Aspire Digital AD-8091 DVD Recorder "skips" when records programs

ray2000 · Member Joined: 01 Feb 2008 Location: Canada

After reading these posts, I wish I bought a major brand (e.g. Sony, RCA, JVC, etc). It seemed good at the time. I bought this DVD recorder 3 years ago for my dad as a Christmas gift. First of all, I already installed the firmware update. I'm amazed that there is no bleedy support for this machine. Also why time on the time on the display is off after a couple of days. But thats not the issue, I'm worried about. Last week, I recorded a program. It recorded perfectly - or so I thought. It seems that when the video play, it freezes in certain spots and continues on as normal. I find this really annoying. Has anyone so has the Aspire AD-8091 encountered this problem? If you have, is there a patch for it? If the company has really gone under, you Software Developers should put your minds together to solve a lot of the bugs this device has been coming out with.

driguy · Can't Sleep... Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: United States

Yeah, mine had the same problem.

The solution? Buy something else unless you feel like opening it and replacing the drive with a standard DVD recorder drive. I replaced mine with a Plextor PX-708A I had no other use for. I had to remove the front bezels from the drive and the recorder then tweak on it until I got the clearance just right. Since then I haven't had a skipping problem while recording. Hope this helps.

ray2000 · Member Joined: 01 Feb 2008 Location: Canada

Wow. Yeah. Its always something simple. The logical course of action would be to buy another recorder, but since I have it I might as well just replace the part. I was on Plextor.com tonight, and I can't seem to find the PX-708A. Is it possible to replace the DVD-R/RW Drive with a different Plextor drive model (e.g. PX-800)? I'm just thinking of options thats all.

Krispy Kritter · Member Joined: 31 Jul 2003 Location: St Louis, MO USA

Many recorders just use standard IDE drives. You can verify by opening yours. In which case, any IDE drive should work. To avoid any possible issues, you may want to find the same model currently in the unit if possible.
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driguy · Can't Sleep... Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: United States

That drive is no longer being manufactured... I'm sure that another manufacturer besides Plextor would work but I can't confirm that. Try buying a lite-on or an NEC, or if you have a drive laying around, use that. The only reason I used the Plextor is because that was what I had as a spare at the time...

The drive inside the recorder has a standard IDE connector and 4-pin molex so I would venture to guess that pretty much ANY drive would work in it.

EDIT: Krispy, the drive inside the recorder is more like a loader. I don't remember the brand name off hand but it was something that probably stands for "Poorly Made" in Chinese.

Grain · ImgBurner Joined: 15 Oct 2005 Location: Canada

So can you use -R discs in it now driguy?
I don't have skipping problems with mine, but I always re-burn them on my computer, and never use the recorder itself for playback.

ray2000 · Member Joined: 01 Feb 2008 Location: Canada

Thanks for your help. Just to add one this issue, I haven't recorded anything on this machine since.....hmmmm.......August 2007.

driguy · Can't Sleep... Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: United States

@Grain -

No, It won't let me use -R discs on it. I just tried it. I can put pretty much any kind of +R/+RW media in it though and it works great.

ray2000 · Member Joined: 01 Feb 2008 Location: Canada

My bad. I apologize. I meant to say DVD+R and DVD+RW discs in my preivous posts. I talked about the "skip" issue with my Dad, and we agreed just to go with a new recorder. Its not worth replacing the drive. Oh, my AD-8091 plays pre-recorded discs perfectly! No skipping what so ever. Since that my next course of action is purchasing a new player does anyone have any suggestions on good DVD recorders. I don't want to buy a recorder and find out 1 or 2 years down the road that I wasted my money. Nothing crazy (i.e. $600-800).

wabjxo · Member Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Location: United States

I highly recommend the Philips DVDR3575H/37, info here.

Grain · ImgBurner Joined: 15 Oct 2005 Location: Canada

ray2000 · Member Joined: 01 Feb 2008 Location: Canada

I haven't had time to read all the information on the Philips DVD Recorder. Its on sale at Best Buy for $349.99 CAD. That's a decent price. Not dirt cheap (hardware will fall apart) and not super expensive.

oldandinthe way · Posted: Feb 07, 2008 18:44

Whatever you buy - you will regret it 1-2 years down the road unless you buy a real cheapie.

Your aspire has had a good life - 3 years. I don;t know what you paid for it but it shouldn't have cost any more than my Lite-On recorder - about $180US. And my LiteOn is close to needing its drive replaced. The fact that you question the value is enough reason to take the low cost road.

We are still seeing first generation recorders with Digital Tuners. You are bound to feel buyers remorse in a year if you spend $349 Canadian on this unit. Cost will decrease. Tuner capability will be refined and enhanced. Hard disk capacity will increase. Buy an under $100 DVDRecorder and throw it away in two years, you'll still come out ahead.

ray2000 · Member Joined: 01 Feb 2008 Location: Canada

Hmmm... I never thought about that. Thanks. I'll consider that. I'm learning more and more. I have a question that has been bugging me. I was at Wal-Mart this evening broswing in the Electronics section. Can someone tell me what is the difference between DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs? I know that RW is ReWriteable and R is Writeable Once forever. What does the "+" and "-" represent?

wabjxo · Member Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Location: United States

The - and + are two different standards for DVD disc, and different designs for tracking, error correction, etc. Today's DVDRs usually read and write to both.

DVD+R/RW may produce better burns due to the plus-format's inherently better design for tracking, speed control and addressing (location on the disc), esp. at higher burn speeds.

Here's an older ref. article for more info. See esp. "Pre-pits versus ADIP" discussion, but ignore the following section on "Defect Management" and DVD+MRW Mount Rainier... it's a hardware implementation and not used in consumer recorders. The section on "Multiple recording sessions and compatibility" farther down is also interesting.

DVD+R/RW discs will FF/REW normally in Philips, Magnavox, and other Funai/Philips DVDRs (~50% of DVDRs in NA) but not all speeds in Pios and Pannys. As far as universal compatibility, in 2006, a German magazine did multiple-unit tests and found -R was 95% compatible and +R was 93% compatible (but 95% if it was bit-set to ROM).

ray2000 · Member Joined: 01 Feb 2008 Location: Canada

Thank you Wabjxo for the compatibility lesson.[/b]

oldfart13 · Member Joined: 09 Nov 2000 Location: Canada

I don't know about the tuner issue though as Canada didn't go along with the States in throwing out the analog spectrum just yet. Implementation could be years away. With an election call coming up, maybe even longer. Futureshop has some good deals on the Pioneer 550 and 650 HDD models. I'd check them out. Very nice hardware. A lot of people on this site living in the US would love to get their mitts on something that is as easy as driving over to FS and picking one up....