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Just got my Optorite DD0203 from accupc.com

DVD-R/W, DVD+R/RW, DVD-RAM

Just got my Optorite DD0203 from accupc.com

Postby UALOneKPlus on Fri Jun 06, 2003 1:35 pm

Thanks to Ian, I snatched up this great deal:

http://www.accupc.com/itemDetail.jsp?pid=DROPDD0203

$199.00 out the door, free shipping, w/ tax if you live in CA...

http://www.optorite.com/dd0203.htm

My order w/ Accupc went flawlessly. It was shipped via Fedex free shipping, 2-3 days shipping.

In the Optorite box, I received the Optorite DD0203 DVD+-R/RW writer, a blank "That's DVD+R" 4X media, audio cable, screws, a *really* short manual (for newbies this will be a problem), CD w/ Sonic myDVD version 4.0, and a CD w/ B's Recroder Gold5 Basic (I think this is used for HD Burn), B's CLip5.

The DVD drive sticker says manufactured May 2003, and it looks like an original Optorite drive, as I don't see any other model numbers or brands stated on the drive.

I will not have a chance to test out the DVD Drive due to work until later today or tomorrow, unless I really get backed up and I won't get to test it til Sunday or Monday.

Since my new PC is still being built by MonarchComputer.com, I'll test this on a 2 year old Compaq PC, w/ an Intel Celeron 600Mhz processor, 256 MB SD-Ram. I will be rebuilding a new OS w/ minimal software to test out this puppy, so it will take a while to get that set up...

As I get a chance to test it, I'll post the results here.

Ian - would you be able to host pix of the result? I don't have any pages to upload the pix...
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Postby tacojoe on Fri Jun 06, 2003 1:42 pm

i got my optorite too
so far i've had no problems
i burned 5 data discs and 2 xbox dvd's without a problem on verbatim datalifes at 4x
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Re: Just got my Optorite DD0203 from accupc.com

Postby Ian on Fri Jun 06, 2003 1:44 pm

UALOneKPlus wrote:Ian - would you be able to host pix of the result? I don't have any pages to upload the pix...


Yup. Just email them to me.

btw.. new firmware is out for that drive.

http://www.optorite.com/DV2_206.zip

I've heard some reports that the drive has some problems detecting the writing speed for some DVD media. For example, if you put in some 2x DVD-R media, it will let you try to write to it at 4x. Let me know if thats the case for you.

Optorite is supposed to send us one of these in a few weeks. I can't wait. :D
"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt." - Steve Jobs
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Postby UALOneKPlus on Fri Jun 06, 2003 1:59 pm

tacojoe wrote:i got my optorite too
so far i've had no problems
i burned 5 data discs and 2 xbox dvd's without a problem on verbatim datalifes at 4x


I'm glad I talked you into picking this up :lol:

Let's hope we both have great luck with it!
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Re: Just got my Optorite DD0203 from accupc.com

Postby UALOneKPlus on Fri Jun 06, 2003 2:00 pm

Thanks Ian! I'll test out the drive before & after the firmware update, to test if there is any difference.

Based upon its specs and price, this is THE best DVD writer deal around!! :D


Ian wrote:
UALOneKPlus wrote:Ian - would you be able to host pix of the result? I don't have any pages to upload the pix...


Yup. Just email them to me.

btw.. new firmware is out for that drive.

http://www.optorite.com/DV2_206.zip

I've heard some reports that the drive has some problems detecting the writing speed for some DVD media. For example, if you put in some 2x DVD-R media, it will let you try to write to it at 4x. Let me know if thats the case for you.

