DVD+R Media

We have a total of 4 types of DVD+R media tested with the DVR-110D.

MCC 004

Our first test was disappointing, and a bit of a tease as well. We have seen Pioneer’s performance in the past and it has generally not let us down. The failed write of MCC 004 media, however, makes us wonder what the DVR-110D really has to offer us.


Click to enlarge.

To explain the graph in more detail, it does look like the write completed, but when we tried to read it back with the DVR-110D, the drive would not pick up the disc, which is a failed write by our definition.

Take a look at the drive’s theoretical write performance compared to the others.

16x +R - MCC 004 Write

16x +R - MCC 004 Read

16x +R - MCC 004

Plextools reports 27,730 PI errors, but all are spread over the course of the disk in the first 3GBs of the media, which is definitely not enough to get in the way of a successful read. Towards the end, though, we see a greater concentration of PI errors, but even this is not much to render the disk unreadable.

Ritek R04

Though the DVR-110D completed the write process on the Ritek 16x media, it only wrote at 4x throughout the entire burn, taking 14:53 minutes to complete using the CLV method and an average speed of 3.96x.

16x +R - Ritek R04 Write

16x +R - Ritek R04 Read

16x +R - Ritek R04

Reading back the R04 media, we see that the write was successful, but the DVR-110D struggled to read the media after the 3.5GB mark. It took the DVR-110D 6:51 minutes to read this media. PlexTools also shows a high number of PI errors, increasing as the read continues and showing a peak number of PI errors around the 3.5GB mark. This gives us some idea of why the read back in the DVR-110D suffered around the 3.5GB area of the media.

VDSPMSAB 001

Our low quality media kept the drive working as it never hit above 2.4x write speeds (average of 2.37x) throughout the write process. We should give the DVR-110D credit for at least completing the burn successfully.

The read back also showed a successful write, though the speed of the drive dropped from about 12.5x to just over 5x, just past the 4.2GB mark.

The screenshots of Nero’s CD-DVD Speed and Plextor’s Plextools can be downloaded here.

The Test DVD-R Media
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  • yanon - Saturday, September 17, 2005 - link

    I am glad that I just bought a Benq 1640A. I can't wait to test it on Tuesday.
  • deathwalker - Friday, September 16, 2005 - link

    Its sad to see such poor product development work being done a Brand name Mfg. There is no excuse releasing a product for production that does not meet the expectations of not only the buying public but also a product that does not live up to a companies reputation.
  • Bozo Galora - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link

    heres the 1.17
    http://www.pioneer-eur.com/eur/content/support/sup...">http://www.pioneer-eur.com/eur/content/support/sup...

    since the review was so negative, I think it deserves an addendum with FW 1.17
  • RyanVM - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link

    When are you guys going to review the PX-716A?
  • imaheadcase - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link

    How come we don't see SATA based CDROM/DVD/DVD burners? Is it lack of standard for those? Expensive? Even if performance was not a reason, sure would look nicer in a case than the old ribbon cables..

    Just seems like lately i've noticed lots of computer parts seems, well outdated compared to how fast other stuff changes. hehe
  • Anton74 - Friday, September 16, 2005 - link

    Indeed.

    On the same token, why can I buy 1GB of RAM for less than $100, but most all optical drives seem to have a 2MB buffer, or 8MB at the most for the more expensive models?


    Similar story for hard drives, which could potentially benefit even more. Why aren't there models with something like 64MB or even 128MB buffers? I'd be perfectly willing to pay ~$20 more for the increased performance.

    /soapbox
  • xsilver - Saturday, September 17, 2005 - link

    most of the memory on hdd's and optical drives is provided via 1 memory chip
    your usual ddr/ddr2 uses a 8/16 chip configuration
    they also try to use lower latency/higher frequency ram

    however, yes I do agree though that devices should come with a 32mb buffer, which is feasable
  • joex444 - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link

    Indeed, as already commented, the Plextor 712SA and 716SA are both SATA drives, 12x and 16x (which also has some more features over the 712SA). Last I checked, the 716SA ran about $120 or so.

    I was considering buying one, but realized that it would be incompatible with my SATA chip, which is one reason that you don't see more of these drives -- motherboard compatibility. Apparently the SATA chips were designed for HDs or something stupid like that...
  • bldckstark - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link

    The SATA reviews are just one Google search away.

    http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?article...">Plextor's PX-712SA Dual-Format DVD+/- SATA Drive
    http://www.tomshardware.com/storage/20040709/">MSI's DVD Drive Gets The SATA Connection

    It's a big world out there, you should take a look sometime.
  • KristopherKubicki - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link

    Unfortunately, OSD manufacturers don't have mature unbridged SATA interfaces. Thus, they need to rely on a bridge to support SATA, but the logic goes if you're buying a DVD/CD drive you've probably got an older computer (because new computers come with DVD/CD drives).

    On the other hand, there is some market for OEM components, as removing the PATA interface for some companies (Dell) saves them a fraction of the production cost -- but unfortunately then the OSD manufacturer ends up eating that cost with the bridge chip.

    Plextor did just that for a bunch of people at first, and coincidentally the company is in trouble now. When the margin on these kind of products is so razor thin, *anything* to increase the cost is a huge problem for manufacturers.

    So in short - there is no market to support SATA on OSD right now.

    Kristopher

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