"Questionable writing quality with some DVD±R media&quo

[ziggy]

I see this comment in almost every burner review here on the site. Many times it seems it has been said that it is at the higher speeds. Does that mean that if I end up burning at lower speeds ( I do not care about speed thaat much) will I get a fair quality with almost any burner? Is it also the same case with media compatibility if I drop my speed will I increase the compatibility to almost any media? I want to be able to produce back ups that last long time rather than to burn them fast. Which one should I get?

p.s. I would also like Fast Recognition time/Load Time, BitSetting as features in that order of importance

p.s.2. Ian, great reviews, it would be great to read up on the recognition times if they were included Nothing as annoying if you need to wait for a CD-ROM / DVD-ROM to be recognized for a long time

[Halc]

Many drives do in fact offer better writing quality at lower speeds (esp. 8x and 4x).

However, lower speeds does not quarantee a good burn, esp. if the drive is quite bad (can you say 'BTC') or if the disc is bad (too many to mention).

Also, sometimes the drive may be relatively ok (say Samsung TS-H552U), but it may utterly fail on a high quality disc (Maxell DVD-R 8x, MXLRG03).

So a combination of a good burn is easier to achieve if:

- you pick a good quality burner (lots of media support, good burn quality even at higher speeds)
- you pick quality media (Taiyo Yuden, Maxell, Mitsubishi, etc)
- you make sure that the disc in question is on drive's 'recommended' list
- you burn at a slower speed (8x, 4x)

That should do it in most cases.