Burn Tests CDR Media

We used the following configuration to test our ASUS 8x8:

Albatron 865PE Pro II
Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz 800FSB
2 x 512MB DDR OCZ PC3200 EL
Maxtor 80GB 7200RPM 8MB IDE
Windows XP SP1

Our ASUS 8x8 was benchmarked using the still unreleased 1.13 Firmware. You may download the firmware off our site here.

During our DVDR Roundup, we developed a strong methodology for testing our burner under several different kinds of media and burn processes. Today, we will add our burn times from the previous benchmark to this review. We have added and updated media from the previous benchmark to reflect the expanding selection in today's market.

Ritek 97m31s01f - 52X CDR
Drive Average Burn Length Mode
ASUS DRW-0402P/D 15.97X 74:43.00 CLV
ASUS DRW-0804P 22.39X 74:43.00 Z-CLV
Gigabyte GO-W0404A 30.23X 74:43.00 CAV
LiteOn LDW-411S 30.22X 74:43.00 CAV
MSI DR4-A 21.04X 74:43.00 Z-CLV
MSI DR8-A 30.32X 74:43.00 CAV
NEC 1300A 16.00X 74:43.00 CLV
Nu Tech DDW-081 29.87X 74:43.00 CAV
Plextor 708A 33.33X 74:43.00 P-CAV
Sony DRU-530A 29.28X 74:43.00 P-CAV

Mitsubishi 97m23s24f - 24X CDRW
Drive Average Burn Length Mode
ASUS DRW-0402P/D 8.36X 74:43.00 CLV
ASUS DRW-0804P 22.26X 74:43.00 Z-CLV
Gigabyte GO-W0404A 23.44X 74:43.00 P-CAV
LiteOn LDW-411S 23.43X 74:43.00 P-CAV
MSI DR4-A 10.04X 74:43.00 CLV
MSI DR8-A 23.32X 74:43.00 P-CAV
NEC 1300A 10.00X 74:43.00 CLV
Nu Tech DDW-081 9.94X 74:43.00 CLV
Plextor 708A 23.78X 74:43.00 P-CAV
Sony DRU-530A 23.31X 74:43.00 P-CAV

The maximum 24X burn speed on CDR media is slightly disappointing. On the other hand, CDRW burn speeds were very good. Granted, the difference between burning CDR media on the Plextor 708A or ASUS 8x8 is less than a minute. The ASUS DRW-0804P uses the same write strategies for CDR and CDRW media.

Erasure of a CD-RW took 2:00 minutes.

Tech Support Burn Tests DVD+R Media
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  • TrogdorJW - Tuesday, April 27, 2004 - link

    Let's not forget #5 that Blu Ray discs won't be readable in standard DVD players either, right? Might as well go buy one of those new Sony drives that cost $2500 to $3000 and store an amazing 37 GB or some such of data. And they "only" cost $45 per cartridge. Gee... $80 GB hard drives only cost about $70 and are much faster. Get some hot-swap setup, and these cartridge optical discs are destined for the scrap heap of history.

    And WTF is up with my login password not sticking!? Stupid LAN admins....
  • KristopherKubicki - Monday, April 26, 2004 - link

    Yeah, it should be published in the next couple days.

    Kristopher
  • LeftSide - Friday, April 23, 2004 - link

    I think anandtech needs to redo the review on the nu tech 81. They have released the new firmware that alows the buner to burn on dvd-r's.
  • Ian@CDRlabs - Wednesday, April 21, 2004 - link

    Blu-Ray? You're either very rich or you're willing to wait a few years until the technology becomes affordable.
  • PrinceGaz - Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - link

    I'm looking to buy a DVD burner very soon as software is increasingly being released on DVD instead of (or as well as) CD. Splitting multi-gig image-files across several CDs isn't the most elegant solution.

    From what I've read on cdfreaks.com (which despite how their url might sound is really a very fine site specialising in optical storage), the NEC ND-2500A and Pioneer DVR-107D are the best drives currently available that lots of people have tested with a wide variety of media, and they both have strengths and weaknesses. I'm seriously tempted to go with the NEC ND-2500A given its low price and generally excellent reports on burn quality which is the whole reason for having a DVD burner (the less than stellar read performance with damaged media isn't so important to me).

    Is the new 8x DVD burner round-up almost finished?

    Eeek, I've just checked prices and seen that CD readers are less than £13, and CD burners around £21. Theres even a 4x DVD burner coming in at as little as £50. Those prices are crazy! Has the bottom totally dropped out of the optical storage market?
  • SUOrangeman - Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - link

    I think any "waste" of money on current DVD burner must be weighted against the actual cost(s). For instance, if someone was running a special on this Asus drive for, say, $60, is that really as much of a "waste" as buying it for $120? Is it even a waste at all for $60?

    -SUO
  • araczynski - Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - link

    i think anyone with half a brain would have not waste any money on any DVD burner since the bluerays are just around the corner.

    besides, the name of the game is consumables, not the drive, they all use the same components from the same sources. just like printers.
  • spyhalfer - Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - link

    not much info imho, who cares about the 0.01 difference in speed?
    error checking tests, with different media, would had been nice

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