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Burn For You -- 5 DVD Burners Tested June 19, 2002 URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/hardware/storage/soa/Burn-For-You-5-DVD-Burners-Tested/0,139023427,120266041,00.htm
Pre-recorded DVDs like DVD-ROM and DVD-Video discs have been around for some time now but it has only been recently that recordable and re-writeable DVDs are becoming most talked about.
At the moment there are several re-writeable formats that exist such as DVD+RW, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM. But out of the three formats, the two that are most strongly competing for the rewritable DVD market are DVD-RW and DVD+RW. DVD+RW is the most recent standard, which was developed in co-operation by HP, Mitsubishi, Philips, Yamaha, Sony, and Ricoh. DVD+RW manufacturers are targeting makers of both desktop PCs and set-top DVD video players. The makers claim that discs created on a DVD+RW drive can be played back in the majority of PC DVD-ROM drives and set-top DVD video players. However when DVD-Video was introduced, no DVD+RW test discs were available for manufacturers of DVD-Video players to test full compliance with the DVD+RW standard. Some manufacturers did not manage to be fully compliant and therefore not all DVD-Video players currently in the market are cpable of playing DVD+RW discs. DVD-RAM and DVD-RW/-R formats are both promoted by the DVD Consortium, which includes Hitachi, Pioneer, and Panasonic. DVD-RAM discs can only be read by DVD-RAM drives (but not by other drivers or consumer DVD players), while DVD-RW discs need to be erased entirely before you can store new files. Compatibility with existing hardware is of paramount importance. Both the DVD-RW/-R and the DVD+RW/+R groups realise that the vast majority of consumers are concerned with whether their recordable DVDs can be read on different machines. Findings have suggested that there is a higher compatibility between desktop PC drives than there is with set-top DVD video players. It also seems DVD-R is more compatible than DVD+R as it has been around for much longer. At the moment it is difficult to pick a winner in this contest and the best solution for a particular consumer depends on the intended use for the drive. It's also hard to look into the future because there are many questions that need to be answered. For one, will DVD+R achieve DVD-R's level of compatibility? Just recently Microsoft announced it would be adding support for DVD+RW into future versions of Windows. According to the Microsoft Web site -support for DVD+RW in Windows has been designed to become the standard storage solution for the PC and consumer electronics environments". This could really prove to be important in determining a winner between all the standards. Burn For You -- 5 DVD Burners Tested By Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
DVD+RW and DVD+R(Write and rewrite speed: 2.4x; this has the same data throughput as a 20x CD writer.)DVD+RW is well suited to applications where data may need to be freely overwritten in everyday use, such as for storing data or making DVD-Videos, and can be used for almost all applications. We should also note that you can easily append data to a DVD+RW disc, making it highly suitable for backups. DVD+RW technology was also introduced before DVD+R. However, most DVD+RW drives now extend their capabilities by being able to write to -write once" only discs. DVD+R has been developed for those instances where important data should never be erased, or data is to be distributed or exchanged, and compatibility is extremely important. While keeping data from being erased or overwritten, the discs share a high level of compatibility because of the format's physical specifications that are basically the same as DVD-ROM discs. DVD+RW Video is encoded in MPEG2 with a variable bit-rate, providing high bit-rates where necessary while no storage capacity is wasted in scenes with less movement. This means that under some circumstances, much longer recording times can be achieved with the same disc capacity.
DVD-RW and DVD-R
DVD-RAM
How many times can a DVD+RW disc be overwritten?
Burn For You -- 5 DVD Burners Tested By Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
MediaMedia capacity has increased, as has the demand for more storage space. The DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, and DVD-Audio formats have vast storage capacity options. The variation in storage capacity is due to the use of up to two layers of data storage and a choice of either single-sided or double-sided capabilities of the DVD disc.
SoftwareThere is some good mastering software out there which lets users create backup copies of DVDs and CDs, as well as video, music and data discs. All the software we received was easy to use. Basically, you only have to drag and drop files you want to record. Some drives also come with packet writing software, which will enable your drive to be used in the same way as a floppy drive or removable drive. Packet writing uses the UDF standard, which will let you drag and drop files onto the media.
PricesMedia cost varies from reseller to reseller, but here are some sample prices we found. All prices include GST.
We reviewed rewritable DVD drives from five major vendors. We also submitted invitations to Hitachi, Hewlett-Packard, Que, and Sony, who were unable to submit products for the review. Here's how they went: Burn For You -- 5 DVD Burners TestedBy Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
1. AOpen RW 5120A
The AOpen drive uses DVD+RW technology. This drive does not support the +R format, which is good for a number of applications including archiving and information distribution. The +R format also extends compatibility for older DVD-Video players and DVD-ROM drives that do not have the firmware support for +RW playback.
