Spring 2004 DVD Performance Roundup: More DVD Dual 8X
by Kristopher Kubicki on April 28, 2004 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
ASUS DRW-0804P
We were recently impressed by ASUS' work on the latest DRW-0804P, a great blend of media support and speed. As we mentioned several times in the review, the ASUS DRW-0804P is based on the same chipset as the NEC 2500A and the Pioneer 107D. The drive is pricey at $120, but 6 months ago, we would have considered that a steal. The NuTech DDW-082 and NEC 2500A have brought our cost perception into a new level of clarity.| ASUS DRW-0804P DVD-/+R Drive | |
| Interface | IDE |
| CD Write Speed | 24X (Z-CLV) 16X, 12X, 8X, 4X (CLV) |
| CD Rewrite Speed | 24X (Z-CLV) 16X, 12X, 8X, 4X (CLV) |
| CD Read Speed | 40X Max (CAV) |
| DVD-R Write Speed | 8X (Z-CLV) 4X, 2X (CLV) |
| DVD-RW Rewrite Speed | 4X, 2X, 1X (CLV) |
| DVD+R Write Speed | 8X (Z-CLV) 4X, 2X (CLV) |
| DVD+RW Rewrite Speed | 4X, 2.4X (CLV) |
| DVD Read Speed | 12X Max (16,620KB/s) (CAV) |
| Supported Modes | DAO / DAO-RAW 16 & 96 TAO SAO / SAO 16 & 96 Packet Write MultiSession |
| Supported Formats | DVD+R (DAO, incremental, seq) DVD+RW (random) DVD-R (DAO, incremental, seq) DVD-RW (restricted overwrite) CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-ROM XA, Mixed Mode, CD Extra Photo CD, CD Text, Bootable CD, UDF |
| Access Time | CD: 130ms DVD: 140ms |
| Buffer | 2MB |
The largest issues that we had with the DRW-0804P were high access and slow CDR burn speeds. The NEC design based around the same chipset has similar problems as well. Our DRW-0804P is capable of reading DVD-RAM media, although it is not capable of writing it.
There are several other drives that use the same NEC D63630GM (found in this drive) and also use the Pioneer assembly. We would expect similar performance of the ASUS DRW-0804P with:
- Pioneer 107D
- Memorex True 8X
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
24 Comments
View All Comments
mkruer - Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - link
Stupid question but i must ask, is there a firmware update to the Plextor 708A that allows us to burn dual layer DVD's? I remember there was quite alot of talk about the new drives supporting the feature, but that it was not enabled.deadseasquirrel - Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - link
"Why wasn't the Plextor 8x drive included in this comparison?"didja *read* the article??
Page 5: "Alas, our award winning Plextor 708A, which is also based on the LC897490, is not capable of 8X DVD-R, so we could not include it in this roundup."
moktaw - Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - link
Bought the NuTech 081 several months ago. Firmware upgraded to a 082(at least that's what Nero and DVDInfoPro say with B370 Firmware). This is my first DVD burner. Outstanding product, especially at $80. Burned about 25 discs so far without any coasters. I would love to find the B372 firmware upgrade talked about in the article, Checked NuTech's website this morning and couldn't find it. A typo or do I need to look elsewhere? Thanks for the great discussion. Looking forward to the 16x dual layer burners this summer.Booty - Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - link
Why wasn't the Plextor 8x drive included in this comparison?