X-bit labs

Six DVD Burners Roundup (page 2)

Category: Storage

by Andrey Kuznetcov

[ 06/24/2004 | 08:22 AM ]

ASUS DRW-0804P

The second model of ASUS we include into this review is another OEM product of Pioneer, the DVR-107D model. The device is shipped in a box with the basic technical characteristics written on it. The face side of the drive differs from what we see in the original model from Pioneer, though. The tray is shaped bulging forward and the name of the manufacturer and the icons are written with dark paint. A rectangular eject button and a LED are placed below the tray. Two pressed horizontal stripes on the face panel enliven the drive’s design. The back of the case carries power and interface connectors, an analog audio output and the jumpers. There’s no digital audio output.

The drive supports two formats and reads DVDs at 12x and CDs at 40x. It can burn DVD-R and DVD+R blanks at 8x and do the same with DVD±RW discs at 4x. CD-R and CD-RW discs are written at 24x. The size of the cache-buffer is 2MB; the access times for DVDs and CDs are 140 and 130msec, respectively.

The device uses a number of original technologies. Particularly, FlextraLink allows avoiding buffer underrun errors, while FlextraSpeed automatically selects the optimal burn speed to ensure precision and reliability when burning and rewriting various data media. Besides that, the ASUS DRW-0804P features a deformation compensation mechanism called Liquid Crystal Tilt. This technology helps to avoid inaccuracy that arises during writing and playing back media with non-standard thickness or curvature.

ASUS traditionally complements its retail products with numerous and comprehensive accessories. Here we have an IDE cable, an audio cable, mounting screws, a user manual, a quick installation guide, a software CD with a set of programs from Nero and the ASUS DVD utility.

The average retail price of the ASUS DRW-0804P is $125.

Pioneer DVR-107D

Pioneer is among the most prominent figures in the market of DVD equipment; you can find other companies shipping drives from Pioneer under their own brands. The exterior of the DVR-107D model may be viewed as a traditional design of a DVD burner from Pioneer. The front panel is unpretentious, without any decorations. The symbols denoting the device’s class are printed on the face panel. The rectangular eject button, a LED and a vent slit are below the tray; the second slit is a decoration element. The butt-end of the case has power and interface connectors, an analog audio output and two jumper sets (for setting the status of the device on the IDE channel and for factory diagnostics). There’s no digital audio output. Circle-shaped vent holes are found there, too.

The device supports the two basic formats. It reads DVDs at 12x and CDs at 40x, writes DVD-R and DVD+R blanks at 8x, and processes DVD-RW and DVD+RW at 4x. CD-R and CD-RW media are written at 24x. The cache-buffer size is 2MB; the access time for DVDs and CDs is 140 and 130msec, respectively.

The OEM version of the drive comes with a short exploitation manual. The average retail price of the Pioneer DVR-107D is $105.