Pioneer DVR-116D 20x DVD±RW

Pioneer drives have quite a following among enthusiasts and after having the DVR-116D in our 'Labs, it's easy to see why. While affordably priced, their new 20x DVD±RW offers features like Pioneer's new Optimal Write Speed function and some of the fastest DVD reading and writing speeds available.

The DVR-116D performed very well when writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 20x. At this speed, it took the drive less than five minutes to write an entire 4.7GB DVD. This level of performance carried over to our rewriting tests where the drive turned in some impressive times with DVD-RW and DVD+RW media. Without compatible media, we weren't able to test the DVR-116D's full potential when writing to DVD±R DL media. However, when writing at 10x, the drive took about 15 minutes to burn 8GB of data.

When it came to media compatibility, the DVR-116D gave us some mixed results. While the drive wrote to all of our test media at its rated speeds or better, only four types were supported at 20x. More concerning was the DVR-116D's writing quality. As we showed you in our tests, there were a number of cases where the jitter and error rates were quite high. Hopefully, Pioneer can address this in a future firmware update.

The DVR-116D also performed fairly well in our DVD read tests. While its seek times were a little higher than I would have liked, it was able to read single layer DVD-ROM's and DVD±R discs at 16x. The DVR-116D read DVD±RW discs at 13x and DVD±R DL media at speeds 12x, but slowed to only 5x when reading DVD-RAM discs.

While not as fast as some of the other drives, the DVR-116D performed as expected when reading CD's. In our tests, the drive read pressed and CD-R media at 41x and CD-RW discs at 33x. Pioneer's new drive also did fairly well when ripping audio CD's, reaching DAE speeds as high as 41x. Writing CD's wasn't a problem for the DVR-116D either. The drive's 40x CD-R writing speed did put it at a disadvantage in some of our tests. However, its writing quality was very good.

Like Pioneer's previous DVD writers, the DVR-116D also has its share of features. To prevent buffer underruns, it has a 2000KB buffer that is backed up by some sort of buffer underrun technology. While this buffer is a little smaller than we'd like to see on a 20x DVD writer, this system worked flawlessly in our tests. The DVR-116D also features an anti-dust design with noise reducing mechanisms and support for Pioneer's new Optimal Write Speed technology. Unfortunately, the drive's bitsetting capabilities are fairly limited. While the DVR-116D automatically sets the book type to "DVD-ROM" when writing to DVD+R DL discs, it lacks the ability to do the same with single layer DVD+R and DVD+RW media.

For what it offers, Pioneer's new DVD writer is surprisingly affordable. Available in your choice of black or beige, the OEM version of the DVR-116D can be picked up for less than $30 through some of the online vendors found on Pricegrabber.

Highs:

• Writes to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 20x
• