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No Panasonic reviews?

PostPosted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 9:43 am
by Hash
Is CDR Labs boycotting Panasonic / Matsushita?

There is not a single review of their products here and I would *really* like to know what CDR Labs thinks of the SW-9585. As the only drive (that I know of) that supports DVD-R DL, DVD+R DL, and DVD-RAM - I am very interested in the drive.

I am looking to upgrade to DL, and have a significant investment in in DVD+RW media as well as a *case* of DVD-RAM.

If anyone knows of any reviews / evaluations of this drive to the quality generally provided by CDR Labs, I would appreciate the input.

Hash

PostPosted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 10:00 am
by hoxlund
incorrect, LG offers dvd-ram as well as dvd-rw and dvd+rw burning formats

welcome to the forums

Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827136047

OEM Black - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827136047

OEM White - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827136046

only thing it doesn't do is dvd-r dl, but as far as I can tell neither does the panasonic/matsushita

PostPosted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 11:58 am
by dodecahedron
hoxlund wrote:incorrect, LG offers dvd-ram as well as dvd-rw and dvd+rw burning formats

but as of right now, only DVD+R DL and no DVD-R DL.
Hash said DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL and DVD-RAM.

@Hash:
rumor has it that the next Pioneer drive A10/110 will support DVD-RAM too (and DVD+/-R DL it obviously will) so you might consider waiting for it.

and welcome! :D

Re: No Panasonic reviews?

PostPosted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 12:15 pm
by Ian
Hash wrote:Is CDR Labs boycotting Panasonic / Matsushita?


No, they just don't have a very large retail presence in the US. A company called Hammer Storage is now handing their drives and we do have a review of the SW-9585 in the works.

I haven't gotten far enough into the testing to tell whether its decent or not, but here's an older review. It's in Japanese, but you can probably get an idea.

http://homepage2.nifty.com/yss/sw9585/sw9585.htm

You know, I'm not really sure about the DVD-R DL support. According to Panasonic's website, it is "optional". The drive Hammer sent us does not support it, even with the latest firmware.

PostPosted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 2:39 pm
by RJW
DUH.
Offcourse it's optional if it can burn dual Layer +R and it can burn single layer -R then they can add Dual Layer _R support with a firmware update.
Still they first have to make the firmware.
Now panasonic is not known for releasing extreme ammounts of firmwares.
There more like if we release a update then we make a good big update and not fix just a single strategy for a disc or a small bug.

PostPosted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 4:02 pm
by Ian
RJW wrote:DUH.
Offcourse it's optional if it can burn dual Layer +R and it can burn single layer -R then they can add Dual Layer _R support with a firmware update.
Still they first have to make the firmware.


Rude "DUH" aside... there is a firmware available that supports DVD-R DL. I-O Data released one for the DVR-ABM16A (rebadged SW-9585) in late April (http://www.iodata.jp/promo/dvd/firm.htm). I have not been able to download it since I-O Data requires a serial number.

PostPosted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 4:05 pm
by Ian
It looks like I-O Data's firmware changes the ID string from "MATSHITADVD-RAM SW-9585" to "MATSHITADVD-RAM SW-9585S".

http://www.iodata.jp/lib/product/d/1370_winxp.htm

PostPosted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 4:09 pm
by eric93se
that's a pretty complete review. too bad I cannot read it :(

but the RAM write quality seems good (I'm assuming those peaks are just markers made for each file).

PostPosted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 4:16 pm
by eric93se
they have a equally awesome review of the 1640 :)


http://homepage2.nifty.com/yss/dw1640/dw1640.htm

PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2005 10:34 am
by hoxlund
hoxlund wrote:only thing it doesn't do is dvd-r dl, but as far as I can tell neither does the panasonic/matsushita


thx dodech, already said that

PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2005 11:44 am
by dodecahedron
oops...my bad.

Re: No Panasonic reviews?

PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2005 6:54 pm
by Scour
Ian wrote:No, they just don't have a very large retail presence in the US. A company called Hammer Storage is now handing their drives and we do have a review of the SW-9585 in the works.



Good news :)

PostPosted: Sat Jun 04, 2005 12:20 pm
by Hash
dodecahedron wrote:@Hash:
rumor has it that the next Pioneer drive A10/110 will support DVD-RAM too (and DVD+/-R DL it obviously will) so you might consider waiting for it.


Thanks Dodec, I just may - even though my personal track record w/ Pioneer is less than stellar. Pioneer always reviews well - but I just seem to have problems with them.
Case-in-point: I currently have a DVD-116 that locks up my PC everytime I try copy a file from DVD media. This started after I flashed it (because of painfully slow reads of DVD-RW media) from v1.06 to v1.22 downloaded from the Pioneer support site. Oddly, it reads the directoy information of the DVD and copies files from a CD without incident.

Ian wrote:...and we do have a review of the SW-9585 in the works.

...there is a firmware available that supports DVD-R DL. I-O Data released one for the DVR-ABM16A (rebadged SW-9585) in late April.

Good to hear on all three accounts. I may pursue the I/O Data version if it is both more available and better supported. In the interim, I shall eagerly await CDR Labs review of the SW-9585.

Thanks all
Hash