detail information
| Posted by | Jan S. |
| Posted on | 06/11/04 17:58 |
| Number of views | 9476 |
|
|
|
Review: Pioneer DVR-A08XLA DVD-Writer |
Pioneer
Some short Pioneer information:
Pioneer is a large and well-known company over the whole
world and has since the 1930s been providing quality products, so let us take a
look at their product history:
As we can see they have been providing high tech, quality
products for a long time. Pioneer, as we know them now, has the following
vision:
sound.vision.soul
Pioneer group's sense of purpose
Everyone's got soul. The never-ending challenge is to find
better ways to feel it deeper down inside. At Pioneer, 'Move the Heart and Touch the Soul" means more than
words can express. It's our mission to stir as many senses and sensibilities as
we can through the wonders of everlasting sound and vision.
Since we are pretty sure that almost everyone knows
Pioneer, we do not think a longer company presentation is needed and go directly
to drive specifications.
Drive specifications:
These are the specifications of this drive, found at the Pioneer webpage:
High
Speed DVD-R/RW CD-R/RW Writer The
DVR-A08XLA is the industry's first DVD writer to support 16x write
speeds on both DVD-R/+R along with the option to write at 4x speed
on Double Layer media. This extends Pioneer's track record of
establishing key performance benchmarks when introducing new DVD
writers. Press Release: DVR-A08XL: First Multiple Format 16x DVD Writer with
4x +R double layer recording capability
DVR-A08XLA Writes
and reads DVD-R/RW, +R/RW and CD R/RW formats DVD/CD
buffer under-run protection Max.
16x writing speed for DVD-R/ +R DVD
data capacity of 4.7 GB per single-sided disc and 8.4 GB Double layer
discs Bundled
Software: Specifications DVR-A08XLA Write
Support DVD-R (4.7 GB for General disc
only), DVD-RW , +R, +RW CD-R,
CD-RW Read
Support DVD-ROM (Single layer & Dual
layers) DVD-RAM (Version 2 - 2.1
only) DVD-R (all types), DVD-RW, +R, +R
DL, +RW CD-ROM Mode
1, CD-ROM XA Mode 2 (Form 1, Form 2) CD-Text,
Photo-CD (Single or Multiple session),CD-DA,
CD-Extra CD-R, CD-RW (Supports
AM2) Write Speed
DVD-R 16x Zone CLV (22.16 MB/sec)
8x Zone CLV (11.08
MB/sec) 4x
CLV (5.54 MB/sec) 2x CLV (2.77
MB/sec) 1x CLV
(1.385 MB/sec) Write Speed
DVD-RW 4x CLV (5.54
MB/sec) 2x CLV (2.77
MB/sec) 1x CLV
(1.385 MB/sec) Write Speed
+R 16x Zone CLV (22.16
MB/sec) 8x Zone CLV (11.08
MB/sec) 4x
CLV (5.54 MB/sec) 2x CLV (2.77
MB/sec) 1x CLV
(1.385 MB/sec) Write
Speed +R Double Layer 4x CLV (5.54
MB/sec) 2x CLV (2.77
MB/sec) 1x CLV
(1.385 MB/sec) Write Speed
+RW 4x CLV (5.54
MB/sec) 2.4x CLV (3.240
MB/sec) Write Speed
CD-R 32x Zone CLV (4.8 MB/sec)
24x Zone CLV (3.6 MB/sec)
16x
CLV (2.46 MB/sec) 12x CLV (1.845 MB/sec)
8x CLV (1.23 MB/sec)
4x CLV (0.615
MB/sec) Write Speed
CD-RW 24x Zone CLV (3.6 MB/sec)
16x
CLV (2.46 MB/sec) 10x CLV (1.5 MB/sec)
4x CLV
(0.615 MB/sec) Read
Speed DVD-ROM (Single) Max.
16x CAV (22.16 MB/sec) Read
Speed DVD-ROM (Dual) Max.
12x CAV (16.62 MB/sec) Read Speed
DVD-RAM Max.
2x CLV (2.77 MB/sec) Read
Speed DVD-R, DVD-RW Max.
12x CAV (16.62 MB/sec), Max. 8x CAV (11.08
MB/sec) Read Speed
+R,+RW Max. 12x CAV
(16.62 MB/sec), Max. 8x CAV (11.08 MB/sec) Read Speed
CD-ROM Max.
40x CAV (6 MB/sec) Read
Speed CD-R,CD-RW Max.
40x CAV (6 MB/sec), Max 32x CAV (4.92 MB/sec) Read Speed
CD-Audio Max.
40x Read Speed
Video-CD 9.3x CLV
(1.395 MB/sec) Access Time
DVD 140 msec
(Random Average) Access
Time CD (Random Average) 130
msec Interface ATAPI
(ATA/ATAPI-5 & MCC3, SFFCINF 8090
Ver.5.11) Data
Buffer 2
MB Mounting
Orientation Horizontal
and Vertical Power
Requirement +5
V 1.4A Max. Power
Consumption 22.60 Watt
Max. Regulatory
Approval UL, CSA,
TéœV, CB Report, FIMKO, FCC Class B, FDA, CE Marking, C-Tick, CISPR-22B,
Korean EMC, Taiwan EMC Dimensions
(W x H x D) 148 x 42.3 x
Net
Weight 1.1 kg
Max. 4x writing speed for +R Double
Layer Discs
Max. 4x writing speed for DVD-RW/
+RW
'Sonic
Digital Media Suite' includes...
- MyDVD Deluxe
- DLA
-
RecordNow!
- SimpleBackup
- CinePlayer
+12 V 1.4A Max
The specifications are pretty good, but 32x CD-Writing is a
bit low compared to other new drives. The specifications do also state that it
uses Z-CLV/CLV writing strategy, many new writers use CAV/P-CAV which is a
faster (but maybe harder to implement) strategy. We will later on see how this
affects the performance of the drive.
What's inside the
box?
Let us start out pretty easy with taking a look at what we
got and what the box contained.
The drive we received was a retail drive that came in a
nice looking box, but a nice box is not worth much - so let us look at the
content.
Looks like a very small bundle but to make sure that we do
not miss anything we list what we got below:
This is what the Retail bundle consists of:
⋅
The drive itself
⋅
Sonic software CD
⋅
Manual
⋅
Screws
Far from the best bundle we have seen, we are missing
IDE-Cable, Audio cable as well as empty media.
Now it's time to take a look at the drive itself:
It does at least have a very special looking front, very
stylish. But it is very stripped for features, there is just a small one
coloured led, we prefer a different led colour when writing compared to when
reading, and there is no head phone connector and volume knob either.
Our sample was produced in
On the back of the drive there are from the left: one
undocumented connector; analogue audio connector; pins and jumper to set the
drive to cable select, slave or master; IDE connector, power connector. The
digital audio connector is missing.
Now, let us install the drive and check out the features
and program bundle of this drive on the next page…
Conclusion