DVD-Rs go 8x

DiZASTiX writes "It seems that the next speed level for DVD Writers is here. "The race for Xs is still on and Plextor has gone into the lead with the PX-708A, what Plextor claims is the first commercialized 8X DVD recorder. At this speed, a 4.5 GB DVD+R takes under 9 minutes to record. That is about the same as a CD in just over a minute. What we wanted to know was whether the reliability and compatibility of blank supports suffer from this breakneck speed...""

I dunno but...

[Anonymous Coward]

Most DVD-R's struggle to work reliably at 4x...

speed is not a concern

[Anonymous Coward]

Who cares about speed? When will we see DVD-9 DVDs, so we can backup copies perfectly, isntead of having to resort to "shrinking" them to fit on a DVD-5? Is it even theoretically possible to burn multi-layer on a consumer device?

DVD-Rs go 8x

[Pingular]

I still don't understand removable media such as DVDs. You might be able to burn a DVD at 8x, but you can write to a hard-disk many, many times faster than that, and with removable hard-drives you can carry them around much as you would do with a DVD, at less cost. Does anyone know of any reasons why this technology is any better?

reading

[m_c_rose]

I find that unencoding takes much longer than burning. While packet writing with a 2.4x seems to be more than fast enough. With the prices of 4x drives as low as they are geting the price point for 8x just wont be worth it for now.

Sig, You can't handle my Sig

Same "in" longer?

[Angram]

"That is about the same as a CD in just over a minute."

Well that certainly clears things up.

I'm guessing what you meant to say was that it takes about a minute longer than a CD to burn, but I don't know how that involves the words "same" or "in."

DVD-R vs DVD+R

[mm0mm]

is as sticky competition as VHS vs Beta. No matter how fast they are I won't buy a burner until either of them becomes de facto standard. ...oh yeah, I know a lot of burners burn both formats, but it doesn't matter to me. I mean, what happened to DVD-ROM drives nowadays? Does anyone even remember?

Reliability=dvd-ram

[olddoc]

If you really want reliability go with dvd-ram in a cartridge. There is built in error checking as you write and no software is needed. Just mkfs /dev/hdx and mount and go.
Unfortunatly this format hasn't caught on and the latest LG 4040B drive doesn't support dvd-ram with the protective cartridge. It does do dvd-r +r -rw +rw cd-r and cd-rw. Maximum PC mag states it can write a 4g dvd-ram at 3x in 20 minutes and every bit of your binary file *will* be there.

So, what is the expected data speed limit?

[Overzeetop]

I bought a 4X when they dropped to $125, and am pretty happy with it. I won't spring for a faster drive until I can get a DVD-9.

But to my real question: How fast will they go? Most seem to be married to the 33MHz IDE spec on which all removable media are based. IIRC that's one byte (8bit parallel) at 33MHz...or about 25X (118GB/hr) with the bus completely saturated. So, without moving to IDE100 or IDE133, 20-22X seems to be a limiting factor.

Someone above mentioned that 16X DVD speed has the same rotational velocity as a CD at 48X. Now, since 52X seems to be the CD-R limit based on the likelyhood of media disintegration that would seem to limit the DVDs to about 17X.

I suppose there is the proposition that a two laser DVD-9 could overcome the rotational velocity bottleneck by writing to both layers at once, given that the file layout cooperates. And if writing a DVD-18 becomes a possibility (unlikely), then a four laser system could write all four layers at once. But this requires moving the CD/DVD devices beyond the UltraDMA mode 4 they seem limited to.

So...where will the DVD speed end?

Just remember

[sandbagger]

Hi: When backing up your p()rn, write the date on the disc and transfer it again in under two years. Disc rot on a DVD-ROM is like disc rot on a CD-ROM, only better.

Re:DVD-Rs go 8x

[unger]

unless your hard drives are part of a RAID array, i'd say they were *less* reliable than DVDs. i've heard the same reports about DVDs _and_ CDs. i've been working on computers for over 20 years. i've never seen one burnt CD go bad.

i've also only purchased the highest quality burners and media. i just purchased my first DVD burner (haven't even installed it yet). a Pioneer DVR-106D. read the reviews, this is considered to be the most reliable DVD burner out there. i still need to finish my research on reliable DVD media. then i'll make the move from CDs to DVDs.

finally, i have seen many HDs stop working. i'd *much* rather have an occasional DVD stop working than have a 300GB hard drive die. don't forget that hard drive manufacturers recently dropped their three year warranties in favor of one year (i know there are still some three year warranties out there). this doesn't make me more confident in hard drives.

Can anyone get the PX-708A to work with FreeBSD?

[Lester67]

I had to order one (under protest) for our FreeBSD guys, all the while insisting the Pioneer was a better drive.

The Plextor wouldn't work *AT ALL* under BSD. Works like a champ under Windows though.

The Pioneer works like a champ under both.

(Also, is this news? I ordered this thing over a month ago... slow news day at /.?)

Re:When does this quote get old...

[purrpurrpussy]

Why not spin the disk differently? Instead of spinning it from the middle place a "chain" of metal beads around the outside (and maybe in the middle). This forms part of the motor mechanism - the other part is a circular disc of electro-magnets in the drive itself AND use a stronger disc surface if possible.

Dunno! Just a coupla pence.

Re:DVD-Rs go 8x

[Anonymous Coward]

DVD/CD's are generally more resistant to being transported.

I don't quite see how a CD can put up any resistance to being transported. What does it do? Latch itself onto the desktop and doesn't let go? My experience so far has been that if I want to transport a CD, they don't usually put up much of a fight; stick em in their case, and they're happy.

Firmware upgrades

[bonch]

Not only have they been announced (I've heard dates as early as April 2004), but some burners apparently will only require a firmware upgrade to burn them correctly.

I guess if it's reading DVD9s with its laser, it can burn them too...it just needs to know how.