)
    Pioneer 10.13-10.20
    NEC 10.13-10.21
    BenQ 9.17-9.28
    MSI 10.12-10.13
    LiteOn 10.13-10.20
    Sony 10.5-10.12 (pics of drive 9.27)
    LG 10.20-10.21
    Nutech 10.20-10.21
    While I imagine you were busy with other things, that's quite a gap.
    --
    I must also wonder why you chose 3 of the same drive.
    From the review it seems BenQ, MSI and Nutech are all using the same hardware, differing only by firmware.
    BenQ B7J9 9.24.04 (beta, from what I can gather)
    MSI M1.4 (can't find directly but others say it's 10.12.04; harder to change this firmware but can still be done, I won't go into it here since it's beyond the scope and likely MSI is more likely to be altering the oem firmware compared to nutech)
    Nutech G7H9 8.25.04 (first release solely for 1620 series drives, from what I can gather)
    http://www.nu-global.com/1_english/3_products/01_i... no new firmware apparently; though G7H9 would correspond to B7H9 (G is an indication of OEM/Bulk drive supposedly no difference among same revision they also seem to post to benq's european website within a day or so of each other.
    ftp://62.253.210.196/dvd-rw/firmware/dw1620a/
    (this ftp is what you are redirected to from the official website, the ftp houses the older revisions though)
    "retail"
    b7h9.zip 8/25/2004
    b7k9.zip 9/29/2004
    b7l9.zip 10/13/2004
    b7m9.zip 11/1/2004
    "bulk"/oem'd
    g7k9.zip 9/30/2004
    g7l9.zip 10/13/2004
    g7m9.zip 11/1/2004
    --
    What the heck does all this rambling mean!?!?!??!
    in short you could have easily upgraded your nutech to G7K9 (OEM released firmware) and tested it since you apparently didn't test it untill later in october, well after G7K9 was released, perhaps you might have even squeezed in G7L9.
    Yes, you might say that it's not an "official firmware" it will void your nutech warranty!!
    But when the manufacturer refuses to update their website, what choice does the consumer, who wants the most out of his/her hardware, have.
    from nutech's website:
    "This warranty is void if: (yatta yatta) If the unit is repaired, modified or altered, unless such repair, modification or alteration is expressly authorized in writing by NU.
    (yatta yatta)"
    I must say it is worth noting that none of the firmware downloads from NU's site that I looked at contained any such written authorization.
    I think if it's official enough to be on the OEM's website that should be good enough to prove its quality.
    On a side note, one might wonder "is such an upgrade a modification or alteration?" I'm inclined to call it a repair :)
    --
    BTW how did you accomplish bitsetting with the 3500.. To my knowledge NEC hasn't released a tool to do this (when I say NEC, I mean dl'able from nec.com, not mdmm.com(oem'd)) and if done in nero I was under the impression that there is a limit to the number of times this can be done (an enforced limit, ie it's coded in like RPC changes rather than the memory "wearing out") just wondering.
    --
    ok three very long posts that rehash the same thing.. unless there's something new I yield.
  • gtanuel - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    Just want to add an info about BenQ DW1620 pricing. I bought DW1600 3 days ago at SG$ 98 (that's about US$54-58). After upgrading the BIOS, it's now on DW1620's firmware B7M9. If the physical is the same as DW1620, it's effectively the cheapest 16x among the rest.
  • kernelgui - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    On page 13 where you published the test results with Ritek G05 media the graph heading indicates DVD-R 8X write speeds, however the smaller print below that indicates DVD+R media. Can you perhaps clarify if this table is based on + or -

    Thanks,
  • Fionavar - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    Thanks for the great review! Just one note of possible mistake - you have the DL R speed of the ND 3500a @ 2.4 when I believe it should be 4x.
  • KristopherKubicki - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    Maverick215: Testing 8 DVD drives takes more than just a few days. Our roundup was submitted Mid October and posted Nov 1.

    The zip files are at the bottom of each drive page. Look at the bottom of page 6 for the Benq.

    http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=22...

