Pioneer DVR-R100 16x DVD±RW

Model: Pioneer DVR-R100 16x DVD±RW
Manufacturer: Pioneer Electronics
Provided By: Netlink Computers & Pioneer Electronics

Since the dawn of DVD recording, Pioneer has stood out amongst the world's drive manufacturers. Strong supporters of the DVD-R format, and reluctant supporters of DVD+R media, Pioneer has greatly helped in the shaping of the recordable DVD industry as we see it today.

Of course, Pioneer's expertise is not limited to just DVD burners. Having been an industry leader for over five decades, they are involved in all aspects of consumer products. Pioneer's products range from the very simplest audio and video players, to some of the most advanced and professionally oriented systems you can find anywhere in the world. Today however, we're here to discuss the Pioneer's new DVD writer, the DVR-R100.

The latest addition to Pioneer's already impressive line of DVD writers is the DVR-R100. The retail version of the popular DVR-110D, the DVR-R100 is capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing speeds and has a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. More importantly, it's one of the first drives with the ability to write to both DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media at 8x. As usual, Pioneer hasn't stopped there. The DVR-R100 also has features like 40x CD reading and writing speeds, 32x rewriting speeds and an impressive software bundle from Ulead.

With specs and features like this, the DVR-R100 can easily be considered one of the most advanced burners on the market. However, specifications alone don't make the whole drive. To give you an idea of what to expect from Pioneer's new writer, we'll take a look at some of the drive's features and then see how it compares to the 16x DVD±RW drives from the competition. Does the DVR-R100 have what it takes? Is it the fastest DVD writer around? We'll answer these questions and more as we take a look at the Pioneer DVR-R100.

What's in the box?:

• Pioneer DVR-R100 16x DVD±RW Drive
• Software Installation CD
• Operating Instructions
• Drive Installation In An Instant
• Mounting Screws
• Warranty Information

Physical Features:

The drive Pioneer sent us for this review was manufactured in August of 2005 and came preloaded with firmware 1.11. For this review we used firmware version 1.22. As we were finishing up our review, Pioneer released a new firmware update, version 1.37.

While Pioneer has given it a new name, the DVR-R100 is simply a DVR-110D, packaged in a retail box. Sporting a more traditional look, the DVR-R100 is not nearly as eye-catching as the DVR-A10XL. As you can see, there really aren't a lot of logos either. The only logos present are those showing support for DVD-R/RW, DVD+ReWritable and Ultra Speed CD-RW media.

Below the tray you can see the DVR-R100's single LED. This "BUSY" indicator lights up green whenever the drive is reading or writing.

The rear of the DVR-R100 looks very similar to Pioneer's other DVD writers. By looking at the picture below you can see the drive's IDE interface, power connector and analog audio output connector.

Starting from the left of the IDE connection you'll see the jumper switch for master, slave and cable select. By default the drive's jumper comes set to master. Next to the jumper block is the analog audio connector. Contrary to popular belief, the connector on the far left is used for diagnostics, not audio.

Technical Specs:

Most of the specs below have been taken from Pioneer's website and the manual that came with the drive.

More Features:

By looking at the picture below, you can see that Pioneer's new DVD writer is identified as a "PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-110D".

The Nero screenshot also shows that the DVR-R100 has a maximum CD writing speed of 40x and a 2000KB buffer. This buffer is also backed up by some form of buffer underrun protection. According to Nero, the drive can also write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity I found that the drive was able to overburn up to 94:27 with CompUSA's 99 minute CD-R media.

While Pioneer's new DVD writer supports RAW-DAO recording, it cannot do EFM encoding correctly. Using CloneCD version 4.2.0.2 I was able to backup some older SafeDisc 2 protected titles like Max Payne by enabling AWS. Unfortunately, titles protected by SafeDisc 2.51 and newer, like Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, were not playable in all drives, even with AWS enabled.

Here is a screen shot from Nero's InfoTool. This program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. InfoTool had no problems detecting the DVR-R100's maximum reading and writing speeds, recording modes, buffer underrun protection and 2MB buffer.

InfoTool also shows that the DVR-R100 is a RPC-2 DVD drive. This means that the drive's region is stored in the firmware. The drive's region can be changed five times and after that it cannot be changed anymore. A patched RPC-1 firmware can be downloaded here. Just keep in mind that it is not supported by Pioneer nor by CDRLabs. Use it at your own risk.

While InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the DVR-R100's features, DVDINFOpro provides a little more information on some of the drive's reading and writing capabilities. By looking at the screenshot above you can see that while Pioneer's new drive can read and write to both DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media, it does not support the Mt. Rainier format.

The DVR-R100 doesn't let you set the book type of single layer DVD+R or DVD+RW media. However, the drive automatically sets the book type for DVD+R DL discs to "DVD-ROM". This greatly reduces compatibility problems, especially with older DVD players.

The DVR-R100's software bundle is very similar to what Pioneer has included with their previous DVD writers. The CD that comes with the drive contains a number of applications from Ulead Systems including DVD MovieFactory 4.0, VideoStudio 9.0 SE, Burn.Now 2.0 and DVD Player 2.0 as well as NovaBACKUP 7.2 from NovaStor.

Ulead DVD MovieFactory 4.0 - With Ulead's DVD MovieFactory you can create your own CD's and DVD's quickly and easily. Right from the start, MovieFactory gives you a number of options. From here you can create a new compilation, copy or edit an existing disc, or record video directly to CD or DVD.

Adding movie clips to your current project is as easy as drag and drop. MovieFactory lets you take any MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI, VOB or QuickTime video clip and add it to your project. After that you can add your own custom menus, backgrounds, fonts and music or use one of the included templates.

Ulead Burn.Now 2.0 - The DVD MovieFactory 4.0 suite also includes Ulead's CD/DVD mastering program, Burn.Now. This easy to use software lets you do a number of different tasks. From the main menu, you can choose to create, edit or copy a disc. Burn.Now's disc tools will let you erase or UDF format rewritable CD's and DVD's.

Ulead VideoStudio 9.0 SE - For video editing duties, Pioneer has included Ulead's VideoStudio 9.0 SE. This program allows users to quickly and easily capture, edit and share their videos. With VideoStudio you can capture video from a variety of sources including camcorders, PC cameras and VCR's.

VideoStudio also allows a person to create their own custom movies. You can drag and drop your video footage directly onto the editing timeline and then add scene transitions, background music, or title effects. When you are done, VideoStudio will let you burn your video directly to DVD or CD, or optimize it for use on the internet.

Ulead DVD Player 2.0 - The DVD MovieFactory 4.0 suite also comes with Ulead DVD Player. Along with support for DVD's, this software DVD player can be used to play back VCD's and SVCD's as well as other multimedia formats including MPEG, AVI and DivX.

Ulead DVD Player offers a complete set of navigation controls that will let you scan scenes at variable speeds and create your own custom bookmarks. It also supports features like parental controls, custom skins, LPCM audio and Dolby 5.1 down-mixing.

Ulead CD & DVD PictureShow 3.0 SE - The DVR-R100 also comes with Ulead CD & DVD PictureShow 3 SE. With this software you can quickly and easily turn your pictures and home videos into a slideshow that can be viewed on your TV. Creating these slideshows can be done in as little as three steps. Simply add your pictures and videos, select a theme and then burn!

Ulead Photo Explorer 8.5 SE - If you need an easy to way to transfer, browse, modify and share photos and other types of digital media, look no further than Ulead's Photo Explorer 8.5. This program lets you acquire photos, audio and video from various sources like cameras, camcorders and memory cards. Once on your computer, you can use Photo Explorer's built in editing tools to crop and rotate your pictures and remove things like red-eye.

NovaBACKUP 7.2 - Pioneer has also included NovaBACKUP 7.2 from NovaStor. This software lets you backup your data to CD/DVD, hard disc, tape or another computer on your LAN. Thanks to NovaBACKUP's step by step wizards, backups and restores can be done quickly and easily.

Backup jobs can be scheduled to run at regular intervals so the data is always protected. NovaBACKUP also offers more advanced backup features like compression, encryption, password protection and virus scanning.

The Pioneer DVR-R100 scores a solid 7 out of 10 for its features. While not as flashy looking as some of Pioneer's previous drives, it sports some pretty impressive specs. The DVR-R100 is capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. On top of that, it's one of the first drives with the ability to write to both DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media at 8x. The DVR-R100 also includes features like a 2MB buffer, support for some sort of buffer underrun protection and a software bundle from Ulead. Unfortunately, it lacks bitsetting support for single layer DVD+R and DVD+RW media.

