Now, let’s turn to recordable DVD discs.

The read graph for the written DVD+R discs

Here’s another profit from a firmware update. The AOpen couldn’t read the written DVD+R disc to the end with firmware 1.05. After the update to version 1.09, it produced a smooth and clear read graph.

The drives from Samsung were both excellent at reading this type of media. The SM-352N was the only device to finish at 6x speed, while the other drives did it at 8x. The difference is three minutes – about one third of the total time.

The read graph for the written DVD-R discs

Irrespective of the firmware version, the AOpen COM5232/AAH had no problems reading discs of that type. It drew smooth, without undulations, graphs and reached a speed of 8x.

The drives from Samsung also performed the reading of written DVD-R discs easily. The SM-352N took some time to think it over at the beginning of the disc, though, and this shows as a single slump in the graph.

Summing it up, none of the tested drives had problems with write-once media, both DVD-R and DVD+R. There is only one remark: the AOpen COM5232/AAH definitely needs a firmware update; without it, it encounters problems reading DVD+R discs.