Slow DVD read/rip speed - please help

[david50]

When ripping DVD's to my Harddrive, it rips successfully but with very slow read speeds:
DVD Decrypter results:
Average Read speed: 1,436 kB/s (1.1x)
Max Read speed: 3,506 kB/s (2.6x)

When I write to DVD-R though I almost get the advertised writing speed of 2X:
Average Read speed: 2,604 kB/s (1.9x)
Max Read speed: 2,816 KB/s (2.1x)

I am using a Toshiba SD-R5002 drive, Windows 2000 OS, Pentium III 600MHz, 644Mb RAM.

It takes double the time to read vs. write.
In the manual it says this drive can read at 2-4.8X.

Is there something I have to configure?
Firmware update?
Is the drive defective?

Please help!

Thank you,
David

[housepig]

many dvd drives will rip at 2x if ripping a DVD - it's a built-in governor on the drive.

I have a Raite 8x drive, and with DVD Decrypter in .iso mode, it usually reaches between 5-7x. If I rip in file mode, it stays locked at 2x.

My Sony DRU-500AX won't rip faster than 2x either in .iso or file mode, so I'm thinking about picking up a Lite-On 16x, I've seen a lot of happy forum posts saying that they will rip faster (anywhere from 8-12x).

- housepig

[garryheather]

Agreed - I've just replaced my Matsushita SR-8586 with a Lite-on, mainly because the 8586 was really, REALLY picky when it came to reading DVD-R. I used to have to read most discs back in the writer, which kind of defeats the point, but there you go.

I've just picked up a XJ-HD165H and have regularly seen speeds easily in excess of 2x. Between 6 and 8x on dual layers is not uncommon, higher on single layers. Some discs have exceeded that still, but then some discs are pressed better than others.

[Bob W]

Get a LiteON LTD 163 or 166 DVD drive for about $39 online. I have both and on single layer DVD's I have seen the rip go as fast as 15.5x and I average 6 to 8x for dual layer DVD's..

[Will Hay]

Region-freeing my drive produced a three-fold increase in ripping speeds, which was an big bonus as I only intended to region-free it.
Will