The truth about the Pioneer A03 and certified media
Posted on 07/03/02 14:46 by Jan Willem                             
The truth about the Pioneer A03 and certified media

As we earlier reported, the Pioneer A03 (one of the most populair DVD writers at the moment) is rather picky with media it can write at 2 speed.

Here is a reply from Memorex, that makes DVD-R media on a mail found at dvdwriters.co.uk.


There are only six manufacturers who have formal approval for 2X recording speed on the Pioneer DVR-A03: Pioneer, Maxell, Taiyo Yuden, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, and TDK--all Japanese. Although the Memorex DVD-R has been "unofficially" approved, the paperwork is very slow.

Pioneer DVR-A03 version 1.55 can record at 2X on the first five manufacturers' discs, but you will need to upgrade via a flash download to version 1.65 to get the TDK discs to record at 2X.

Memorex has also been pushing to get our formal approval, and when it comes, there will also have to be driver upgrade for the drive to recognize the disc. It would have made more sense to have a recognizable code included in approved discs than to change the drive's firmware to recognize the manufacturer, but that is the way Pioneer chose to arrange it.

Please keep the pressure on Pioneer to approve other suppliers! We appreciate all the help we can get.

Memorex Products, Inc."


So it is just a slow Pioneer that will probably have a lot of testing to do and then update their firmware. So if you currently have media that the Pioneer will only write at one speed then mail Pioneer !

Source: DVDwriters.co.uk

Reactions
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By OC-Freak, Thu 7 Mar 2002 17:58
OC-FreakLOL, memorex do not manufacture any media theirself. They just buy it from the places where they could get it cheapest.......and those cheap manufacturers do not make good enough DVD-R media :8 I've seen memorex CD-R discs produced by: ritek, prodisc, MPO, postech, and CMC Magnetics(real crap).
By Guest, Thu 7 Mar 2002 20:55
So uhm, do I read this like, pioneer decides what medium is approved (read: allowed?) to be used with the pioneer drive? Isn't that like, bad? Wouldn't it be nicer if the software just sais: "This medium isn't meant to be used at 2 speed, successful burning is not guaranteed? Do you want to continue? [Yes] [No, I'm a coward]" Or something like that? Looks a little like THEY want to controll what mediums can be used. Smilie
By Satan, Fri 8 Mar 2002 00:29
They already cracked the region protection in the firmware (v1.65 and v1.65), next they'll better crack that stupid speedcheck. If ppl want to risk to get a bad burn on cheap media, it's their business, not Pioneer's.
By Everitt, Fri 8 Mar 2002 02:50
wtf? apple media works fine on 2x on a pioneer a03
By SiC, Fri 8 Mar 2002 02:59
Apple media is Pioneer OEM.
By Wiccabilly, Fri 8 Mar 2002 06:55
I think the computer industry abuses early adopters. It's one thing for early adopters to bear the brunt or R&D costs, that's above-board and generally accepted. But to use them as beta testers for a purchased product is a bit low.
By Wiccabilly, Fri 8 Mar 2002 06:57
Apple *media*? Anything with Apple on it is a rebranded, marked-up version of something else.
By terry, Wed 8 May 2002 06:17
Say what you will about Memorex discs, but their website has got the best info on CD-Rs and DVDs. Check out their FAQs on the technical section.

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