Media problems? Possibly...

[leeko]

Dear all,
Please excuse yet another post on freezing toward the end of dvd-r backups, but I need a few points clarified.

I bought a Pioneer DVR-105 2 weeks ago in Glasgow, and have since burned about 20 discs. These consist of a few data dvds and the rest dvd-video backups using dvdXcopy (these are backups of discs I own, and this was the main reason for buying the burner).

I have tried all of the cheaper brands of disc available to me from the shops I know of in Glasgow. These are:

1. Datasafe Media DVD-R 2x speed
2. Aladin-media DVD-R 1x speed
3. Gogo disc black logo DVD-R (speed not stated)
4. Gogo disc red logo DVD-R (as above)
5. Monarch DVD-R 2x speed

The Datasafe, Monarch amd Gogo red discs were described as higher quality than the other two. With the exception of the Datasafe, none of the discs is capable of burning at more than 1x in my 105.

Out of all of these, every type of disc has produced a result which is not readable all the way to the end of the disc, freezing after an hour or so (for dvd-video), or refusing to open certain files (data).

This occurs even on the Pioneer 105, which wrote the discs. Now, from what I have read, this is a media issue. Also, the rates of failure for discs has been stated as 2/15 discs or thereabouts. I have burned 20 discs, and 7 of these have been useless, freezing mid-way. This seems to be a very high rate indeed. Can we call it a media issue when 5 different brands have the same problem? I grant you that these are not necessarily household names, but as a controlled experiment this would most likely hold up to argument. Or is it possible that my burner is at fault? Would upgrading firmware from 1.00 to 1.21 (and thus invalidating my warranty) help this issue?

I am seriously thinking of returning the drive, due to the sheer fact that it does not do properly what it says it is capable of.

I welcome anyone's comments, and look forward to being convinced that this is definitely due to the fact I have used cheap media.

Lastly (and assuming I will be convinced), if anyone has any good experiences with using cheap(er) media on the Pioneer 105 (1.00 or 1.21 firmware), I would love to hear of it.

Cheers everyone,
Leeko

[shelbyboy]

I am in the same boat. I have used Memorex dvd-r and get pixilated after about an hour into play. Oddly, Memorex DVD-RWs seem to work. I have a Cendyne 209 which is a 105 rebadged. I am using 1.00 firmware. I bought some Khyper DVD-rs and will give them a shot but don't want to waste any more Memorex DVD-r until I discover a resolution. Help us out folks!
Thanks!
SB

[Faustus]

Well with exception of the data safe I have not heard of a single disk you listed... so yeah until you try some Apple or TDK disk or something along those lines its kinda hard to say its a drive problem.

go buy a 5 pack of apple disk and test them, they are cheaper on their online store now: if it messes up them I'd call Pioneer for a replacement drive.

[Nelson37]

There is a general consensus that some cheap disks are crap, some work in some players, few are truly wonderful. Expensive disks are agreed to be more reliable, but not universally.

Expensive disks are not only individually better made but are also more uniform in materials and quality. Can this happen with inexpensive disks?Sure. Is it likely to happen on a regular and continuing basis? Not in the immediate future.

You have used 5 different kinds of crap disks and have had crap results. I agree with previous comment, try the APPLE, generally agreed to be the best. If you get any errors, return the drive. If no errors, stop buying crap disks. You could hope to find some better quality inexpensive ones but will probably go back to the same problems.

Uncertain from your statements whether any of the disks play correctly start to finish, or do the errors vary from middle to end of disk? 5 brands, 20 disks, that's only 4 from each brand. That's really not a very large sample to judge by, particularly consedering that most brands are often made by several different manufacturers within a fairly short time span, a brand that is great may be terrible 3 months later.

Another thing to note is that encoding methodology could be responsible for some or all of your problems. You should take a test file that works properly on at least one disk and then burn that same file to several different brands as a test.

[paulb]

I had the same problem with Memorex DVD-R stuttering in the middle. Chapters also had issues. The Memorex DVD-RW worked fine. I upgraded my Pioneer A05 firmware to the latest version and everything is fine now. The DVD-R's play on the standalone Pioneer/Samsung and a friends Sony.

The only thing I changed was to upgrade the burner firmware.

Good Luck.
Paulb

[shelbyboy]

I upgraded my firmware to 1.21 and still had prolems with Memorex DVD-R. RW seemed to work. I took them back to CompUSA and am finished with them. I used a cheapy (Khyper) and they work good for much less than half the price.
Thanks for the responce.
I have also bought a box of TDK 2x. Anyone try these?