Do you own an 18x dvd burner?

[yoda313]

So do you have a 18x dvd burner? Do you plan on buying one? Are you looking for more speed?

I currenty have three burners - 1 single layer 4x from several years that still works, 1 pioneer 111d that I love (16x) and 1 16x lightscribe drive that came with my hp (don't know the name brand - it's just the stock type hp uses).

But is there really much of a gain between 16x and 18x? Are the 18x discs more expensive?

So what about you? Are you sticking with 16x???

[Xylob the Destroyer]

yes, I have an LG GSA-H22.
single layer speed is not the reason I bought it though, as it was to replace a 4X burner, so any SL speed would have been an improvement.
I bought it because it was DL and had gotten some very good reviews.
I think my SL media is 16X, but I'm not certain. All I know is it sure as hell doesn't take as long to burn a SL as my old one did!

[punisher]

UPS dropped off 2 112Ds this morning, literally dropped judging by the package condition. Did a test burn with both units on MCC004 at 18X and was pleasantly surprised with the burn quality (checked with my BenQ 1655). That being said I rarely burn at over 8X on most 16X media. Going to throw some 16X CMC, Ritek and Ricoh at it tonight and see if it has a hissy fit. Need to ck firmware update as well. Manufacture date on both is March 2007.

I have an H22 coming in next week for a customer and will test it out as well.

[MOVIEGEEK]

My current writer is fine.I mostly burn at 8x and get great results,I don't mind waiting an extra 2min.
BTW:I only use TY or MCC media.

[DereX888]

Where are the 18x blanks?
Yeah, like Im going to burn 4x/8x/12x/16x blanks at higher speed with wrong laser strength, and 2 years later report here that discs by [fill in the brand of your choice here] brand discs crap out so fast and won't even last few years

[buttzilla]

I have a plextor 18x. I think plextor drives are the best. But i think these high speed drivers are overkill. I still burn my video at low speeds. usally around 6x. I have noticed more problems with skipping and stalling in set top dvd players that are burned at these high speeds.

[Nitemare]

I suspect that faster burning to DVD will yield "less stable" results just like faster burning to CD-ROMs.

I constantly hear people warning each other to slow down their burn speeds if they want the discs to last or to play in more players.

The 6 disc cd changer in my car stumbles on anything burned faster than 4x. I'd hate for a DVD to play in my family room but not in the bedroom. What I have WORKS. I'll use until it's dead then I'll buy the slowest DL burner I can find.

[budz]

I have (3) 18x speed drives, the PIONEER 112L, (SATA) SAMSUNG 183L & LITEON 18A1P. They all seem to burn well with the dvd media I use. As usual there's hacked firmware to use for the LITEON 181AP drive which can be crossflashed to the BENQ 1800 drive. C0deKing released hacked firmware for that drive as well as the LITEON 20x speed drive.

I think plextor drives are the best.

Not anymore! Maybe a long, long, long time ago. Too bad they no longer will make their own dvd burners. From what I've read their drives maybe rebadged LITEON's or NEC.

My first dvd burner was a PLEXTOR 708A drive is now retired but I occassionally will use it if I come across a dvd disc that has scratches on it. It never fails reading discs that are scratched. I do prefer my BENQ drives out of all the dvd burners that I own.

[lordsmurf]

18x is maybe 15 seconds faster than 16x, which is maybe a minute faster than 12x. And at 12x you get a better burn.

For that matter, 6x is what I would considered a max speed for archiving (max CLV). You can burn the rating of the media and be fine, but if you want that warm-and-fuzzy-feeling extra security, this is the one.

DVD is starting to approach CD, in terms of burn speeds. You gain nothing by pushing "x" at this point, aside from a few seconds.

[Epicurus8a]

6x is what I would considered a max speed for archiving (max CLV). You can burn the rating of the media and be fine, but if you want that warm-and-fuzzy-feeling extra security, this is the one.

ditto!

I have two 16x 109's. They're more than adequate.