The AOpen drive records DVD+RWs at 2.4x, CD-RWs at 10x, and CD-Rs at 12x. Like the Ricoh it also reads CDs at 32x. The AOpen drive was only slightly slower than the Ricoh in all our speed tests, but still significantly faster than the DVD-RW and -R drives. The software bundle was quite impressive. It included Nero 5 Burning ROM, which is a very stable, powerful, user-friendly recording package and one of our favourite pieces of recording software. Also bundled were InCD 3 (packet writing software), Cyberlink PowerDVD, Cyberlink PowerDirector (a powerful video editing program), and Ulead PictureShow, which lets you create custom photo slideshows that you can play on standard DVD players. Single DVD+RW and CD-RW discs were also supplied.
By Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
2. Lacie DVR-104
The Lacie drive was the only external drive we received. You can connect the Lacie drive to your desktop using the supplied IEEE-1394 card. The FireWire bus makes the drive hot-pluggable, so it can be easily moved from computer to computer without having to shut down or reboot the system.
The Lacie incorporates a Pioneer DVR-A04 drive, which means it can record DVD-RW and DVD-R formats, as well as CD-R and CD-RW. We initially thought the internal Pioneer drive would be a lot faster that the external Lacie drive, but in fact they were on par with each other in all our speed tests. Like the Pioneer, the Lacie drive took a very long time to finalise -RW discs. We were amazed to see that it took just as long to record a 353MB file as it did to record a 51MB file. On the software side, the Lacie drive featured Sonic MyDVD, DVDit, Cyberlink Power DVD, Roxio Toast 5 LE, and Veritas PrimoDVD, which was pretty much the same as Record Now DX from Veritas. Lacie didn't throw in any re-recordable media but supplied three CD-R discs and one DVD-R disc.
By Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
3. Panasonic Movie Studio
The Panasonic Movie Studio adds another twist to this feature. The Panasonic drive is a DVD-RAM drive capable of also recording in DVD-R. This drive cannot record onto CD-RWs or CD-Rs, but it can read them.
Another set back to this device is that it can only write to DVD-Rs at 1x. The Lacie and Pioneer on the other hand can burn DVD-R discs at 2x. The Panasonic drive took the longest to record our 1.153GB video file. It was quickerthan the Lacie and Pioneer drive at recording our 353MB audio file and it was also quicker writing random data files to and from the desktop. The Panasonic drive shipped with an IEEE-1394 card so you can capture movies from your DV Camcorder. You can also edit scenes, add effects, chapters and titles by using the Pinnacle Express software package, which was also thrown in. Also included was Cyberlinks Power DVD software, Veritas PrimoDVD data burning software, one DVD-R disc, and one DVD-RAM disc. We must mention that you cannot record onto your DVD-RAM disc and expect to be able to play it on your DVD Video player or a PC with a DVD-ROM drive. You will have to burn your movies onto a DVD-R disc.
By Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
4. Pioneer DVR-A04
Pioneer was the first to introduce a recordable device that could burn both DVDs and CDs. Its latest product is the DVR-A04, which can burn DVD-RW, DVD-R, CD-RW, and CD-R discs.
The Pioneer drive isn't as fast as any of the DVD+RW/+R drives, because it can only record DVD-Rs at 2x and DVD-RWs at 1x. The Pioneer was on par with the external Lacie drive (which also happens to use a Pioneer DVR-A04 drive). We expected the internal drive to be much faster but this didn't seem to be the case. One thing we noticed was how long it took the Pioneer drive to finalise a DVD-RW disc after it had finished recording. In some cases it took longer than the recording process. We initially thought there must be a problem with the software, but we tried another recording package and again it took just as long to finalise. The software bundle features Record Now DX, which is a mastering software package from Veritas. It's quite good and on par with the B's Recorder in regards to ease of use. Also thrown in are Cyberlink's PowerDVD and ArcSoft's ShowBiz, which is a video editing software program. Like all the other drives, some blank discs were thrown in, but Pioneer also included a permanent disc marker (and five DVD movie rental vouchers from Blockbuster Video).
By Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
5. Ricoh MP5125A
The Ricoh drive combines DVD+RW, DVD+R, and CD-RW recording. This was the only drive that we tested that can record in both DVD+RW and DVD+R. It can record DVDs at 2.4x, CD-RWs at 10x, and CD-Rs at 12x. It can also read CDs at 32x, unlike many of the other drives that could only read CDs at 24x.
The Ricoh was the fastest drive, however it was also the noisiest. It was able to record a video file at an impressive 3.3MBps and audio file at 2MBps. The Ricoh also recorded the highest score in CD WinBench. The Ricoh includes a good bundle of software, which includes B's Recorder GOLD. B's Recorder lets users create back-up copies of DVDs and CDs, as well as customised video, music and data disks. The software bundle also includes B's CLIP, which enables packet writing, WinDVD (DVD-Video playback software), as well as DVD editing software. The Ricoh also comes with two DVD+RW and two DVD+R discs.
By Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
JVC jukebox - Stack 'em up
While single discs can store up to 9GB of data today, and conceivably much more in the future, if you're generating hundreds of megabytes of data every day, even this is not enough. There are a wide range of recordable jukeboxes available, which can store hundreds of recordable or rewritable discs, and can load these discs into a drive on demand. Jukeboxes are available from vendors such as JVC, MDI, NSM, Pioneer, Plasmon, and Rorke Data. We had a look at a JVC jukebox.