    Kristopher
  • Maverick215 - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    KristopherKubicki: Let me see if I got this.
    You say that you tested the most recent firmware available on the Benq. Your previous review was posted September 29th, 2004. The next firmware released was B7K9, files in that zip are dated 9.27.04 and it was posted to benq's US site 9.29.04 (the same day the initial review was released) So if you "... tested with the newest firmware possible" then either http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/storage/16xosd...
    is outdated or you tested the drive for 'this' roundup 'before' the previous review was released. I'm inclined to think the latter is true based on the features of B7K9. Similarly, "(your) second look at the DW1620 uses the same firmware, although (you) were able to get some better media." I assume you got this media prior to 9.29.04 as well...
    ---
    Just trying to figure this out for myself here (btw I can't seem to find the .zip files you refer to). I have no vested interest in any of this, just like to see things clearly.
    ---
    Back to the firmware issue. B7K9 introduced a great many write strategies changes.
    I will pick out the media tested that seems to have changed since before B7K9
    Mitsubishi (MCC 03 RG20) DVD-R is now 16x (should put speed about the same as NEC)
    Mitsubishi (MCC 003) DVD+R is now 12x (should be about the same as the RITEK test on the BENQ)
    Ritek (RITEK R04) DVD+R is a 16x supported media
    Mitsubishi (MCC 004) possibly had a write strategy change (uncertain) to make it full 16x; same for (RITEK R03)
    ---
    #35+KristopherKubricki
    Don't get me wrong I understand you guys can't test the latested of the latest ultra alpha zeta laser tool chain master firmware (yes I made that up as I went) and compile a review/comparison instantly. But I would expect if you are using new material for a new review that you use the latest firmware/software etc that is available at the start of that review/comparison. At the VERY least you could mention that firmware revisions/updates/etc have been made (google is easy to use) and likely improve the results of XYZ. Further mentioning new features have been introduced, such as in B7M9 (released 10.27.04) where high speed (8x) disc quality testing with nero cd/dvd speed has been added (must use latest firmware, with latest software).
    I may not expect to see such things on (insert company fanboy website here) but I certainly expect nothing less than what I suggest from "the leading IT source for hardware analysis and industry news"
  • Bozo Galora - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    BTW CDfreaks says the 1.01 firmware is out.
  • Bozo Galora - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    Actually if you look at store pickup it shows in stock (for me) at several places. But no one at those friggin stores ever answers the phone.

    Going out there right now to see, pick up 3 if they have them.

    Thanks for heads up.
  • Dennis Travis - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    The Modesto, Calif Best Buy had 5-6 the night I got mine. I was shocked to see it there. I am glad I bought it. My friend has the 712 and never a coaster after at least 500-600 DVD's and hunderds of CDR's. And the DVD's play on anything in my house including a Sony DVD that hates all burned media.

    Same with the 716a so far.
  • KristopherKubicki - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    We will test a PX-716A as soon as we get a sample.

    Kristopher
  • Warder45 - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    Nm they are backordered till the 11th - 17th. I'll have to check my local BB's to see if any of them got it in.
  • Warder45 - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    I think some are forgeting that testing these things doesn't happen over night. Between other reviews, news, etc and normal working hours it could be quite easy to have a new firmware come out after you've already tested.

    For the plextor drive it does seem like bestbuy's website has them in stock for $140 with a $30 MIR. So is the extra's of a plextor worth the extra $30 to $40?
  • Mem - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    I notice with the Lite-On 1633 drive you was for the roundup still had the original firmware,there`s a new firmware "BSOK" update out dated 26th OCT that has "matched more media" support.

    I happen to own the external version and can say it`s very quiet while burning and also in playback mode,the only noisy thing is the tray when ejecting IMHO,btw I think it`s a great burner very low P1/PO errors and no bad burns so far.
  • Dennis Travis - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    What is interesting is I just bought a Plextor PX-716a at Best Buy this last week. It works GREAT so far. Will do more testing but so far it's fast and reliable. It is at UDMA 4 by the way. It flys.

    It came with both a White and Black face and door.
  • Bozo Galora - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    er, Nov 8 for PREORDER
    apparently they are still working out bugs

    I note in the specs that the drive will run in UltraUDMA mode 4 or 66MB/sec in addition to PIO
    Interesting
  • Bozo Galora - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    http://www.plextor.com/english/products/716A.htm

    looks like Nov 8 for USA
  • Bozo Galora - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    #25-
    I have never seen a 16X Plextor review - care to link one?

    Latest Plextools out today 2.18
    http://www.plextools.com/download/download.asp
  • Mookie13 - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    Can anybody comment on the noise level of any of these drives (esp. the NEC, BenQ and Pioneer)? I'd like to throw one of these in a sff and use it as a htpc, so a loud drive spinning sound would really bother me.
  • KristopherKubicki - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    Maverick215: Feel free to download the .zip files with all of the disc quality q-tools and nero tests.

    techfuzz: When we tested the drive 2.16 was the newest available.

    As for the BenQ drive, we tested with the newest firmware possible.

    Kristopher
  • Aquila76 - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    From page 9 (Sony Review) <<...dual layer burners are pseudonymous with 16X burners...>>

    I think the word you're looking for is 'synonymous', not 'pseudonymous'. A pseudonym means 'a fake name', whereas a synonym means 'basically the same thing'. However, in Sony's case, pseudonym may be more accurate.
  • Belzer - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    I find the average write speed of 11.88x for the NEC on 8x DVD±R MCC media very hard to believe. It would need to support them at max 16x speed to get this average speed and it does not, unless you've used a hacked firmware.

