Dumb noobie question about burn speeds

[Pacman75]

I just wanted to know, if my dvd burner is rated to burn up to 2X, can I use media rated at up to 4X? I realize it wouldn't be a concern if we were talking about cd-r's, (ie. my 32X burner could burn on cd-r's rated at up to 40X) but I'm not sure if this applies to dvd-r's.

[andyp1]

I don't think it's such a dumb question.
Onmy PC I have a pioneer DVD-RW and it's 4x and 4x media seems to be the most readily available so I didn't need to ask.
However I have a standalone player which I suppose you would say is always a 1x recorder but I use DVD+RW's which are 2.4x .
On CD Writers nero just seems to alter the record speed to match either the cd or the particular burner.
I think you should be ok.
At less than a quid a dvd-r why not get one or two and put them to the test.

[Pacman75]

Funny you should mention it, but i just purchased a 5 disc sampler at 4X online. I'll keep this thread posted as to how it goes.
Pac

[garryheather]

Just check you've got the latest firmware, especially with the early Pioneers. They didn't write to the higher speed discs correctly and overheated the optics as a result.

[aggies11]

Pacman:

Yes, it works the same with DVDr as with CDr.

That being said, make sure you follow garry's advice.

With the introduction of 4x discs, you now see little inserts (most common in jewel case media) mentioning that some older drives (that don't write at 4x) will require a firmware update to properly work with 4x media. Not updating could result in damage to both the disc *AND* drive.

There are links to: http://www.dvdhs.com (for - media)

and

http://www.dvdrwservices.com (for + media)

Hope that helps

Aggies

[Pacman75]

Thank you both for your replies, and I will look into those firmware updates. By the way, is there a newer update than A108?
Pac

[Pacman75]

I'll answer myself here. The firmware update is available and it is A109.
If anybody else wants it, it can be found at the following forum:

http://forum.firmware-flash.com/dl_firmware.php?category=4&manufactor=16

I'll report back when I get those Ritek 4X disks!
Pac