Like the other Pioneer drives we've reviewed, the DVR-R100 was very easy to install. From start to finish, the entire process took only a few minutes. After taking the drive out of the box, I left the jumper set to master and installed it on the secondary IDE chain by connecting the IDE cable and power connector. When I turned on the computer the BIOS detected it as a drive supporting UDMA 66. After making sure that the DMA was enabled in the Device Manager, I was ready to start installing the software.

Software Installation:

As I mentioned earlier, the DVR-R100 comes with a CD full of software from Ulead Systems. If you have autorun enabled on your computer, the menu shown below will appear when you insert the disc. From here you can install the bundled software or check out the manuals.

Installing the Ulead DVD MovieFactory 4 suite is fairly straightforward. By default the setup program will install the entire suite onto your computer. If you don't want to install the entire suite, select the custom installation. From here you can choose the components you want to install. Unfortunately, you are still forced to install things like Photo Explorer and PictureShow. Personally, these are two programs I could do without.

If you run into trouble and need some help with the bundled software, the software CD contains a good amount of documentation in electronic format. The manuals on the disc go over the features of each application and cover a number of different topics.

Documentation:

The manual that comes with the DVR-R100 is a good example of what we've come to expect from Pioneer. While fairly compact, it is well laid out and contain a fair amount of useful information. The manual starts out by going over the DVR-R100's basic features. This includes an extensive list of specs as well as a few diagrams showing all of the buttons and connectors on the front and back of the drive. Pioneer has done a great job here as everything is labeled clearly and the functions of each are explained very well.

From there, the manual jumps right into the physical installation of the drive. Unfortunately, this section is very brief and consists mainly of some written instructions and a single diagram showing how the IDE, power and audio cables should be connected. If you're wondering how the jumpers should be configured or how to do things like enable DMA, you're out of luck. You won't find that information in the manual.

Pioneer does make up for this somewhat by including what they call the "Drive Installation In An Instant". This small, one page guide takes you step by step through the installation process. It covers all the basics including how to set the jumpers, hook up the cables and physically install the drive in your computer. While this guide has diagrams showing the different jumper settings, I wish Pioneer would have included a few example IDE configurations to go along with them.

In the end, installing the DVR-R100 and the bundled software was pretty easy. The documentation that Pioneer has included with the drive is brief, but should be enough to get the drive up and running. Even then, I would have liked to have seen a little more information on how to do things like enable DMA. With this in mind, the DVR-R100 gets an 8 out of a possible 10 for this section of the review.

Test System:

For DVD writers the performance tests are broken down into four sections: CD read, CD write, DVD read and DVD write tests. Each benchmark test has been run three times. The score given is an average of the three. DMA has been enabled in device manager for all IDE devices supporting it.

CD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the CD-ROM benchmarks, CD Speed v4.01 is used to test read speeds, seek times and CPU usage. For DAE testing both CD Speed and CD DAE are used. CD Speed is used to give an overall DAE speed rating and CD DAE is used to give the track by track extraction speeds and to check the extracted tracks for errors the drive may have created.

CD Write Tests: To test the write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write 650MB and 700MB to our test media. Times are recorded. To test rewrite scores, Nero is used again to time how long it takes to write 400MB of random files and directories. Then Sonic's DLA is used to test packet writing speeds. The same files are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

DVD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the DVD benchmarks CD Speed v4.01 is used to test read speeds, seek times, and CPU usage.

DVD Write Tests: To test the DVD write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write 4.38GB to our test media. Times are recorded. Then Sonic's DLA is used to test packet writing speeds. The same files are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

CD Speed v4.01 - Pressed CD:

For this test I used a pressed CD containing Mixed Data. The disc is ~71:48 in size and is full of data and directories.

Pioneer's new DVD writer performed fairly well when reading pressed media. While not as fast as the PX-716A, it had no problems exceeding its rated speed, reaching a maximum transfer rate of 41.46x.

CD Speed v4.01 - CD-R Media:

For this test I used a CD ISO of several folders several hundred small files totaling about 650MB. I used 52x rated MAM-A Gold 74 minute media for the tests.

The DVR-R100 was a little faster when reading CD-R media. While this still wasn't enough to top the drive from Plextor, it had no problems reaching a maximum read speed of 42.64x. Unfortunately, the Pioneer's seek times were also higher than what we saw with pressed discs.

Pioneer's newest drive had some problems playing back our 99 minute Ritek media. The drive is unable to read beyond the 94min mark on the CD-R. The image below shows a 99min CD-R with 90min worth of data recorded on to it.