[DereX888]

To be honest folks, since I burn at 4x-6x mostly (for archiving that is), thus I don't care already about 16x burning speed, and I don't give a flying f* about 18x or 24x (soon, this summer afaik).
What I want is a dvd-writer that is capable of FAST and reliable reading of the damn discs, because 12min to burn a DVD5 is pretty good already, but another 15-20min to verify damn disc <- thats what is pissing me off

PS
Lets not forget:
most burners are "zone" driven. That means that the burner starts writing usually at 4x (1st zone), then jumps to 8x (2nd zone), then around 1/3rd of the disc jumps to 8x or 12x, and around 2/3rds or maybe 4/5ths of the disc it finally goes at full speed of 16x (thats like i.e. LG writers work). So the average writing speed of the entire disc is not even close to 16x... adding 18x speed in the last zone will speed it up maybe few seconds only after all, literally.
Therefore this poll is stupid.
What idiot would make such an "upgrade" of 10.1x average burning speed to some 10.3x average burning speed?
I doubt there are any moron like this, not even on iamtheidiot.com
Yeah, if you happen to shop around for a new burner then of course go for newest one (not for the reason of teh 18x speed, but because it has newer firmware).
But replace perfectly good 16x writer just because there is 18x in a store? Bwahahahaha

[Xylob the Destroyer]

...
What I want is a dvd-writer that is capable of FAST and reliable reading of the damn discs, because 12min to burn a DVD5 is pretty good already, but another 15-20min to verify damn disc <- thats what is pissing me off ...

Amen brutha!!
14 minute burn, 28 minute verify. WTF?!?!?!
Then again, a good 3 minutes of that 14 minute burn is 'finalising disc'. What the hell is that all about? It says the burn is finished, why does it take so damn long to finalize?

[handyguy]

I usually don't write over 8x as that way things work right & there is no skipping.

16x dvds write at 18x in 18x writers, if matched right. I have one of those too.

[lumis]

I ordered some parts this week to build a new computer with, one of them was a 20x dvd burner.

[TheFamilyMan]

I'm still using my pioneer A06 I bought in 2003 for $175. Reliable as ever at 4x (I'm in no hurry) using Nero 5.5. I'll wait until it fails before I 'll replace it.

[OneSickPup]

I have three 18x capable drives but I have yet to ever burn one at that speed. Heck I rarely burn anything at 16x. I find 12x to be the sweetspot with most 16x media I use.

[FulciLives]

For that matter, 6x is what I would considered a max speed for archiving (max CLV). You can burn the rating of the media and be fine, but if you want that warm-and-fuzzy-feeling extra security, this is the one.

I've been saying for a very long time now that 6x is the MAX speed I will burn a DVD at since that is the fastest burning speed that gives a constant burn without that constant "ramping" that you get with faster speeds. I always had this nagging feeling that the "ramping" was a bad thing.

Ironically I do recall LordSmurf saying at least once that 6x for 16x was a bit "overkill" in that is was "too slow".

LS ... have you had a chance of heart about that?

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[NiteLite]

I write Taiyo Yuden G02's @ 8X...rated speed. Reads perfect.
I write Taiyo Yuden 52X CD-R's @ 8X...Reads perfect.
No need for me to screw around with faster speeds and mess up a good thing.
NL
After reading the thread I may try some writes and scans @ 6X with the TY G02's.

[lordsmurf]

Ironically I do recall LordSmurf saying at least once that 6x for 16x was a bit "overkill" in that is was "too slow". LS ... have you had a chance of heart about that?
- John "FulciLives" Coleman

It largely depends on the context of the conversation. As I carefully stated above, it's good for that extra warm-and-fuzzy feeling while archiving valuable data. For general use, I would still say 6x is a bit overkill and going 8x-12x is still fine, on good 16x media.

There are always so many variables to consider. Few do. Of course, that's why they have problems.

