ASUS 8x DVD±RW Drive - 8x DVD-R and DVD+R Writing Speeds

[Ian]

ASUS's new 8x DVD±RW drive

http://event.asus.com.tw/computex2003/p ... /index.htm



Writing Speeds
DVD-R: 8x, 4x, 2x, 1x (CLV)
DVD-RW: 4x, 2x, 1x (CLV)
DVD+R: 8x, 4x, 2.4x
DVD+RW: 4x, 2.4x
CD-R: 16x, 12x, 8x, 4x (CLV)
CD-RW: 10x, 4x (CLV)

Read Speeds
DVD-ROM (Single): 12x max. (CAV)
DVD-ROM (Dual): 8x max. (CAV)
DVD±R/RW: 6x max. (CAV)
CD-ROM/R/RW: 32x max. (CAV)
CD-DA: 32x max. (CAV)
Video CD: 4x (CLV)

Buffer Size: 2MB
Random Access Times: DVD: 140 ms and CD: 130 ms

As Telstar said in another thread, the DRW-0804A is most likely based on Pioneer's new drive (A07?)

Oops.. in my haste to delete someone's post, I deleted the entire thread.

[cfitz]

Oops.. in my haste to delete someone's post, I deleted the entire thread.

I thought I saw this thread somewhere before...

I wonder what that post was, that it was so bad it discombobulated you enough to delete the entire thread... I guess I am drawn to the lure of the locked/deleted post, as MediumRare would put it!

cfitz

[CDRecorder]

The first thing I thought when I saw this drive was "This drive looks like a Pioneer drive."

That certainly is nice that it will be able to write at 8x to both DVD+R and DVD-R! I agree that it would be nice to have better CD-R and CD-RW speeds, though.

[Han]

I have to say that 2 MB buffer size is rather pathetic. Such fast DVD writers should have at least 8 MB buffer.

[Phoenix '97]

8x CLV DVD-R writing? Really?!
Just how fast will the disc be spinning when writing at the inner edge of the disc?

[Ian]

8x CLV DVD-R writing? Really?!
Just how fast will the disc be spinning when writing at the inner edge of the disc?

It depends what speed it starts writing at. The PX-708A writes at 6x on the inside and spins at about 8000RPM.

[dolphinius_rex]

Holy cow! that drive looks like it'll be powerful!

This gives DVD-R the advantage in speed on both sides now. The ability to burn at only 1x for improved write quality, as well the as ability to burn at a daunting 8x CLV to compare against DVD+R's 8x Z-CLV!

My only beef is that the retail package should come with a DVD-RW or a DVD+RW

I don't particularily care about the CD-R/W recording speeds, since I wouldn't use the drive for it anyways!

Any word on when the 4x DVD-RWs will come out? I hadn't even heard of them being announced yet!

[aviationwiz]

The standard for 8x DVD-R and 4x DVD-RW has not been finalized yet.

[VEFF]

IMO the ability to burn DVDs at 1X is not an advantage, since burning at 2.4X 4X and even 8X is perfectly fine in terms of write quality, as long as good quality media is used of course.

The following comment taken directly from the review at cdfreaks seems to agree:

QUOTE:
DVD±R Write Quality:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately the only method of testing the write quality of a DVDR disc is by using the Kprobe software. The problem however is that Kprobe requires a Lite-On DVD-ROM drive to measure the errors on the DVD disc and I unfortunately don't own a Lite-On DVD-ROM drive. So, in order to somewhat test the write quality of the recorded DVD disc I simply watched them on a few standalone DVD players. I also played the DVDs in my very picky Xbox console and all discs played perfectly. This of course also depends on the quality of the used media but it does also indicate that the Plextor's 8x write performance to 4x media is working well.

[Halc]

Naturally burning at 1x DVD speed is an advantage to some people, if that feature is done properly.

With lower rotational speeds servo, laser, eccentricity and other disc physical property tolerances are wider during the writing proces. Meaning that more problematic discs can be used for more reliable results.

As such, I think that a lower writing speed is useful as long as it's properly implemented (and calibrated in firmware) and as long as media that is optimized for that particular speed (and laser calibration) power is available.

regards,
Halcyon

[Phoenix '97]

8x CLV DVD-R writing? Really?!
Just how fast will the disc be spinning when writing at the inner edge of the disc?

It depends what speed it starts writing at. The PX-708A writes at 6x on the inside and spins at about 8000RPM.

I know about this. It's just that the specs on the Plextor says it writes at 8x using Z-CLV. However with this drive the specs say CLV. Or did they just forget to leave the Z- part out?

Edit: Having another look at the site above, it now does say 8x Z-CLV. And it includes 6x CLV writing!

[chubz9]

wow, this looks like an awesome drive, 4X max for DVD-RW too, and 8X for DVD-R as well, which the px-708a does not support at the moment, but then again, you're not getting plextor quality. pioneer/asus, whatever... lol...

i am planning to order the px-708a next month, then i saw this... whew! lemme think about it! but media availability is another issue... it will be awesome if it could burn 2x -RW @4X and 4x -R at 8x too

oh well...

[aviationwiz]

Will it even do 4x DVD+R at 8x?

[VEFF]

Will it even do 4x DVD+R at 8x?

I have been wondering the same thing.
I think people assume it is normal.
Just because the Plextor does it, doesn't mean that every drive manufacturer will automatically include that ability.

[aviationwiz]

Yeah,

it would really suck for everyone who buys it the first day, and they expect it to do 4x DVD+R at 8x, and it doesn't.

[VEFF]

Especially people who have a lot of 4X blank +R media from all the deals recently...

[Ian]

That is one advantage the Plextor does have. I doubt drives like this one will be able to do that though. Then again, it probably won't ship until 8x DVD+R is available.

[VEFF]

If the Asus (and others) don't burn some/most 4X +R at 8X, then there will also be an initial savings benefit for those who burn quite a bit, since 8X media will probably start out costing somewhat more than 4X.
It isn't a huge factor, but it is nice nonetheless.

In my case, there was/is another benefit: I had a good amount of 4X +R media already on hand, which I would have felt silly having to burn at 4X on my new 8X drive.

[chubz9]

i agree, tnx for the info guys... yeah, i didn't think of that... i got so used of plextor's features, i thought every 8x burner would have that...

[dolphinius_rex]

Well, many burners were able to burn Ritek 1x media at 2x. Some burners are able to burn 2x DVD-Rs at 4x... I don't see any reason to believe that this isn't something which could be common amongst other 8x DVD burners.