detail information

One of the most important things about a DVD recorder (and a CD-RW recorder too) is probably the write quality. A recorder is completely useless when it cannot reliably record data to a disc. On this page of our Ridata review we're going to check how well the Ridata drive can write both DVD and CD media.

DVD+R Write Quality:

Before I start the DVD quality test I have to mention that I unfortunately do not own a Lite-On DVD recorder or any other drive that works with the K-Probe DVD error measurement software. Luckily I do own a picky DVD reader, the Plextor PX-504A. If the recorded disc can be read without problems in this drive, you can be sure that the disc was written correctly. As an additional test I also watched every DVD-Video back-up I created on my Sony DVD player.

Ritek 8x:

The first Nero CD/DVD Speed graph shows us an excellent curve. The Plextor PX-504A drive had no problems reading back our Ritek DVD+R media that was written at 8x.

Fuji 4x:

The next disc we wrote was a Fuji 4x DVD+R disc manufactured by Ricoh. The disc was written at 8x in the Ridata drive and as you can see from the Nero CD/DVD Speed graph, the disc was perfectly readable.

TDK 2.4x:

The next disc we wrote was a TDK disc but as you can see from the DVD Identifier information, this disc was also manufactured by Ricoh although a different (older) revisision. The disc was certified for 2.4x recording and the Ridata wrote the disc at this speed (24m:30s). This disc was also perfectly readable in the Plextor recorder.

Sony 4x:

This time we used a Sony DVD+R disc manufactured by MCC and certified for 4x recording. The Ridata drive wrote the disc at maximum speed, 8x (8m:06s). Once again the recorded disc was perfectly readable in the Plextor recorder.

MMORE 2.4x:

The next DVD+R disc we wrote was an old MMORE disc manufactured by Optodisc and certified for 2.4x recording. The Ridata drive wrote the disc at its certified speed and as you can see from the graph, it was perfectly readable.

Philips 4x:

The last disc we tested was a Philips 4x disc. As the disc is manufactured by Ricoh and thus basically the same disc as the Fuji DVD+R disc, it will come as no surprise the Philips disc was written at 8x. From the Nero CD/DVD Speed graph we can see that once again the disc was perfectly readable. So, overall a perfect result when it comes to DVD write quality.

CD-R Write Quality:

For the CD-R error measurement tests we used the PlexTools Professional software and a Plextor Premium drive. In the produced graphs below you can see an overview of errors occurring during the read process. Note that every burned disc will always have C1 errors. These are errors that are corrected by the drive and they will not effect the disc in a bad way as long as their amount is limited. C2 errors are however very bad for a disc and are harder to read and correct. When there are CU errors present on the disc it means you have bad burned disc and it can't be read in the test drive you're using as a reader. Also keep in mind that the number of C1/C2/CU errors depends on a number of different factors. The combination of software, hardware and read speed have an effect on the results.

Samsung [CMC Magnetics] - 48x certified - 40x write

The first disc we tested was a Samsung CD-R manufactured by CMC Magnetics. The disc was certified for 48x recording speeds and the Ridata wrote the disc at its maximum speed of 40x. The created disc had a low amount of C1 errors and since there were no C2 and CU errors the disc was written perfectly.

MAM-E [Mitsui] - 48x certified - 16x write

The MAM-E discs, manufactured by Mitsui, had quite a lot of C1 errors on them and even some C2 errors (19 in total). Considering the disc was also written at a low speed of only 16x this is not a very good burn. The disc was readable after it was burned but the overall quality could have been a lot better.

Maxell [Hitachi Maxell] - 40x certified - 40x write

The Maxell disc was recorded perfectly. There was an average C1 count of 2.0 and there were no C2 and CU errors on the disc.

DataRight [Moser Baer] - 48x certified - 40x write

The DataRight media was recorded pretty well but it's too bad there were some (12) C2 errors on the disc. The disc was completely readable after it was burned but it's not a good burn since C2 errors are never wanted.

Taiyo Yuden - 24x certified - 32x write

The Taiyo Yuden disc was recorded perfectly. The C1 error count is a little high at the beginning of the disc but nut too high to cause any read problems. The Taiyo Yuden disc was also recorded at a higher speed than it was certified for so overall this is a good result.