Holiday Shopping Roundup: Eight Dual Format Recordable DVD Drives

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.