Posted by SalesMart.com.au on 04/29/07 14:04

On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:36:17 GMT, Vernon Balbert
<vbalbert@gmail.nospam.com> wrote:

>On 4/29/2007 1:19 AM, SalesMart.com.au went clickity clack on the
>keyboard and produced this interesting bit of text:
>> On Sat, 28 Apr 2007 16:29:03 -0700, Vernon Balbert
>> <vbalbert@gmail.nospam.com> wrote:
>>
>>> My NEC 3550a drive is starting to have problems and so I need to find a
>>> replacement. This drive was the best I've ever had and I'd love to
>>> replace it with the same model, but unfortunately, it's no longer made.
>>> Does anybody have any suggestions as to what drive might be as good as
>>> the NEC? I'm not sure I trust the new Sony-NEC models because of the
>>> issues I've seen with Sony and DVDs.
>>
>> I tried the latest Sony-NEC A170A and decided not to sell these.
>>
>> The latest Pioneer DVR-112D or 212 Pioneer drives are the best since
>> the old 109's from Pioneer. I own the 112D and have firmware 1.15 and
>> the PIE/PIF are the lowest out of all the current new 18X burners I
>> have tested.
>>
>> The new 112D can also scan for PIE/PIF which is the first Pioneer
>> drive to do this.
>>
>> I've very happy with this new Pioneer 112D as unlike the previous 2
>> models it burns most 16X at 16X.
>>
>> If you do get the Pioneer 112D or the 212 SATA model then install
>> firmware 1.15 as it drops the PIE but about half which is a very good
>> thing.
>
>What media is considered the best for this? I currently use Taiyo-Yuden
>with fantastic results (I think out of 200 discs I've had a couple of
>coasters) which is better than other media. I have another machine with
>a Pioneer 109 drive but it didn't perform nearly as well as the NEC
>that's dying.

The Pioneer DVR-109's worked best with firmware 1.57
Firmware 1.58 for this drive wasn't as good in my opinion.

I have two 109's with firmware 1.57 and the drives are still going
well today. I also have the Sony-NEC 170A and the Pioneer DVR-112D
on my computer. I'll keep the Sony-NEC there until the next firmware
and if that doesn't improve things then that drive will be removed.

For testing I use Nero Speed CD 4.7.0.0 which scans the media for PIE
and PIF.

For testing video burns I use Nero 6.6.0.18 Burning ROM which I prefer
over the Express versions. With Burning ROM I can burn all the drives
at the same time using the multiple burn in Nero. This really gives
the media a good work out. I also test one drive at a time and test
playback of the video in an old PS2, Xbox and the Panasonic recorders
in the E30, EH60 and EX75 models.

I also have an older BenQ 1640A which tests for jitter rates and other
Sony drives for testing using Krobe2, Speed CD and DVD-Info.

The best test of all though is if the video plays in the old PS2 it
will generally play in anything.

I've also tested Sony, RiDATA, Ricoh DVD media along with CDR media.
Impossible to post the results as each picture is over 110K and there
are hundreds of scans. Some brands don't work to well while others do
go well.

Most brands of media are mainly only doing 16X speed DVD media and
some are moving into Blu-Ray media with the very odd one doing HD-DVD.

As with all drives things can go wrong with the best of them. I bought
a Pioneer DVR-112D and with then firmware 1.06 and 1.09 it refused to
see Verbatim DVD-R 16X (95079) but when burnt in the 109 it could see
the burn in the 112D drive. The 112D would burn my Orion DVD-R 16X but
not the Verbatim so that told me the drive had a problem. Had it
replaced and its been smooth sailing. Its the first Pioneer drive
I've ever seen fail in its warranty period. Quite a few of my
customers have only recently moved up from their 108's that they
bought from me to the new 112D as their old 108 drives are starting to
play up on some CD media.

Anyway happy with the latest Pioneer DVR-112D drive.
Pioneer also has the DVR-212 and DVR-212D model which are the SATA
models. The "D" models do NOT burn to DVD-RAM media.

These latest Pioneer drives burn most 16X media at 16X where the
previous two models in the 111D and the 110 burnt most 16X at 12X or
lower speeds.

I'm one fo rburning at 16X. I know a few prefer to burn at 4X or 8X.
Some hav eto burn lower du eto their PC or limiations on duplicator
towers which on some tower duplicators have to be slowed down to 8X.

SalesMart.com.au
Perth, Western Australia
http://www.salesmart.com.au
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Email Contact info on the above site.
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