Optorite is supposed to send us one of these in a few weeks. I can't wait. :D
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Postby Esquire on Sat Jun 07, 2003 12:16 am

how is hd burn i can't get mine to run

trying to
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Postby tacojoe on Sat Jun 07, 2003 12:26 am

i havent tried HD burn yet, too busy burning dvd's
ill give it a try thou, i know nero supports HD burn

only problem i had was nero wouldnt let me burn a 4x dvd at 4x, made me burn it at 2.4x, i dont know what caused it, no matter, just a minor problem
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Optorite DVD Drive

Postby john_hodson on Sat Jun 07, 2003 1:59 pm

I just got the drive a couple of days ago. I placed it in an external case with a usb 2.0 connection. The drive performance so far is excellent. I have a bunch of Khypermedia -R dvds that burn reliably at 2x in my Sony DRU-500a. In the Optorite, they are detected and burn successfully at 4x!! They play without any problems in my 3 standalone dvd players (Apex, Sony, Toshiba). I guess this might be a bug but as long as they burn successfully at 4x and I have the option of burning at 2x, I'd have to call this a feature. One thing that you do want to do if you use Nero is to upgrade to the latest 35 version. I have not upgraded the bios and don't intend to unless I run into problems.
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Postby Esquire on Sat Jun 07, 2003 2:01 pm

hd working?

for anyone
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Postby conehead433 on Sat Jun 07, 2003 4:53 pm

I just got my drive and managed to successfully burn a total of one HD BURN data disc. On subsequent attempts I keep getting a track following error message. I have contacted Optorite about the problem and hope to receive a reply early next week. I was using Nero 5.5.10.35. The B' Gold that came with the drive didn't have the HD Burn feature lit for some reason and apparently caused some conflicts on my system. According to their website removing some of the Nero aspi drivers or making them not work would solve the problem. Let's see- disable some good software so some junk software can work, I don't think so. Anyway haven't tried a DVD yet, but HD BURN was my main reason for getting this drive. If Optorite isn't able to help resolve the problem it's going back to the seller.
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Postby Esquire on Sat Jun 07, 2003 4:56 pm

mine main reason was 200.00 dual format

hd is icing... not very good at that
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Postby conehead433 on Sat Jun 07, 2003 5:37 pm

For me the +/- DVD R was the sauce for the goose. I burn a lot of music archives to CD and pretty much just use TY discs for this purpose. Being able to condense from two to one disc was going to help me be able to save $5 or so a week on blank CD-R's. Besides, you buy a new product and you expect it to work as advertised, that's all. At the Nero website there is a lengthy list of possible causes of "track following error". Apparently greasing the spindles on some drives has solved this problem. Whether or not this is the problem with this drive I don't know , but I'm not going to be opening a new drive and voiding the warranty to find out. On another forum recent buyers have experienced this same error message and been unable to burn an HD BURN disc. I haven't come across anyone besides me who has actually burned one disc using HD BURN.
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Postby Esquire on Sat Jun 07, 2003 11:32 pm

yeah it is stank 4 sure,
i'm thinking a firmware will tweek it
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Postby UALOneKPlus on Sun Jun 08, 2003 6:33 am

I hear what you are saying. But I personally think HD Burn is still bleeding edge stuff, and not safe or reliable for archiving purposes.

Even the good TY stuff starts to go bad after 2-3 years (my 1st TY disc that was 100% perfect is now only 92% perfect after a scandisk check tonight).

Add to that the new HD Burn technology, which probably reduces to a degree the data integrity of any CD-R or CD-RW, it increases the risk of data corruption for archiving purposes.

So I guess what I'm saying is until the technology is perfected (via firmware updates, more software patches, etc...), do not rely on HD Burn for archiving important data. It's probably cheaper to buy 2 CD-R discs for that purpose than try to save the $$$ right now...

conehead433 wrote:For me the +/- DVD R was the sauce for the goose. I burn a lot of music archives to CD and pretty much just use TY discs for this purpose. Being able to condense from two to one disc was going to help me be able to save $5 or so a week on blank CD-R's. Besides, you buy a new product and you expect it to work as advertised, that's all. At the Nero website there is a lengthy list of possible causes of "track following error". Apparently greasing the spindles on some drives has solved this problem. Whether or not this is the problem with this drive I don't know , but I'm not going to be opening a new drive and voiding the warranty to find out. On another forum recent buyers have experienced this same error message and been unable to burn an HD BURN disc. I haven't come across anyone besides me who has actually burned one disc using HD BURN.
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Postby UALOneKPlus on Sun Jun 08, 2003 7:25 am

FYI - some interesting info here:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/archive/topic/68198.html (edited to add: warning!!! - some freakin' pop-up ads just showed up on my latest click, I hate those self-spawning monstrocities)

I burned a few DVD+R's, using Fuji DVD+R media. My 1st one, pre-firmware upgrade, was a DVD Copy via Nero 5.5.10.35, and was not successful. I believe Nero DVD Copy doesn't work if you have a DVD Video disc as the source.

