Is A Pioneer DVR-509 the same as a DVR-109

[TBoneit]

I bought a Pioneer DVR-509 retail and inside the box was a Pioneer DVR-109.

So the question that comes to my mind is, are they the same drive or did I get ripped off?

Many Thanks

[lumis]

yep, i think it is.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/service/support/article/0,,2076_4249_265659628,00.html

[TBoneit]

Thanks, Don't ask me why but when I searched I ended up on a commercial seed company that sells to farmers.

One Niggling thing is should I have bought a DVR-109XL instead? On the other hand it is working great. And why now that I know where to search ? doesn't their site list all these different models for easy comparisona?

Thanks

[lumis]

niggling? heh

i've bought a dvr-109 from newgg for $57 a few weeks ago.. a few minutes & a few firmware hacks later i had a A09XL with the quite drive & faster ripping speeds..

check out rpc1.org forums, you might be able to turn that 509 in to an A09XL..

how much did that 509 run you?

[TBoneit]

The 509 ran me too much $$ As I bought retail from frustration at ruining too many DVDs!

I'm thinking Quietdrive, Whatever benefit that has, will work with the 509 as it was available on the firmware d/l page.

The other model may not have been a DVR-109 as it had slower specs on one of the formats.

Cheers

[Poppa_Meth]

109 must be crossflashed to A09XL to use the quietdrive features.

[waheed]

I think theres also a physical difference to it too. My 109XL has hexagon shaped design for noise reduction on top of the drive:



If the 109 has it too, then its ok. Or it maybe possible with just the firmware.

[lumis]

the 109 doesnt have that honeycomb look on top, and it has a standard tray.

i'm not sure how well the quite drive works on it compared to the 109XL, but it is definetly quiter that it was before.. but i think that is due to the fact that it doesnt run full speed unless it's needed.

the main benefit of using the hacked firmware for me is that the drive rips much faster.

[TBoneit]

I'll Have to try ripping with the 109 and see what it rips at, On Nero speed test of a burned DVD Video disk it topped out at 16X which doesn't mean it'd rip at that speed. I didn't check that out as I use a Lite-on for ripping.

It burned some + and - Verbatim 4X movie reel discs at 4X. OTOH it burned cheapo Staples 8X at 12X and they seem Ok, More testing needed there But I'm thinking I'll just burn em at 8X unless I forget to select 8X in Nero instead of the 12X it defaults to on those disks. As I recall it Nero also set up as 8X on 8X TDKs too.

I'm not really worried about noise as I bought it to burn only and the Computer is on the other side of the wall from where I sit when I use it. Wireless Keyboard & Mouse, two small cables for sound and monitor.

So I'm thinking why play around with hacked firmwares/crossflashing?

Slightly OT Has anybody tried the 1.55 firmware that was only showing up on the japanese site ?

Cheers

[garryheather]

I'm using it - I found it on their European site.

No real problems with it at this end (although reading these forums I've seen a few people say they didn't like it as much as 1.50 and gone back to that), although it seems to choke if you use RecordNow Deluxe 7.3 on Ritek D01 when it hits the layer break - although this is the only app that seems to have this problem from my experience.

Normally I suggest unless you have problems with a firmware revision or you're using media that isn't supported under legacy firmware, you might as well stick with what works for you.

[TBoneit]

Thanks for the info. It seems to be working well with 1.50 so I'll probably stick with it, but on the other hand it says improved writing. Have you noticed anything to support that.

BTW have you or anyone else noticed that the disks come out warm? I never really noticed that on my old Sony 4X.

Cheers

[garryheather]

I can't vouch for earlier versions of the firmware - this is a brand new drive so I can't compare. It seems OK so far though, and using a third party flasher you CAN go back to an earlier version if you need to.

I can't say my discs come out warm, but then I do have some pretty meaty forced air cooling going on with my PC. It keeps everything cool and keeps the dust out, too...

[TBoneit]

Well it isn't the first or second disk, But sunday I was backing up some files from the PC and by the fourth disk in a row they were coming out fairly warm. I was thinking heat build up from the laser?

Cheers

[chas0039]

My 109 also turns out warm discs so I wouldn't worry. Also, the 1.55 firmware I am using turns out better burns on a few of the -R media I use so I am staying with it.