ASUS DRW-0402P/D: ASUS joins the dual format fray
by Kristopher Kubicki on September 21, 2003 6:13 PM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Write Speeds
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Click to enlarge. CD Speed determining the burn speed of a CDR. |
Below are the CD-R, CD+RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R and DVD-RW speed tests. We used CD Speed with the same configuration as the previous test.
| Average Transfer | Media Length | |
| ASUS 52X CDR Data CD | 15.97X | 79.49.74 |
| PNY 52X CDR Data CD | 15.95X | 79.49.74 |
| Mitsubishi 32X CDRW Data CD | N/A | 73:43.00 |
| Mitsubishi 24X CDRW Data CD | N/A | 73:43.00 |
| FujiFilm 12X CDRW Data CD | 8.33X | 73:43.00 |
| FujiFilm 4X DVD-R Data CD | 4.01X | 4.38GB |
| Bundled (Generic?) 4X DVD-R Data CD | 4.00X | 4.38GB |
| TDK 4X DVD-R Data CD | 4.02X | 4.38GB |
| FujiFilm 4X DVD+R Data CD | 4.01X | 4.38GB |
| Imation 4X DVD+R Data CD | 2.95X | 4.38GB | FujiFilm 4X DVD-RW Data CD | 1.95X | 4.38GB | FujiFilm 2.4X DVD+RW Data CD | 2.46X | 4.38GB |
Obviously, the ASUS DRW was not capable of burning all of our media at the speeds for which the media was rated. Obviously, some of our 12X CDRW media was bumped down to 10X as the maximum CD rewrite speed. However, the most obvious problem was with the Mitsubishi CDRW media. Typically, we regard this as very high quality CDRW media, but for whatever reason, the A06 completely refused to write or acknowledge the media as rewriteable. Reading from the Mitsubishi disks was no problem.
Another thing that kept us reserved was the unusual write speeds on some media. For example, our 4X rated Imation DVD+R media would only write around 3X, while FujiFilm disks had no problem writing at 4X. Keep in mind that FujiFilm DVD media is not nearly as high caliber as some of the other disks we used in this benchmark. Further tests confirmed that the drive inaccurately would not recognize other 4X DVD-R and DVD+R media from TDK, PNY and Imation. These inconsistencies in media would probably be solved by firmware upgrades. Feel free to check out the DWR 1.05 BIOS revision spreadsheet, DVR106D FW History Rev105.xls. As you can see, this drive has had a history of problems with various media. It would be wise to purchase only media for this drive that is mentioned in the Changelog as working.
Below is a sample write test with FujiFilm 2.4X DVD+RW disks that were recognized as DVD+R by CD Speed. The burner had no problem at 2.46X.
Click to enlarge.
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Anonymous User - Friday, October 3, 2003 - link
Hmmmmmm. It appears as though DVD-/+R is almost ready for prime time. Almost... Thought the ASUS product would rock, but it merely spins. And I was bummed to see that ASUS was not the OEM. They usually do a great job. We'll wait until after Xmas I think...Ho ho ho.Anonymous User - Monday, September 22, 2003 - link
Maybe I misread the review, but Nero test alone don't really give enough information - what about actual burn tests? Just because it handles a certain media in the speed test doesn't mean it won't burn a coaster everytime.In fact, often times the actual burn will be faster or slower then the testing, or will so a weakness for certain media that the CD Speed won't uncover.
Anonymous User - Monday, September 22, 2003 - link
What about Sonys DRU510, thats faster than all these drives in specs atleast and available for the same price.Anonymous User - Monday, September 22, 2003 - link
In this review, I am wondering the price for each drives in the market. If you chack the www.newegg.com, it is much higher than the quoted price.Anonymous User - Sunday, September 21, 2003 - link
Slightly off topic, I'm wondering how you guys rank the media? Maybe that should get it's own article sometime in the future?In the US at least, Fujifilm has been using Taiyo Yuden (until recently) for their CDRs which are generally regarded as the top quality. For the DVDRs theyve been using the latest Ritek revision and from what I have read around the net, these are showing very good results as well.
So I'm wondering how you came to the conclusion that their DVD are of lesser quality than TDK/PNY/Imation? I don't know anyone that touches PNY and Imation while TDK's history in CDR changes manufacturers so much they aren't consistent either.
Anonymous User - Sunday, September 21, 2003 - link
FYI: The AnandTech Staff are at Computex right now (we just got in!)I get to speak to LiteOn tommorow. We will see what new products are on the horizon soon!
Kristopher
ViRGE - Sunday, September 21, 2003 - link
FYI, in the Review Index, there are 2 "Final Thoughts" pages, 6 and 7. 6 is the real one, and 7 is blank, so I'm guessing someone should delete it.Anonymous User - Sunday, September 21, 2003 - link
Hope you can get the oportunity to compare with the new LiteOn CD-RW/DVD+/-RW unit that goes for an almost unbelieveably low price. Given LiteOn's positive record in regard of their pure CD-RW drives a combo writer will get a lot of attention.Now if only there were SATA models of these units as well.