CDRW drives

[Rob100]

Hi all,

I always burn (S)VCD's at 2x for max compatability with stand-alone DVD players. I tend to find when I start to go over 4x you get problems with errors, blockiness, corruption etc.

My good old Ricoh MP7125A will burn at a minimum of 2x (max 12x). Now my Ricoh 9200 will only burn at a minimum of 4x even though some software allows you to select 2x - the disc takes about 20 mins.

I've been looking at some of the newer writers and the specs don't say if they can burn at slow speeds. Some state 16-48x for example.

So, the question is... do some of the newer 40(48)x writes allow you still to burn @ slow speeds? If so which one's? Also what about the DVR-A04 when burning to CDR's? From what I can see of the specs it will only burn as slow as 4x.

Thanks,


Rob.

[Rob100]

Come on guys :-)

I know lots of you (us) make (s)vcd's, so if you're NOT having problems on stand-alones, tell me what your using - what writer, what media and of course - what speed are you burning at??

Thanks in advance,


Rob.

[paulw]

As the price of DVD writer in this part of the world are priced like BMWs I still use a HP 8100 CDRW and Kodak disks.

CDRW 2 speed and CDR 4 speed. That's the max this writer does.

If it dies before I get a DVD writer then I guess I will replace it with some thing cheap as a basic writer..

Never had a problem with SVCD on stand alone DVD players..

[Phil Pugh]

Using HP 9100 for VCD/SVCD/miniDVD.

8x on CD-R (many manuf types)
4x on CD-RW (Memorex)

Don't have problems playing them back on Philips DVD711 (it doesn't play the mini-DVD format) or Cyberhome ADL528

[Brian Ellis]

I've used a Memorex TwelveMAXX (low-cost) for VCDs, SVCDs and XSVCDs with many makes of CD-R media at 12 x and Memorex, Verbatim and Imation CD-RWs at 4 x. No problems with any burning, that I've observed. I believe it is possible to slow down the burning, but why bother ?

[Greebe]

Currently the best burner for Max compatability is the Lite On (and it's rebranded cousins) 24x10x40x IDE burner. After waiting over a year I picked one up for $52 at newegg.com (OEM/bundled with Nero) about three weeks ago.

Tested it with the Imation 12x blanks I have (a mess of) which worked flawless on my old Imation 4x4x20 that I converted into a Ricoh 6x4x20. With the new drive they work a peach at 24x speed.

Great disks + Great burner = flawless performance

[Rob100]

Thanks to all who have replied.

I have bought some different media and done further tests. I can conclude from this that the writer, the media and the player all make a difference.

I have 2 writers here. All Ricoh. My old SCSI 2x which still works great and in the six years or so I've owned it, it has NEVER given me a bad disc, but it's too slow these days.

My Ricoh 9200 combo DVD/CDRW in all honesty seems to be crap. I've tried 20x, 12x and 8x and all give me problems when playing on a stand-alone, however as suspected the slower I burn the better it gets. I have 2 standalones here (Pioneer and Dansai) and I know the Dansai to be more "sensitive", so I've tested this as worst case scenario.

My Ricoh 7125 CDRW appears at first to be okay burning a disc at 12x and watching maybe 10 minutes on either stand-alone seems to be okay, but this morning I watched 40 minutes and there were problems (repeatable on both players). I haven't tried with this writer at 8x, but will do soon.

A m8 of mine has just bought a Lite-on 32x, so it will be interesting to see how fast this will burn a 100% succesfull disc!?!?

I'm starting to wonder with the price of DVD-R's so low now and I can get an A04 (sorry the OEM 104) for £259 inc VAT delivered if I shouldn't move on from VCD/SVCD's... Or maybe I should hang on and get one of these new Hitachi/LG drives??

Rob.

[Dr Mordrid]

I use Memorex and PNY blanks on a Sony 140e at 8x with no problems.

Terry

[Rob100]

Well my m8 burnt a SVCD at 32x on Datasafe 32x media using his new Lite-on and he claims it plays fine on his standalone. He's working nights this week so I can't check this out for myself, so being impatient...

I have ordered a Lite-on 40x (32x was out of stock) and a Plextor 40x. I couldn't decide which to get, so I thought "what the hell".... Also it would seem that the Plextor can play (and allow you to rip etc) "copy protected" Audio CD's without any 3rd party software etc.

Anyway I should have both drives tomorrow and will report back.

Rob.

[William]

The important bit is to get media that is well matched with the drives you are using to write, and with your DVD player.

That might mean media using Phatocyanine, or using Cyanine, or Metal Azo as the dye, and Gold or Silver as the reflective layer, but once you've found a type that works, stick with it.

The situation in this regard is much better than it was this time last year, as the rebadgers are changing their source less than then now (something to do with Philips cracking dow on royalties not being paid to them I suspect). The new drives also have developed better power calibration techniques (i.e. continous), so you're far more likely to get a better write with the LiteOn 40x than with the 9200.

Best of luck with your new drives.

[Rob100]

I've been a bit busy, so little time to test properly, but initial tests are good.

Using the Lite-On I have burned a SVCD @ 32x using the same DataSafe media and it appears to play perfectly on both of my players

However the Plextor (despite costing double the money!) doesn't seem to be quite a good. Burnt 3 discs at 20x, 32x and 40x (same media) and the all play okay in my Pioneer, but not in the other (Dansai) player. I will try some different media over the weekend. I am only getting minor glitches (nothing like the Ricoh produced), but still there are some errors.

I am a little annoyed as one of the features of the Plextor is to manually adjust the laser power to make it more compatible with car CD players etc (this did influence my purchasing decision), but sadly this only works when burning at 4x - a point I either missed or was not mentioned on their web site.

Anyway, so far so good. I never would have believed that the writer made so much difference, but this has proved the point and so far the Lite-On seems to be the best bet (and a bargain at the price!).

Rob.

[William]

Originally posted by Rob100
I am a little annoyed as one of the features of the Plextor is to manually adjust the laser power to make it more compatible with car CD players etc (this did influence my purchasing decision), but sadly this only works when burning at 4x - a point I either missed or was not mentioned on their web site.


Rob. [/B]

The anual adjusten of the laser power on the new Plex models is a marketing gimmick, and nothing more. Power calibration done by the drive will _always_ be better than whatever a user guesses.