    I also doubt that the Pioneer is faster than the BenQ @12x on 8x MCC DVD+R if you compare the actual write time. Other tests have shown the BenQ to be a good 30 seconds faster than the Pioneer at 12x thanks to PCAV write tech (vs. ZCLV).
  • 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? Bill
  • Gatak - 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.com
  • ecouser - 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...
  • Maverick215 - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    1) where are the 8x disc quality tests, it seems you only did -r, 16x, and DL
    2) who cares about DL at $10 a disc I have to quote you, "read/write capabilities are not really useful in applications for the common end user."
    3) who cares about 16x
    a)it's not readily available
    b) will likely be more expensive when it is
    c) no realized speed improvement (your review states 11.9x max for 16x and 11.88 max for 8x media @ 12x (again we don't know the burn quality of this 8x@12 burn but you gave the result)
    given these I'd have to say "read/write capabilities are not really useful in applications for the common end user." again.
    ----
    And to just take one drive here, the benq, you used a BETA firmware, it might be fair if you used a BETA of a upcoming release, but you used a BETA that is 3 public releases and atleast 5 weeks old. you consider NEC more mature, why not give Benq etc a chance to mature? At the very least you could say all burners were updated as of xyz date, at least we would have a reference point. And we could then understand that infact you started doing this comparison 5 weeks ago.
    ----
    That minor point aside. If you really care what is applicable to the "common end user" then why not more 8x media with the price of said media and then that media's burn quality tests(16x has a use here in comparing burn quality). 8x is what's most readily available, 8x@12x is comparable burn speed to 16x.
    Sorry but this review just leaves me with an empty feeling. Perhaps I am alone in my opinion, but I can live with that.
  • Reflex - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    Nice to know I made the right choice a month and a half ago when I grabbed the 3500A. It wasn't anything more than me looking for a bargain for a Media Center PC, so I just lucked into the best drive it appears.

    BTW, where do you find the latest firmware for this stuff? And are there any good reccomendations on softare, seeing as OEM drives don't come with it usually...
  • AkumaX - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    don't really care about speed, but which burner has the best COMPATIBILITY and RELIABILITY in terms of burning? the 108D or the 3500A or something else?
  • mkruer - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    So I take it DVD+R/RW won the format wars. BTW that would be a good article in itself. Why IS there a difference between the two formats (that’s -R vs +R)
  • KristopherKubicki - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    Most of the drives we reviewed are the OEM versions - they pretty much all look identical (flat, beige/black, one button).

    Kristopher
  • PuravSanghani - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    OCedHrt: Errors have been fixed for your viewing pleasure :)
  • Operandi - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    xsilver: If the drive is a re-badge then just say so in the artical, I don't think a picture is required.

    My point is simply that if your going get pics of the drives you should be taking pics of the portion people will be looking at. Other pics are fine but not geing bezel shoots dosn't make any sense to me.
  • OCedHrt - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    Hmm dunno how to edit. The CD-R write speed for the Pioneer between the graph and the table at the end is also different.
  • OCedHrt - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    The description for the Ritek G05 read test doesn't match the graph at all. One of them is wrong.
  • xsilver - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    I think the circuit pcb thing is a good idea -- some drives a just rebadges of other drives? (asus?) so to tell you look that the pcb / insides
  • Operandi - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    For future reference if you are going to bother taking pictures of the drives take a picture of somthing useful, the drive bezel. nobody cares what the circut board PCB looks like.
  • xsilver - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    Also is there somewhere where I can find tests on reading regular dvd-9 movies? my liton 16x reader goes completely ape when there is any scratches on the disc, the 106d is much slower but plugs through.
    This is when using dvd decrypter

    and who the hell uses cd's anymore? dvd's are so much cheaper per m/b to store data.... if someone doesn't have at least a dvd reader, I say quit trying to buy that l33t AMD64 / 6800 and get something useful!
  • PuravSanghani - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    The bitsetting feature on this model is very limited with the current firmware in that only DVD+R DL media will be autoset to the DVD-ROM booktype.
  • KristopherKubicki - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    >Also the 108d is the same price as the 3500a where I am.... would it be recommended then?

    I would still recommend the NEC-3500A. The faster CD writing is worth it.

    Kristopher
  • xsilver - Monday, November 1, 2004 - link

    Can the bitsetting option on the pioneer 108d be explained more? what will it auto set to?

    I have a 106d I want to upgrade and have found the pioneer to be much better than something like a liteon....
    Also the 108d is the same price as the 3500a where I am.... would it be recommended then?

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