I burned a 2nd DVD+R disc, using Nero's wizard, choosing the "DVD Video" option. The DVD+R disc burned successfully at 2.4X, verified successfully. Time for burn was 17 minutes, total verification and burn time was 30 minutes. Data was about 4 GB.

I burned a 3rd DVD+R DVD Video disc, with about 2GB data, and burn time was about 11 minutes.

I've taken quite a few screenshots of Nero Infotool and burning dialogue box. What's strange is that before I upgraded the firmware, at version 2.03 Nero would let me burn DVD+R at 4X. After the firmware upgrade to version 2.06, as I am creating the DVD-Video, Nero will only let me burn at 2.4X.

However, when I did the DVD "Copy" at 4X, total time was about 22 minutes, including "lead-out" time. When I burned the DVD-Video at 2.4X, the total time to burn was about 17 minutes, including "lead-out" time... Some wierd results so far...

I'm pleased so far that I can play the DVD+R video in my Hi-Val DVD-Rom on my Compaq, as well as my Samsung DVD player.
Last edited by UALOneKPlus on Sun Jun 15, 2003 2:08 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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semi-proper review

Postby UALOneKPlus on Sun Jun 08, 2003 8:47 am

Now that I've got some preliminary experience with the DD0203, and taken some screenshots, I'm going to provide a rudimentary review here:

Drive: Optorite DD0203

Firmware: 2.03 upgraded to 2.06

Media: Fuji DVD+R 4.7GB 120Min media (Note, I assumed this was 4X media, however, looking at the DVD face and the spindle it came in, there is no mention of any speed rating whatsoever. It could be that these are 2.4X DVD+R media. Unfortunately, Nero Infotool does not provide any information other than capacity.)

PC: Compaq Ipaq 5BW120. CPU - Intel Celron 600Mhz. 256MB SDRAM. 60GB WD HD w/ 2 MB buffer where data resides. OS - Windows XP Home.

Burning Software: Nero 5.5.10.35

The drive was very easy to install, even though the documentation that came with the drive was terribly abbreviated. I've seen bare floppy drives with better documentation. However, if you've installed or changed any CD-Rom ever before, this is no different.

I changed the drive select pin to "Cable Select" (the default is Master). Since this was on the "slave" spot of the IDE cable, the drive naturally became the Slave drive.

I initally had Nero 5.5.10.15 installed with my XP Home template. I did a preliminary Infotool check, and found that the buffer, according to Nero Infotool, is only 4 MB!? Also, Mt. Rainier is not supported.

Image

I verified that 5.5.10.15 will not recognize this DVD drive.

Image


I then updated my Nero to version 5.5.10.35, and ran the Nero Infotool again.

What's strange is that initially, Infotool showed the region as "All" (see image 1). However, when I tried Infotool again, and the region was displayed as Region 2.

Image

Sure enough, Nero 5.5.10.35 was able to recognize the Optorite Drive correctly.

Image


The first DVD+R I made was using Nero to create a "DVD Copy". Nero allowed me to burn at 4X. I used a source DVD-R home video as the source. However, the copy was not usable, as I assume that DVD Copy does not produce the appropriate DVD Video format.

Image


I then upgraded the firmware from version 2.03 to version 2.06. The firmware update went smoothly, and again the Region Code changed back to "all". However, I ran Infotool later, and again Region Code showed "2". I'm not sure why this changes. However, everything else remained the same - ie no Mt. Rainier support.

Image

For my 2nd DVD, I used Nero to choose the "DVD Video) option via the wizard. I then selected DVD files (VOB, IFO, BUP) into the Video folder, and burned again. This time, Nero limited my maximum speed to 2.4X. Total burn time for 4GB of data took 22 minutes, and then data verificatoin ran another 18 minutes. I was able to play the DVD Video successfully in my 2 year old Samsung DVD player, as well as my generic DVD-Rom on my Compaq PC.

