Holiday Shopping Roundup: Eight Dual Format Recordable DVD Drives
by Kristopher Kubicki on December 11, 2003 10:54 PM EST- Posted in
- Storage
ASUS DRW-0402P/D
Our first look at this burner was back in September where we saw decent performance, but obviously, no cost benefit over the already existing Pioneer 106. Occasionally, we will interchange the ASUS DRW-0402P/D with the Pioneer 106, since they are exactly identical. We are all very anxious for the Pioneer 107 (ASUS DRW-0804P/D), which we had a first look at Computex, but the specifications were not finalized at that time. Tried and true, the 106 was an evolutionary step in the long line of burners that made DVDRs a consumer product. Early this year, the Pioneer 106 and the Sony DRU-510A were the only dual format burners available (NEC followed soon after), and it was clear that all three of these burners were going to bring DVDRs to the masses.| ASUS DRW-0402P/D DVD-/+R Drive | |
| Interface | IDE |
| CD Write Speed | 16X, 12X, 8X, 4X (CLV) |
| CD Rewrite Speed | 10X, 4X (CLV) |
| CD Read Speed | 32X Max (4,800KB/s) (CAV) |
| DVD-R Write Speed | 4X, 2X, 1X (CLV) |
| DVD-RW Rewrite Speed | 2X, 1X (CLV) |
| DVD+R Write Speed | 4X, 2.4X (CLV) |
| DVD+RW Rewrite Speed | 2.4X (CLV) |
| DVD Read Speed | 12X Max(CAV) |
| Supported Modes | DAO / DAO-RAW 16 & 96 TAO SAO / SAO 16 & 96 Packet Write Multi-Session |
| Supported Formats | DVD+R (incremental) DVD+RW (random) DVD-R (DAO, incremental, multi-border) DVD-RW (restricted overwrite) CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-ROM XA, Mixed Mode, CD Extra Photo CD, CD Text, Bootable CD, Mount Rainer |
| Access Time | CD: 130ms DVD: 140ms |
| Buffer | 2000 KB |
Specifications on the DRW-0402P/D (Pioneer 106) are now just “OK” by today's standards. Access time is good and DVD read speed is excellent, even for a dated model. Unfortunately, all of the write speeds are a step behind. 16X CD write speed is really no longer acceptable, and DVD+R is already pushing the upper bound of 8X. Of course, this hit in specifications comes at a great benefit in price. Maybe it is true that slow and steady wins the race?
Again, like most of the other drives that we are revisiting, newer firmware has forced us to retest all of our media.
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rms - Saturday, December 13, 2003 - link
Why was there no identification/information on the physical drive used in these products? I'm disappointed.rms
artifex - Saturday, December 13, 2003 - link
Have you noticed that if you rip the ISO with DVDD, you need to burn it with that? I had trouble reading a DVD that I burned using Nero, but when I went back to DVDD for the burn it worked fine.KristopherKubicki - Saturday, December 13, 2003 - link
I use K3B and DVDTools for linux as well. Nero is good, depends on what you end up doing with it though. For ISOs and GIs, DVD Decryptor and Alcohol 120% are my particular choice of poisons.Cheers,
Kristopher
sprockkets - Saturday, December 13, 2003 - link
Haha, for some stupid reason that Sonic Software that came with my Lite On DVD+RW only drive said a new disc was already full or something stupid. Used nero from my other drive and works fine. Nero rocks, of course, under linux with SuSE and K3B and DVDtools it works fine too. Burns for me took around 13.5 min.KristopherKubicki - Friday, December 12, 2003 - link
Belzer, I emailed Nic about it. I was in fact using 2.24Kristopher
artifex - Friday, December 12, 2003 - link
Hmmm turns out my drive is identical to the BTC 1004IM. What can I say? I don't see any drives using that base in the comparison either, though I hardly feel prejudiced against, like the Lite-On people :)Anyway, looks like it does what I need it to, even has Mount Rainier support (My RW5125A didn't according to DVDinfoPro), for 1/2 the Plextor or Sony, so I should live with it for a while, right? I mean... I'm used to burning DVDs at 2.4x anyway, and now I can use the - formats (yuck, if I have to).
Belzer - Friday, December 12, 2003 - link
Kristopher: I think the MCC 003 should be identified as 8x in the latest (2.24) version of DVDInfoPro too.artifex - Friday, December 12, 2003 - link
Jeez, over $10? They must have a built-in Hollywood tax planned.I decided I couldn't wait. Fry's had a weird "Emprex" +- brand on sale for $90 before tax here in Dallas. I figure for under $100, I'll not worry about burning it up before Blu-ray... or whatever competes against it.
I'll let you know how it works... so far I see the websites on the box don't have any info on the drive :( It does seem to have a reasonably complete set of software, though. If nothing else, I can use it a little while and exchange it.
KristopherKubicki - Friday, December 12, 2003 - link
Belzer: Youre probably right. In DVD Info Pro, I got this (14)http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/storage/roundu...
Looks like the discs are just ahead of their time ;)
Kristopher
Belzer - Friday, December 12, 2003 - link
Thanks for the update, Kristopher! Sorry if I sounded rude in my last post.About the Verbatim media:
MCC 001 = 2.4x, MCC 002 = 4x, MCC 003 = 8x
Check Philips' list with approved media:
http://www.licensing.philips.com/services/db/midco...
or check this thread:
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=13821
or check Plextor's list of compatible media:
http://www.plextor.com/english/support/media_708Co...
or check for yourself with DVDIdentifier:
http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/
Verbatim probably hadn't the new 8x box art available yet so my guess is that they put the sample discs they sended to you in an old case.