CD Speed v4.01 - CD-RW Media:

For this test I used Nero CD Speed to create a Data CD. I used some Memorex 4x 80 minute CD-RW media for the tests.

The DVR-R100 did not perform as well as other drives when reading CD-RW media. It not only had the slowest transfer speeds, its seek times were again higher than we'd like to see.

CD DAE and CD Speed v4.01 - Pressed Audio CD:

For this test I used The Original Lightfoot, disc 2 of 3. The CD is almost exactly 74 minutes. This helps to squeeze the maximum performance out of the drive.

Exact Audio Copy can tell us a lot about a drive's capabilities. You can see from the screen shot that while the DVR-R100 supports accurate stream and cache's audio, it does not have the ability to retrieve C2 error information.

The Pioneer DVR-R100 performed very slowly when ripping pressed audio CD's. With a maximum DAE speed of 38.69x, it came in dead last when compared with other drives currently on the market. This is likely due to the very jagged transfer rate graph, as shown in the screenshot above.

To get a better look at the quality of the extracted audio we use CD DAE. CD DAE is actually designed to be an audio ripping program. It converts the CD-DA on the CD to .wav files. We use it in our testing because it can also be used as a quick and easy way to test the quality. Where CD Speed tests the DAE as one large session, CD DAE extracts each CD track individually. It actually extracts each track twice and then compares them to check for any errors. Every error a drive creates could be a hiss or pop you would hear later in the audio tracks.

Pioneer's new DVD writer started out at a pretty good pace. However, by the end of the extraction process, the average and maximum speeds were not as fast as some of the other drives in this test.

CD DAE and CD Speed v4.01 - CD-R Media:

For this test I used a copy of The Original Lightfoot, disc 2 of 3. It's burned onto Fuji brand Prodisc 48x 80 minute media.

The DVR-R100 was a little faster when extracting audio from CD-R media. Thanks to this small speed boost, it had no problems reaching a maximum DAE speed of 40.86x. How did it do in CD Speed's advanced DAE tests? Take a look below.

Pioneer's new DVD writer completed CD Speed's advanced DAE tests with an average score of 27.61x. The drive did not create any errors, but for whatever reason, it was not able to pass all of the on-the-fly copying tests. In the advanced features tests, the DVR-R100 was able to read the CD-Text and subchannel data but was not able to read the lead in or lead out sections of the CD.

To see how well Pioneer's new drive can read scratched and dirty discs, I used CD Speed's ScanDisc utility to see how many sectors were damaged or unreadable. This is a rough way of testing the drive's error correcting abilities.

CD Speed - ScanDisc

Pioneer's new drive didn't handle scratched discs as well as some of the other DVD writers we've looked at recently. While there weren't any unreadable sectors on the disc, the DVR-R100 considered 76% of the CD to be "damaged." It was also forced to slow down to an average of 9.86x over the course of the CD.

You can also get an idea of how well the drive can read scratched and dirty discs by using CD DAE. CD DAE will extract the audio tracks twice and then compare them. From this information we can see what the drive's average speed was and how many errors it generated.

As you can see from the above results, the DVR-R100 slowed down to an average speed of 6.9x over the course of the whole 74min disc. The reduced speed however, was a bit of a trade off in the long run, since the drive was able to read all but 3.17% of the scratched disc without errors. But once again, when comparing these results to those of the other drives, these results seem a little below average.

CD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero CD/DVD Speed 4.01 and DLA 4.95:

For this test I used Nero CD/DVD Speed to create disc images of 650MB and 700MBs, entirely compiled of random data. These two images were then used to burn one CD-R each in order to test the time it takes the drive to write and close a CD. All of the times below include not only the actual writing time, but the lead in and out times too. This gives a more realistic idea of how long it takes to write a CD.

The DVR-R100 uses CAV, or Constant Angular Velocity, to reach its maximum writing speed. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that the drive started writing at ~18x and just barely surpassed its listed top speed of 40x at the 80min mark. The total time taken to record the 80min disc was 3:19, this gave Pioneer's new drive an average writing speed of 30.06x.

To test the DVR-R100's writing times, I wrote our test data to some media Taiyo Yuden CD-Rs rated at 52x. The results are below.

Pioneer's new DVD writer went into this test with a slight disadvantage. While the drives from BenQ and Plextor can write CD's at 48x, the DVR-R100 has a maximum writing speed of only 40x. Nevertheless, it was still able to write an entire 650MB CD in a little more than 3 minutes.

