Asus DRW-0402P UPDATE!

[hodgeac]

Does anyone own this drive yet? I have one in transit...should be here tomorrow. I noticed it is not in the DVD writers list and nothing comes up when I search for it in the forum. So question is, is this a rebadged 105? I assume it is as the specs look the same. Let me know if you know for sure. Also what are your experiences with it so far?
Thanks!

[hodgeac]

Well my drive should arrive today...I guess I will have to let you guys know the low down after I install it and do a few test burns.

[hodgeac]

Okay. Well I got the drive, installed it and it is recognized as a Asus DRW-0402P...Not a Pioneer 105, so it looks like Asus built this one themselves? Asus usually builds there own hardware, but then they released the 104 drive based on the pioneer so I figured it might be a Pioneer...But it seems to be a whole new animal. Well onto the testing. I only have Maxell DVD-RWs right now, Ritek 4x DVD-Rs on the way. Here's the info from Nero CDSpeed on the Maxell.

Manufacturer : JVC/VictorT7
Code : -
Disc Type : DVD-RW
Usage : General
Recording Layer : -
Recording Speed : 1 X
Capacity : 4.38 GB
4707321856 Bytes
Additional Capacity : -
Overburn Capacity : -

ADVDInfo says media code is:
00 42 00 00 01 40 D6 FD 9E D8 20 00 02 0E 08 07 .B...@.... .....
88 86 0C 00 03 4A 56 43 2F 56 69 00 04 63 74 6F .....JVC/VI..CTO
72 54 37 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 RT7.............

Anyways, This drive burned the disc at 1x to the very edge and playback is great. Took ~55min. I submitted this drive to the Writers list as it is not on there yet. I'm really happy with it so far. I will update you guys when I get my 4x discs and backup a couple of my movies.

[kukm66]

How much did you pay for it may I ask?
Is it a 4X?

[hodgeac]

It is a 4x.
I got it for $259 and free shipping from Newegg.com
Heres the link to Asus' Website for info on the drive...

http://usa.asus.com/products/optical/drw-0402P/overview.htm

[hodgeac]

Well it doesn't look like anyone cares.
BUT...I got my Ritek G04s. Tested them with AVDVInfo and they are authentic...but they only burn at 2x...Even when I set the burn speed to 4x they still only burn at 2x speed. This is in DVDDecrypter and the latest Nero. Anybody have any ideas? Thanks for the help. Oh also, can someone recommend a good place online to get a 4x dvd-r sample pack? Thanks again!

[hodgeac]

Also, what 4x dvd-r media do you guys like best? The media list is pretty worthless for 4x media, as all they list is Ritek G04 and Pioneer $7 discs...

[hodgeac]

UPDATE!
I got the Ritek G04s to burn @4x. I had the drive on a PCI ATA/133 controller...I moved it to the secondary channel on the mobo and this drive is burning a full dvd-r in 12-13 min. on these Riteks! I must say this is really good media and this drive is awesome! I really could swear this is a Pioneer 105. Looks just like one except for the ASUS logo on the drive tray. the vents are the same. the specs are all the same... who knows... BUT I am stoked this drive kicks ass!

[Rippermac]

I too have this DVD burner and so far so good. Haven't tried any 4X media yet but I also haven't burnt any coasters at 2X using Verbatims..next step is to to get a controller card for one of my hard drives so I can have all 3 ATAPI devices( Lite On DVD ROM, ASUS DRW0402, LiteOn CDRW) looking to get some 4X media to really see what I got!
Rip

[DjCalvin]

Only thing I have noticed, is that It only rips at 2.1x using dvd decryptor.
anyone else see this??
I have no clue if its supposed to read that slow.


Cal

[Rippermac]

I have never used it for ripping..I use a Toshiba that rips at about 5.6 average using SmartRipper

[DjCalvin]

hmm..
I'm wondering if the writers arent as good for ripping, sucks that I am at my limit for ide devices unless I add a pci controller.

Can anyone reccomend a drive just for ripping?

Thanks
Cal

[dcsos]

Thats about right speed for a writer to rip at

[Rippermac]

I read somewhere the LiteOn LTD-166 is the fastest for ripping dvd's..sometimes at 12X!
Rip

[w00tski]

hmm, this is a pretty interesting result. The actual IDE channel seems to affect the ability of the burner. This has me thinking perhaps the sony/ritek 4x problem may be tied to VIA chipsets as someone pointed out. Ill be interested to try my sony dru500a burner on another chipset, like the trusty old intel i440BX. I had one problem when the burner would not downgrade firmware, kept requesting to reboot. When i moved the burner to that machine with the intel chipset, it downgraded no problems, didnt even prompt for a reboot. I might pickup 1 or 2 more ritek 4x media to give this a go... If it is infact another VIA problem.... grrrr.... wont be buying their stuff again.

On a note of ripping, the dual layer discs do rip slower than single layer discs. An 8x dvdrom may only read at 6x for dual layer discs. Single layer would find ripping closer to the rated speed of the dvdrom. I tried this with my liteon LTD163D for a single layer disc (pressed, not burnt) and it reached close to 16x towards the end of the disc. Also found that it is significantly slower at reading DVD-R discs, maxing out at 8x towards the end of the disc. This also leads me to think that dvdrom drives really arent quite so ready for dvd-r discs as they are at reading CD-R etc.

[thefox149]

I have this drive but playback is really slow at stuttering when trying to watch a dvd also i hav't been able to burn faster than2x


How do i know if i have it set on a pci ata 133

I have it set as a secondary master