The MC-8100U is a digital storage system from JVC Professional. It was designed to be flexible and an end to end solution for cataloguing, storage and retrieval. The MC-8100U is suitable for archiving anything from text-based documents to high-resolution images and digital audio and video files. One of the key uses for this technology is the cataloguing, storage and retrieval of real-time video. Some other common applications for the MC-8100U include the need for document imaging. For a fast way to store massive amounts of electronic invoices, bills, and receipts the 8100U would be perfect. This device would also be useful in the medical industry where there is a high demand for the storage of image data such as CTS and MRI. The MC-8100U features industry standard removable media and you have the choice of any combination of drives including DVD-RAM, DVD-R, CD-RW, and CD-ROM. The MC-8100U can fit up to four drives while the 8200U and the 8600U can hold up to six drives. The MC-8100U can house 100 discs, which means it can store up to 940GB of data on double-sided DVD-RAM media. The 8200U can store 1.88TB and the 8600U a whopping 5.64TB of data. All the 8000 series jukeboxes use a high-speed disc changer and flip mechanism. The flip mechanism comes in handy if you're using double sided media. You can also buy an optional disc printer. The printer is fully automated which means it will print labels in full colour directly onto the discs after recording. We had a technician come out from Data Storage Solutions to install the MC-8100U. We needed a SCSI-2 card in our test-bed to connect the test-bed to the jukebox. The technician also installed the OTG software Archive Xtender. Archive Xtender is an impressive piece of software that presents the data on all media as a single drive letter. It gives you a virtual view of archived data, transparent to applications, operating systems and users, regardless of their physical location. We had a play around with the software and it didn't take too long for us to create a virtual file system and start copying data across to the jukebox. We didn't load the MC-8100U with 100 discs but only five DVD-RAM discs so we could at least see it working. The system we received was also only fitted with a single DVD-RAM drive. The RRP is $16038 inc GST with a single DVD-RAM drive, which includes media, software, and installation. 9.4Gb DVD-RAM media cost $1499 per spool of 50. Software ranges from $5000 to $35,000 depending on your requirement. Standard warranty on the hardware is 1-year parts and labour. Telephone support is available from the system integrators that install the equipment. For additional cover clients are able to choose from extended warranty and on-site warranty packages. Clients have a choice of: next business day, four-hour response, and 24 x 7 x 365 cover. The various forms of service cover are available in all major CBD locations in Australia and New Zealand. Leasing options are also provided by several of JVC's system integrators.
By Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
What to look for when buying a DVD burner
By Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
DVD Formats
By Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
Benchmarks
By Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
ScenariosScenario 1:Company: Armstrong Media This publishing company wants to place a DVD burner in each department so they can archive production files and photos used for each month's publication. Approximate budget: $1200 per burner. Requires: 20 DVD burners. Concerns: As well as the speed of the burner, the company will take into account the ease of use of the bundled software. Best Solution: The Ricoh MP5125A would be the best solution here. It was the fastest drive that we tested and it also shipped with B's Recorder Gold, which isn't a bad recording package. It also comes with four blank discs.
By Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
Editor's ChoiceEditors' Choice: Ricoh MP5125A The Ricoh is very well priced, and if you only need a device to archive information then it would be the obvious choice. You can record onto DVD media at 2.4x and CD-Rs at 12x and CD-RWs at 10x. Another advantage it has over the DVD-RW drives is that you can append data to DVD+RW media. The Ricoh also didn't have the problem of taking forever to finalise a re-writeable disc. On the downside, we couldn't get it to read DVD-R or DVD-RW discs, though the vendor claims it can.
How we testedThe test bed for the DVD units was a Gateway AMD Athlon 1GHz PC with 128MB of SDRAM. All the DVD drives under test were IDE, and were configured as Master and connected to the secondary IDE port of the motherboard. The Lacie drive was the only exception, we had to connect it up to a FireWire card.Each DVD drive was tested with the software provided. Each of the DVD+RW units were tested using re-writeable media (+RW). It didn't matter if we used +R or +RW media as these units can record at their maximum recording speed of 2.4x in either mode. The DVD-RW units were tested using re-writeable media (-RW). This was somewhat problematic, because you can re-write (-RW) at 1x and write once (-R) at 2x. We were only able to run one of the tests (1.153GB audio file) at 2x and the rest at 1x. This was enough however to give us an idea of the speed differences between -RW and +RW drives.
Video Copy (1.153GB)
CD WinBench
Interoperability
Futureproofing
Return on Investment
By Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
Specifications
By Kire Terzievski, RMIT Test Labs June 18th, 2002.
About RMIT labs
RMIT Test Labs are an independent testing institution based in Melbourne, Victoria, performing IT product testing for clients such as IBM, Coles-Myer, and a wide variety of government bodies. In the Labs' testing for Technology & Business, they are in direct contact with the client supplying products. Their findings are their own -- only the specifications of the products to be tested are provided by the magazine. For more information on RMIT, please contact the Lab Manager, Steven Turvey.
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