To test the drive's writing quality I used Plextor's Plextools Pro, provided by Plextor Europe. This utility can be used to test the number of C1 and C2 errors on a disc, as well as the number of uncorrectable sectors on the disc (CU errors). For these tests I used a Plextor Premium drive (firmware 1.05) and read the discs at 24x.

BenQ 52x 80min @ 32x (Daxon) 97m22s67f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 1.9 26 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

Fuji 48x 80min @ 32x (Prodisc) 97m32s19f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 0.7 14 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

MAM-A Gold 52x 74min @ 40x (Mitsui) 97m27s58f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 0.6 18 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

Maxell 40x 74min @ 32x (Ritek) 97m31s07f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 3.4 33 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

Melody Vinyl 40x 80min @ 32x (Unknown) 97m27s18f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 5.1 43 C2 0.0 65 CU 0.0 0

Memorex Music 40x 80min @ 10x (CMC) 97m26s66f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 1.3 48 C2 0.2 213 CU 0.0 0

Memorex Orange 48x 80min @ 40x (CMC) 97m26s66f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 9.9 84 C2 0.1 66 CU 0.0 0

Optimum 48x 80min @ 40x (CMC) 97m26s66f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 2.2 32 C2 0.0 20 CU 0.0 0

Precision Value 52x 80min @ 40x (Taiyo Yuden) 97m24s01f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 0.8 20 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

RiData Blue 48x 80min @ 32x (Ritek) 97m15s12f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 17.1 53 C2 0.0 1 CU 0.0 0

Sony 48x 80min @ 40x (Sony) 97m24s16f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 6.2 30 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

Verbatim 52x 80min @ 48x (MCC) 97m34s23f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 2.5 27 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

The DVR-R100's writing quality for CD-R's is actually quite good. By looking at the scores above you can see that most of the C1 maximums and averages are at reasonable levels. However, five of the twelve discs showed C2 errors when tested. The best results came from the MAM-A Gold, Fuji, and Precision Value media.

BenQ 32x 74min @ 32x (Daxon) 97m22s60f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 155.3 1847 C2 1.1 83 CU 0.0 17

Imation 24x 74min @ 24x (Verbatim) 97m34s24f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 37.2 154 C2 0.1 46 CU 0.0 18

Memorex 4x 80min @ 4x (Infodisc) 97m25s30f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 2.2 22 C2 0.2 0 CU 0.0 0

Memorex 12x 80min @ 10x (Infodisc) 97m25s30f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 Inc. Inc. C2 Inc. Inc. CU Inc. Inc.

Memorex 24x 80min @ 24x (Infodisc) 97m25s31f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 105.0 613 C2 0.2 59 CU 0.0 1

TDK 10x 74min @ 10x (Verbatim) 97m34s23f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 2.9 21 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

Verbatim 24x 80min @ 24x (Verbatim) 97m34s24f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 1.7 20 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

Verbatim 32x 74min @ 32x (Verbatim) 97m34s25f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 81.3 346 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

Yamaha 24x 74min @ 24x (Verbatim) 97m34s23f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 1019.0 2202 C2 10.9 2930 CU 0.0 5

The DVR-R100's writing quality was not nearly as good with CD-RW media. Out of the nine discs tested, six of them reported C2 errors or very large amounts of C1 errors. This means that only 30% of the tested media performed well enough to be recommended for use with this drive. These recommended discs are: Verbatim 24x CD-RW, TDK 10x CD-RW, and Memorex 4x CD-RW.

For the rewriting tests I created 400MB of files on the hard drive and wrote them in DAO mode using Nero. To test the packet writing speeds I copied and pasted the same files off the hard drive onto a CD-RW disc using DLA from Sonic. Verbatim's 32x Ultra Speed CD-RW media was used for these tests.

While the DVR-R100 uses CAV when writing to CD-R discs, it uses Z-CLV, or Zone CLV, when rewriting at 32x. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that it starts writing at 16x and jumps to 24x at about the 20 minute mark. The drive writes at this speed until about the 50 minute mark. At this point, the writing speed increases to 32x and stays there until the very end of the session.

Pioneer's new DVD writer didn't perform very well in our rewriting tests. Despite being able to rewrite to the CD-RW at 32x, the drive performed much closer to what we would expect from 24x rewriting. Unfortunately, due to a combination of poor recording quality, and a bug in DLA, even while using top notch media like Verbatim CD-RWs, the DLA Read test took more then twice the time we would expect from this drive.

