Spring 2004 DVD Performance Roundup: More DVD Dual 8X
by Kristopher Kubicki on April 28, 2004 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Write Quality
In our last few DVD and CD recordable roundups, we have not taken the proper time to analyze read and write errors. For this section of the review, we give many thanks to our friends at cdfreaks.com for their insight and guidance with the KProbe error analysis tool. We used version 1.1.29 for this review. A disc written from each burner is loaded into our LiteOn LWD-851S drive and then run through KProbe. Since we are using the same DVD reader for all six probes, the errors on the disc should only represent errors generated by the write process. Lower averages are better.We used one DVD+R (MCC 003) and one DVD-R (MCC 02GR20) for each burn test. Both discs were burned at 8X. Our KProbe analysis was run at 4X read.
AOpen DDW8800 MCC 003
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AOpen DDW8800 MCC 02GR20
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On both media tests, AOpen had an unusual imperfection at 2/3 through each disc. Fortunately, both discs had very low PO error averages, lower than most of our other drives.
ASUS DRW-0802P MCC 003
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ASUS DRW-0802P MCC 02GR20
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Gigabyte GO-W0808A MCC 003
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Gigabyte GO-W0808A MCC 02GR20
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From the two burn modes, Gigabyte's GO-W0808A pulled the lowest PO averages. On DVD-R media, the GO-W0808A had fairly high PI errors, but at the same time, we had very low PO errors. We have seen this as a trend in most drives based on the MT1818E chipset.
NuTech DDW-082 MCC 003
NuTech DDW-082 MCC 02GR20
Our PO errors are incredible considering the almost laughable benchmarks on the original B364 firmware. Drives based on the MT1818E might produce better results, but considering the difference in price between the Gigabyte GO-W0808A and the NuTech DDW-082, we have to give NuTech a respectable nod here.
Sony DRU-530A MCC 003
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Sony DRU-530A MCC 02GR20
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Sony had real troubles writing 8X DVD-R media. Recall our DVD-R write tests that found the DRU-530A extremely touchy on CPU usage. This may have much to do with the fact that the DRU-530A was originally released as a 4X burner with firmware upgrades to an 8X drive.
Toshiba SD-R5272 MCC 003
Toshiba SD-R5272 02GR20
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mkruer - Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - link
Stupid question but i must ask, is there a firmware update to the Plextor 708A that allows us to burn dual layer DVD's? I remember there was quite alot of talk about the new drives supporting the feature, but that it was not enabled.deadseasquirrel - Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - link
"Why wasn't the Plextor 8x drive included in this comparison?"didja *read* the article??
Page 5: "Alas, our award winning Plextor 708A, which is also based on the LC897490, is not capable of 8X DVD-R, so we could not include it in this roundup."
moktaw - Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - link
Bought the NuTech 081 several months ago. Firmware upgraded to a 082(at least that's what Nero and DVDInfoPro say with B370 Firmware). This is my first DVD burner. Outstanding product, especially at $80. Burned about 25 discs so far without any coasters. I would love to find the B372 firmware upgrade talked about in the article, Checked NuTech's website this morning and couldn't find it. A typo or do I need to look elsewhere? Thanks for the great discussion. Looking forward to the 16x dual layer burners this summer.Booty - Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - link
Why wasn't the Plextor 8x drive included in this comparison?