X-bit labs

AOpen DUW1608/ARR DVD±RW Dual Layer Burner Review (page 7)

Category: Storage

by Vasily Melnik

[ 09/21/2005 | 11:49 PM ]

Performance during Reading DVD Discs

Reading a single-layer (left) and dual-layer (right) DVD Video discs

Unfortunately, the drive couldn’t read the single-layer DVD-ROM at its maximum declared speed. It reached 10x speed but then slowed down suddenly. After an unsuccessful attempt to speed up, the drive stopped at 4x and finished reading the disc at that speed. The dual-layer disc provoked no troubles – the maximum read speed was achieved without any slowdowns.

DVD Burn Quality

The following media were used in the tests:

• DVD+R Verbatim Advanced AZO (Mitsubishi Chemical, MID: MCC 004 (000))
• DVD-R Verbatim Advanced AZO (Mitsubishi Chemical, MID: MCC 02RG20)
• DVD+RW Verbatim DataLifePlus (MID: MKM A02 (000))
• DVD-RW Verbatim DataLifePlus (MID: MCC 01RW4X).

Let’s first check the duration of the burn session for each type of the medium and for each burn speed:

DVD-R : The drive shows its sluggishness again, now working with media of this type. It takes more time than other drives to burn a DVD-R disc at 4x and 8x speeds. The difference is small at 4x (less than a minute), but big at 8x (about 3 minutes). You’ll see the reasons for this difference below.

DVD+R : Like with the DVD-R format, the drive is slower than many of its market competitors. Moreover, it could only burn the 8x blank at 12x speed whereas many modern devices successfully burn such blanks at 16x. Note also that there’s a very small difference (less than a minute) in the duration of the burn session at 8x and 12x speeds.

DVD+RW and DVD-RW : There are no surprises with these two formats. The drive takes a typical amount of time to burn them.

Next I will check the quality of discs recorded by the AOpen drive. Single-write formats come first.