[mats.hogberg]

My latest burner (recently installed, since my trusted 4x ND1300A croaked) is 16x. Never used it > 4x for DVD burns tho. But 32x CD burns is nice

/Mats

[dnix71]

I just bought a Pioneer 112D and put it in a Porsche LaCie firewire brick, not for the speed, but for RPC-1 and dual layer capability. I let Toast choose the burn speed and my dual layer discs are 2X and single layers are 8X, which is fast enough, but not too fast.

Even when burning cds, I rarely go over 8x - 12x. Too many starts and stops when burning wide open just makes coasters.

[offline]

Pioneer A06 and 111D. The A06 is the still the best, but it won't do DL which is what the 111D is for (flashed with DB firmware for full bitsetting, RPC-1 and quietdrive "deactivated").
I rarely burn faster than 4x/6x on TY 8x/16x media.

[buttzilla]

I have (3) 18x speed drives, the PIONEER 112L, (SATA) SAMSUNG 183L & LITEON 18A1P. They all seem to burn well with the dvd media I use. As usual there's hacked firmware to use for the LITEON 181AP drive which can be crossflashed to the BENQ 1800 drive. C0deKing released hacked firmware for that drive as well as the LITEON 20x speed drive.

I think plextor drives are the best.

Not anymore! Maybe a long, long, long time ago. Too bad they no longer will make their own dvd burners. From what I've read their drives maybe rebadged LITEON's or NEC.

My first dvd burner was a PLEXTOR 708A drive is now retired but I occassionally will use it if I come across a dvd disc that has scratches on it. It never fails reading discs that are scratched. I do prefer my BENQ drives out of all the dvd burners that I own.

Thats sad if that is true about plextor. The two I have are a couple years old and still work good. I dont like the two liteons i have. I seem to have more write fails with them. When my trusty plextors die i'll have to look for something else i guess to replace them. I won't buy them if they are going to be made by liteon. Thanks for that info since that was the first I heard of it. I have since looked it up and it seems to be true.

[buttzilla]

DVD burner speeds are like sex. Faster is not always better.

[FulciLives]

DVD burner speeds are like sex. Faster is not always better.

LOL

On that note ... I've never had a pizza I didn't like

"Pizza is like sex. Even when it's bad it's still good"

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[NiteLite]

Thats sad if that is true about plextor. The two I have are a couple years old and still work good. I dont like the two liteons i have. I seem to have more write fails with them. When my trusty plextors die i'll have to look for something else i guess to replace them. I won't buy them if they are going to be made by liteon. Thanks for that info since that was the first I heard of it. I have since looked it up and it seems to be true.

The Plex 708A was a champ. Excellent 4X writer. The 716A I own is also excellent 8X writer after getting the right firmware.
Now it appears that Plextor is outsourcing their products and the quality vs. the price is no longer worth it. Yes, it is sad.
Regards, NL

[FulciLives]

Thats sad if that is true about plextor. The two I have are a couple years old and still work good. I dont like the two liteons i have. I seem to have more write fails with them. When my trusty plextors die i'll have to look for something else i guess to replace them. I won't buy them if they are going to be made by liteon. Thanks for that info since that was the first I heard of it. I have since looked it up and it seems to be true.

The Plex 708A was a champ. Excellent 4X writer. The 716A I own is also excellent 8X writer after getting the right firmware.
Now it appears that Plextor is outsourcing their products and the quality vs. the price is no longer worth it. Yes, it is sad.
Regards, NL

I remember when Plextor made the absolute best CD burners. Very expensive but they were good burners and did excellent DAE unlike most other CD burners at the time.

My first DVD burner was the excellent NEC ND-1300A and I only updated to a Pioneer (108) when I bought a new computer a couple or so years ago. In other words that new computer came with the Pioneer 108 as there was nothing wrong with the NEC at the time.

If I were to buy a new DVD burner today I would most likely go with the new Pioneer (the 112) but like many have said there is no reason to buy a new 18x DVD burner unless you need a new DVD burner (new computer or the old one died on you, etc.)

- John "FulciLives" Coleman