The DVR-R100 is also capable of erasing a CD-RW at 32x. Unfortunately, due to the drive's poor writing quality, it took longer than expected to perform a full erase. Quick erasing on the other hand was handled very well, and Pioneer's new drive took the top position in our comparison.

Nero CD Speed v4.01 - DVD-ROM:

A little editorial note here. Like a CD-ROM, you will get different benchmark results depending on what kind of discs you are using. You are probably going to get varying results from a full data disc to a single layer movie disc. You're also going to get different results for single and dual layer discs.

The DVD Speed website recommends using a single layer DVD-ROM disc with a capacity of at least 4GB. If you use a dual layer disc you probably won't get the best results because most DVD-ROM drives slow down to read them. Some even slow down to read single layer DVD-Video discs. To make a long story short, I am using a 4.20GB single layer, single sided disc for this test.

The DVR-R100 performed pretty well when reading our single layer DVD-ROM. In the transfer rate tests, it started reading at 5.11x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 15.70x. While this wasn't enough to top the GSA-4163B, the Pioneer's seek times were actually quite good.

Nero CD Speed v4.01 - DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL:

First, we'll look at the drive's DVD-R and DVD-RW reading performance. For this I used the Nero CD/DVD Speed Data Disc Creation function to burn some general use DVD-R from Verbatim and DVD-RW media from RiData and then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD/DVD Speed.

While not the fastest drive here, the DVR-R100 had no serious problems reading DVD-R and DVD-RW media. In our tests, it was able to read DVD-R media at 11.73x, but slowed to only 8.36x when reading DVD-RW discs. The DVR-R100 probably would have been faster when reading DVD-R media. However, as you can see, there were some minor slow downs in the transfer rate graphs.

Verbatim 4x DVD-R DL

Nero CD Speed v4.01 - DVD+R and DVD+RW:

Next we'll look at the drive's DVD+R and DVD+RW reading performance. For this I used the Nero CD/DVD Speed Data Disc Creation function to burn some DVD+R and DVD+RW from Verbatim and then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD/DVD Speed. The results are below.

The DVR-R100's performance with DVD+R and DVD+RW media was quite similar to what we saw with DVD-R and DVD-RW media. The drive read DVD+R discs at 12.58x and DVD+RW media at 8.38x. While there weren't any slow downs this time around, the DVR-R100 still had a had a hard time keeping up with the drive from BenQ.

Verbatim 2.4x DVD+R DL

Pioneer's new drive was able to read the whole DVD+RDL disc back flawlessly on this test. The drive managed a satisfactory speed of 7.61x, which is still quite slow in comparison to the BenQ DW1640, but is also noticeably faster then other competing drives in this section.

Nero CD Speed v4.01 - DVD-Video:

For these tests I am using the US version of Transformers: The Movie on DVD. The disc is 4.36GB and single sided.

Pioneer's new drive did surprisingly well when reading single layer DVD-Video discs. The DVR-R100 started out at about 6.73x and reached a maximum read speed of 16.24x. While this makes the drive a great choice for DVD-Video ripping, its seek times were again a little high.

To see how well the DVR-R100 worked as a DVD player, I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie and Shrek using WinDVD 4 and PowerDVD 5. The drive had no problems playing back these movies with either program and was very quiet during the operation.

DVD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 6.3.1.26:

To test the DVD writing performance of the DVR-R100 I used Verbatim 16x DVD+R, Verbatim 16x DVD-R, Verbatim 6x DVD-RW and Ricoh 8x DVD+RW media. I used Nero CD/DVD Speed's Data Disc creation feature to burn 4.36GB of random files and directories to our test discs.

When writing to DVD+R media at 16x, the DVR-R100 uses CAV. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that Pioneer's new drive starts writing at just under 6x and works its way up to just over 16x by the end of the disc. This writing style is the same for DVD-R media when recorded at 16x, however the drive begins burning closer to 6.7x, which allows for a slightly shorter recording time for this format.

The DVR-R100 performed well enough when writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 16x. In both cases, the drive took neither the first place nor the last place in our comparison tests. Rewriting also wasn't a problem for Pioneer's new drive, which managed to break the previous record for fastest DVD-RW recording, although performed a little below average when recording DVD+RWs.

So now you're wondering about what kind of media support the DVR-R100 has? Just take a look below for a list of all the media we have put through this drive while it has been at our labs.