detail information

The specifications of the Matshita DVD-RAM SW-9585 state that the drive is able to write CD-R discs at 40x and CD-RW at 24x. Let us find out how the drive really performs in speed and quality.

Writing Data CD-R discs:

For our data writing tests, we simply set up a new compilation of 701Mb using Nero Burning ROM software. Writing method used is DAO (Disc At Once), and the disc is set up as a non-multisession disc with 'finalize disc" enabled. The screenshot below shows how long it takes to write a disc at the highest speed. (40x):

The drive used 3 minutes and 22 seconds to write the disc at 40x. (Actual write speed 40x).  Let us see how this compares to other drives:

• Samsung TS-E552U used 2 minutes and 52 seconds at 40x
• LG GSA-4163B used 3 minutes and 15 seconds at 40x
• Philips DVDR1640P used 3 minutes and 17 seconds at 40x
• NU DDW-082 used 3 minutes and 2 seconds at 40x
• Samsung TS-H552B used exactly 3 minutes at 40x         
• Plextor PX-708A used 2 minutes and 58 seconds at 40x

Write Quality:

We will be testing discs from 10 different CD-R manufactures/brands. To measure the write speed we used the 'Create Data Disc" function in Nero CD-DVD Speed. The discs were written at the maximum speed that the drive supports. For the quality test, we used K-Probe 2 which is a tool developed by a Lite-On employee. It runs under Windows and works with drives made by Lite-On. Also note that different drives and different reading speeds may affect the results obtained when scanning the discs. We used a Lite-On LTR-52327S (firmware QS0E) and a Lite-On LTR-32123S (firmware XS0Z) to scan the discs at the maximum speed available.

A written CD-R disc will always have some C1 errors. C1 errors are easily corrected by the drive's error correction capabilities. The next level of errors is C2, while C2 errors could also be corrected by most drive's error correction capabilities; they are not wanted on a good quality disc. A good disc should not contain any C2 errors, and preferably have an average C1 error amount of below 2.0 for the best discs, or at least below 10.0 averages for good quality discs. After C2 errors, there are only un-correctable errors that will make a disc unusable.

Below are the obtained results:

Sony media - C1 is nice, no C2 errors.

RiDATA media - There are some issues here. The dreaded C2 error shows up. Multiple discs tried but the same result always showed. Needs improvement!

FujiFilm media - manufactured by Taiyo Yuden Company Limited. This is not quite what we would expect to see from this high quality media. Panasonic must do better!

FujiFilm media - manufactured by Prodisc Technology Inc. The C1 counts are great. Nice burn.

Memorex media - manufactured by CMC Magnetics Corporation. One of the best burns by the Panasonic drive yet.

OfficeMax media - manufactured by Moser Baer India Limited. Another very nice burn but limited to 16x write speed by firmware.

Esa - cheap store brand manufactured by CMC Magnetics Corporation. This is a good burn on some inexpensive media. Nice!

No trouble with Verbatim CD-R media.

Unfortunately these 24x CD-R's are only supported at 8x maximum. Writing quality looks okay, but the over ten minutes of writing time for a CD-R is quite annoying.

Unfortunately these 52x CD-R's are only supported at 16x. The resulting write quality is okay, but we've seen other drives such as the Pioneer DVR-109 that can write to these discs at 40x with outstanding quality.

Writing Quality with CD Re-Writable discs:

Due to requests from our readers, we will add a few write quality tests with re-writable media. Settings and testing procedures are the same as used earlier in this review, so you may want to go back and read them if you are unsure. All discs used for these tests are new and have not been written to before.

CD-ReWritable media:

This is not what we would classify as a 'good" burn. C1 errors are quite elevated but fortunately there is no appearance of the dreaded C2 error.

Same thing for this High Speed CD-RW, elevated C1 but no C2 appearance.

Woah! Now this is seriously messed up! This 32x Ultra Speed media is only supported at 16x and maybe they should not have even bothered!

Summary: Overall the Matshita DVD-RAM SW-9585's CD-R writing quality can be considered as okay. We were a bit surprised at the poor write quality on the Ritek CD-R media as well as the sub par writing quality on Taiyo Yuden CD-R. The writing quality on CD-RW has some issues that Panasonic just hasn't done a good job of addressing. The support and write quality for High Speed and Ultra Speed media is lacking in this tested firmware.

So let us head on to next page and read about DVD-Writing performance…