I then burned a 3rd DVD with 2GB of video data. Again this was successful, and tool about 11 minutes to burn. Verification was successful, and I was able to play the disc without any issues.

Preliminary Summary:

I am very happy with the compatiblity of the Fuji DVD+r media with this drive. My buffer stayed at 50% or better most of the time, and the DVD+R disc looks really good after burning.

I have not installed the myDVD software or any other software from the Optorite package, since I prefer Nero. I may try out the other software later, but right now I'm thrilled to be able to successfully burn DVD+R videos.

Next steps - I will be burning DVD-R Khypermedia Videos. I will report my findings here.
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Postby Esquire on Sun Jun 08, 2003 9:00 am

it's only 4 mb, people are gonna freek

thank you 4 the review
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Postby mubb98 on Mon Jun 09, 2003 9:25 am

¡E 8 MB internal buffer
Suppose to be 8 per website. Overall I like this drive. Kind of loud though. No coasters yet. Made 5 DVD's and 4 cd's this weekend. Hey for 200 bucks what the heck!
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Optorite Performance

Postby john_hodson on Mon Jun 09, 2003 10:47 am

I’d have to rate this drive as excellent. It burns 4x + and – media reliably and even burns my Khypermedia 2x at 4x without problems. I have tried the HD burn feature and it works fine using Nero .35 on my xp system. The only problem is the resulting cd can only be read by the drive itself since my other dvd drives will not read it. The issues that I have so far are:
- Doesn’t like Princo 1x dvds
- Doesn’t properly display allowable dvd –R burn speed with current (not upgraded) firmware (not a problem to me as indicated above)
- Buffer seems to be 4 mb
Overall, this is drive more than meets my expectations. I also have a Sony DRU500a.
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Postby ebenton on Mon Jun 09, 2003 12:47 pm

According to the Optorite website, the following are the recommended media for the DD0203:


DVD+R
4x That's DVD+R47TY
4x TDK DVD+R47C
2.4x SONY DPR47
2.4x Imation 5112216022
2.4x HP C8009A
2.4x PHILIPS DVDR/008
+RW
2.4x Maxell 634010
2.4x Imation 5112242492
2.4x Memorex 32025560
2.4x HP C8008A
2.4x PHILIPS DVDRW/013
2.4x TDK DVD+RW47S
7 2.4x SONY DPW47L1
DVD -R
4x FUJIFILM v2.0 7410175241
4x Maxell v2.0 635020
-RW
1x Verbatim v1.1 94078

So the Princo brand is not listed, so maybe that's why it doesn't like it.
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Postby Budman69 on Mon Jun 09, 2003 1:15 pm

Jon hudson try to burn more than 1 HDcd, everyone else like me gets none or just one, i think the drive has a problem, poor quality control i'm sure, i called accupc and i'm getting a new drive shipped.
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Postby Esquire on Mon Jun 09, 2003 1:29 pm

any more hd problems?
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Postby conehead433 on Mon Jun 09, 2003 1:39 pm

The problem with HD Burn seems to be pretty much across the board with these drives. Looks like Optorite didn't do enough testing with HD BURN. Surely they would have realized they had a problem. After burning one disc with HD BURN i have not been able to do another one, getting "track following error" each time. This happens before any burning starts. It seems to fail as the cache load hits 100%. I did successfully burn one DVD with no problem. I think the drive itself is probably OK and am not sure that getting another drive is going to correct the problem. Hopefully they will come up with firmware that takes care of it. I had contacted Optorite and am waiting for a response. My suggestion to everyone is to use their website for tech support and let them know that you have a problem also. Hopefully they will respond quickly, but no telling.
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Postby Budman69 on Mon Jun 09, 2003 2:15 pm

Well when i talked to Accupc they said on the supplied software cd it says for Hdburn go to there website, which i cant find any info about it, why didnt optorite just supply nero?
Also maybe due to our computers hardware this is happening?
I'm using a Abit KD-7 raid mobo, via chipsets maybe thats the problem but i doubt it, i'm on a mission to figure this out!!
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Postby Esquire on Mon Jun 09, 2003 2:22 pm

i'm using a dell precision... i'm thinking it's a firmware
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