In House Review - OptoRite DD1205 12x DVD±RW

[Ian]

CDRLabs has taken an in depth look at OptoRite's new 12x DVD±RW drive, the DD1205. While affordably priced, the DD1205 offers some pretty impressive specs, including 12x DVD+R, 8x DVD-R and 4x DVD±RW writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 12x. More importantly, it's the first drive from OptoRite to support the DVD+R DL format. The DD1205 also includes features like 40x CD reading and writing speeds, 24x rewriting speeds and support for technologies like BURN-Proof and HD-Burn.

In this review we'll take a look at some of the features found on the DD1205 and see how it compares to some of the other 12x DVD±RW drives we've looked at. Does the DD1205 have what it takes? Is it the best bang for your buck? You'll have to read the review to find out.

[url=http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=240]
OptoRite DD1205 12x DVD±RW [/url]

As usual, if you have any comments or questions about this review or the OptoRite DD1205, please post them in the forum using the link provided below.

[Noua]

Another one that doesn't look promissing... Why not boost the specs with 16x - burn speed?

[Ian]

Why not boost the specs with 16x - burn speed?

I'm sure that's coming.

[dolphinius_rex]

It's funny... so many 16x writers look like they are good 8x writers, with 12x and 16x speeds tacked on for looks and marketing appeal

[Rich]

.......marketing appeal

I'm so un-ap-'pealed' I feel NE-KED!

I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist!

..er, ah-HEM. Sorry


rrrrich

[rdgrimes]

Nice review, as always, Ian.

One note, I'd suggest updating your scanning drive, the 811 is a fairly poor reader and usually gives higher error rates than the 832 or 1633 does..

[dolphinius_rex]

Nice review, as always, Ian.

One note, I'd suggest updating your scanning drive, the 811 is a fairly poor reader and usually gives higher error rates than the 832 or 1633 does..

That might have been the point

Personally, I'm happy Ian uses that drive. It's one of the better LiteON DVD Burners to be used for scanning in my opinion. The 832s is FAR too forgiving. After running into about 3 or 4 media types that scanned perfectly in my 832s but wouldn't play properly in most devices, or even pass the transfer rate test on the same 832s, I lost a lot of faith in using the drive as a reliable tester. The 411s/811s series has not had NEARLY this kind of variance in scan quality to real life results.

[Ian]

Nice review, as always, Ian.

One note, I'd suggest updating your scanning drive, the 811 is a fairly poor reader and usually gives higher error rates than the 832 or 1633 does..

Hmm.. I've always thought the opposite. Drives like the 832S gave higher results than the 811S. It's all for relative comparison anyway. If its good, its good.. if its bad, its bad.

[Wesociety]

I also prefer the 401/411/811 drives for PI/PIF scanning.
And of course it is good to keep the scanning drive constant between the various drive reviews for comparison purposes, which Ian is doing here.

Edit: Nice review Ian.

[vsekh]

Nice review Ian. Though I'm still happy with the Plextor 712a drive.

Thought I'd point out a typo. I believe you meant that TDK and Plextor have a maximum CD write speed of "48x" write speed and not 40x in this sentence:

The DD1205 went into this test with a slight disadvantage. While the drives from TDK and Plextor have a maximum CD writing speed of 40x, the OptoRite writes at only 40x. Nevertheless, the DD1205 was able to write an entire 650MB CD in a little more than 3 minutes.

[Ian]

Thanks vsekh.

[Phoenix '97]

Nice review, as always, Ian.

One note, I'd suggest updating your scanning drive, the 811 is a fairly poor reader and usually gives higher error rates than the 832 or 1633 does..

That might have been the point

Personally, I'm happy Ian uses that drive. It's one of the better LiteON DVD Burners to be used for scanning in my opinion. The 832s is FAR too forgiving. After running into about 3 or 4 media types that scanned perfectly in my 832s but wouldn't play properly in most devices, or even pass the transfer rate test on the same 832s, I lost a lot of faith in using the drive as a reliable tester. The 411s/811s series has not had NEARLY this kind of variance in scan quality to real life results.

I'll agree that the 832S (well, my 451S @ 832S) is quite a forgiving reader. As an extreme example, today I tried some Princo 2x DVD-R media with the TDK media code in my 3500A. The reading curve in the 832S was perfect, however my Lite-On 166S DVD-ROM wouldn't even see the disc!

[Scour]

Hello!

Nice review, Ian

I´m surprised of the good DVD-writing-quality in the test because the other Optorite-drives didn´t have a good quality when they new on the sale.

In the CDRInfo-review the Optorite didn´t look so good

Do you know, when Optorite release a 16x-writer?

[dolphinius_rex]

Hello!

Nice review, Ian

I´m surprised of the good DVD-writing-quality in the test because the other Optorite-drives didn´t have a good quality when they new on the sale.

In the CDRInfo-review the Optorite didn´t look so good

Do you know, when Optorite release a 16x-writer?

Difficult comparison... CDRInfo.com uses the PX-712a/Plextools, and the LDW-811s at 8x, Ian uses the LDW-811s at 4x. And the scan variations between LiteON drives are quite different from each other even when testing at the same speed.

[Ian]

DIfferent firmware too. If I remember right, they're using a hacked firmware to get 8x read speeds or something.

Both reviews do make one point clear: the writing quality needs to be better.

To be honest, I have yet to be really blown away by the writing quality of any 12x DVD writer. I think the 4120B or the 712A (w/ 1.05 firmware) have yielded the best results.

[dolphinius_rex]

I think they're just using the OP mod on regular firmware. The Code guys make this very easy

[pchilson]

To be honest, I have yet to be really blown away by the writing quality of any 12x DVD writer. I think the 4120B or the 712A (w/ 1.05 firmware) have yielded the best results.

Show me a better 12x burn and I will buy that drive...