Test machine

For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

Hardware:

• Motherboard: ASUSTeK P5K (Intel P35 chipset)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
• RAM: 4 GB OCZ Platinum dual channel kit DDR2 800
• GFX: BFG nVidia 8800GTS (640 Megabytes GDDR3 HDCP compliant)
• Sound: Onboard Realtek ALC882 HD audio controller
• Hard disk: 2X 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (SATA 2)
• Case: ThermalTake Armor (silver)
• PSU: Enermax Liberty 620W
• Display: Samsung Syncmaster CX226BW 22” widescreen (HDCP compliant)
• Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium (64 bit)

System setup:

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK was connected to one of the main boards SATA ports and reports as a PIONEER BD-ROM BDC-202.

From the screenshot from Nero InfoTool above, we can see the Pioneer BDC-S02BK supports BD-R, BD-RE and BD-ROM reading. According to Nero InfoTool, it also reports that the drive is capable of writing BD-R and BD-RE. This of course is not supported by the Pioneer BDC-S02BK. The drive came shipped with firmware version 1.01 and no updates were available at the time of writing this review.

Installed software:

• Nero CD/DVD Speed
• Nero InfoTool
• KProbe

Our review PC has Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit installed.

Features and techniques

Software Bundle:

Now let’s take a look at the supplied software bundle. Please note, we may not use any of this software in this review.

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK is supplied with CyberLink’s BD Solution software and includes the following applications.

• Power Producer 4
• Power Director 5
• PowerDVD 7.3
• Instant Burn 5
• Power 2Go 5.5

In the above screenshot we can see the main CyberLink BD Solution install screen. The package contains a good starting point for new owners of the Pioneer BDC-S02BK.

BookType (Bitsetting):

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK supports automatic bit-setting, and is capable of writing DVD+R DL media with DVD-ROM book type. However, Bit-Setting of DVD+R/RW is not supported.

Here is how you could check if your discs are really written with DVD-ROM book type:

Start Nero CD-DVD Speed and click the Disc info button and you should get something like this:

DVD+R DL with book type DVD-ROM

Another quick test is to start Nero CD-Speed and look at the disc information:

Writing technique

Now it’s time to take a closer look at the write technology used by the Pioneer BDC-S02BK:

For these tests we used CD-Speed and wrote a full disc at the drives maximum speed.

CD Recordable:

According to the specifications of the Pioneer BDC-S02BK, it should be able to write CD-R media at a maximum speed of 24x.

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 24X. This gives an average speed of 20.60x and a total writing time of 4 minutes and 47 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

As we can see, the Pioneer BDC-S02BK was the slowest compared to our other drives when writing CD-R media. This is not surprising considering the 24x maximum write speed.

CD Re-writable:

According to the specifications of the Pioneer BDC-S02BK, it should be able to write CD-RW media at a maximum speed of 24x.

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 24X. This gives an average speed of 22.03x and a total writing time of 4 minutes and 5 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

As we can see, the Pioneer BDC-S02BK was the slowest compared to our other drives when writing CD-RW media. Again due to its 24x maximum writing speed.

12x DVD+R/-R writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Pioneer BDC-S02BK, it should be able to write DVD+R/-R media at a maximum speed of 12x.

DVD+R

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity) to write at its maximum speed of 12X. This gives an average speed of 9.45x and a total writing time of 7 minutes and 15 seconds.

DVD-R

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity) to write at its maximum speed of 12X. This gives an average speed of 9.46x and a total writing time of 7 minutes and 6 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

As we can see from our table, the Pioneer BDC-S02BK was the slowest drive when writing DVD±R media. Again due to its 12x maximum writing speed.

6X DVD+RW writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Pioneer BDC-S02BK, it should be able to write DVD+RW at a maximum speed of 6x.

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK uses CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 8X. This gives an average speed of 6.01x and a total writing time of 10 minutes and 2 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK was the slowest at writing our test DVD+RW media. Again due to its 6x maximum writing speed.

6x DVD-RW writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Pioneer BDC-S02BK, it should be able to write DVD-RW at a maximum speed of 6x.

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK uses CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 6X. This gives an average speed of 6.01x and a total writing time of 10 minutes and 18 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK was about average when writing DVD-RW media.

4x DVD+R DL writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Pioneer BDC-S02BK, it should be able to write DVD+R DL at a maximum speed of 4x.

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK uses CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 4X. This gives an average speed of 3.95x and a total writing time of 27 minutes and 13 seconds.

4x DVD-R DL writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Pioneer BDC-S02BK, it should be able to write DVD-R DL at a maximum speed of 4x.

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK uses CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 4X. This gives an average speed of 3.95x and a total writing time of 27 minutes and 46 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK with its 4x maximum writing speed was the slowest drive.

5x DVD-RAM writing speed

According to the specifications of the Pioneer BDC-S02BK, it should be able to write DVD-RAM at a maximum speed of 5x.

The Pioneer BDC-S02BK uses CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 5X. This gives an average speed of 4.97x and a total writing time of 11 minutes and 8 seconds.

Summary:

With the Pioneer BDC-S02BK slower maximum writing speed compared to a dedicated DVD writer, writing times were bound to be slower. However, the Pioneer BDC-S02BK does manage to write to all commonly available CD/DVD media formats.

Let’s head on to the next page where we will check reading performance….

Introduction

Reading performance