Pioneer dvdrw a107 vs a108

[Frank Marshall]

Hi all,

I want to buy an internal Pioneer dvd burner in November and I'm happily surprised to find the new 16x a108 dual layer jobbie selling for barely more than the superceded 8x a107 single layer unit. However, this situation has also aroused my suspicions, I can't help wondering if there some "issues" with the new drive that I should be aware of?

Y'see the reason I want a Pioneer is because I may want to have a DVD master replicated in an industrial facility, for commercial release. Some of these companies have indicated on their websites, a preference for Pioneer-recorded masters. I'm also quite sure only single-sided DVD5 homebrew masters can be readily replicated, any bigger and one must use tape. Since the A108 is capable of dual layer recording, is there any reason to suspect Pioneer may have dropped the ball with single layer burns on the new devices?

Thank you.

[Jkun]

Both Pioneers are as OK as recorders get these days, they just had to get a DL recorder out asap to stay competitive. Prices are nearly bottom now, prodcution costs are still high for recorders.

But like all other recorders in the market, they have lots of issues burning good discs. For each brand and type of disc, the proper burn settings must internally be made. And that's where the hectic release schedule of models is causing trouble.

The drive knows the perfect settings only if it recognises the disc. And to recognise it, it has to be in the drive's internal reference table. This table is updated with each BIOS update, but the manufacturers simply do not have enough manpower to keep up now that so many models are being released at insane close intervals.

So you have to wait a pretty long time to get a drive that knows how to burn a good selection of disc.

Whatever model you buy, find out what discs are on the manufacturer's approved list for that model and stick to it. And even then, the disc manufacturer may change its formula, or decide to buy discs in from another manufacturer and relabel them to cope with a production shortage.

I'm sticking with my 4x Pioneer; it will do til this whole mess clears up somewhere end of next year, when they've hit the end of the line for DL (16x is already the end of the line for single layer, can't go faster at acceptable cost)

By then DL media will hopefully be affordable too.

Jkun

[Debbie]

I compleatly agree with you Jkun. The problem with all the DVD writers I have used is a question of finding the right media that the writer will recognise without problems. That solved than "bob's your uncle"

Debbie

[Frank Marshall]

Thank Jkun,

I won't be able to wait til next year. I'll be getting a DVD burner in November for creating a wedding video for some friends of mine; the family insist on paying me in some way. I decided that if I ask for a DVD burner I can make them DVD copies of the video; it'll be cheap for them and I still get to be charitable enough to call the difference my wedding gift. Everyone wins.

I might start with Pioneer blanks (since I also have a Pioneer 355 set-top DVD player) and see how it goes from there. Actually, I already have a small spindle of no-name DVD blanks that I've been using on friends' Pioneer burners without any problems...

Thanks again.