I have been burning DVD's on a Plextor PX-708A for a few months. Blank media (DVD+)quality not withstanding, it's a trueism that the slower you burn the more likely it will be successful. My question is..why is it that in "Properties" for my Plextor there is speed select options for CD's but not for DVD's ? Most of the time recording on X4 blanks the speed of the burn process starts at X4 and then speeds up to maybe X8. Most of the time the burned discs are fine but now an again you hit a movie that will freeze when burned in this fashion. Latest example for me was Scorpion King. We keep a supply of Phillips X2.4 for these. Movies that refuse to burn on X4 blanks, will burn perfectly on the X2.4 blanks. It takes MUCH longer to burn these, like 25 minutes compared to 7. I believe burns would be more reliable with X4 blanks if there was a way to keep the Plextor at X4 without it accelerating to faster speeds ? What would going to DVD-R media do for me ?
Mostly successful burns depend on the quality of the media. From my experience, the cheaper media has a tendency to be mixed with good to worst media. Expecially with the bulk packs. THis meaning, that some my burn succesfully at 8x while others from the same batch may burn at 2x. Its just the nature of the beast. THe better quality of media is more stable. Thats just how it is. Here is a good link. Hope this helps. http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm
So, you are saying that in spite of my observing this again and again and again, it must be my imagination and burn speed has little to do with it. I've seen that article and according it, my Phillips X2.4 are landfill quality. Odd that I get 100% successful burns using these. Thanks anyway
Odd that you should mention the 100% burn's that you get with Phillips when I've used Khypermedia (CMC) with the same results as you are getting, but the facts are that they are subject to DVD rot and may not play in all players. Oh sure, they play in my Apex but what if the APex dies and I purchase say a Sony for whatever reason, will they play or in the fact will they be playable? Probably not... Thats the point. We burn these movies to archive when cheap media is exactly what it is, CHEAP, and not good for Archival purposes. Wouldn't it be ashamed if 2-3 years from now you pop that philips in a player and it says > NO DVD... OOOO, that sucks!!! Just my opinion. GOOD LUCK
Nephilim: I'm using DVDXCopy Platinum. This wasn't intended to be a media discussion. My only point in mentioning the Phillips X2.4 was that this media FORCES the Plextor to burn at lower speeds and the result is succesfull for movies that refuse to burn properly with the X4 media which the Plextor can burn up to X8 speeds. Phillips cheap ???
In the case of your 708A, the 2.4X does indeed force the player to burn slower, that's the way the drive/firmware work but the same firmware also allows the drive to ratchet speeds up to 8X for certain 4X +R media just as you've observed. As a general rule, the slower you burn the better quality the burn is, especially with the low quality media, which explains why the Philips are burning fine at 2.4X. As for your main concern of being able to control the burn speed, I don't believe there are any settings in Xcopy to allow that but, you can overcome this by using 4X minus R media which can't be burned any faster than 4X by the 708. I've the same drive as you and use only Ritek Ridata branded +/- R in mine with perfect playback, so if you're interested I've seen the RiDATA's go for under $40 per 50
I don't agree with all this burn slower stuff. It just means you are using the wrong media for your burner. One size does not fit all. Find the correct media/match for your burner and stick to it, makes life a whole lot easier.
Ok. Maybe you guys are right.. Let me try some better quality x4 or x8 blanks and see how they do. Thanks
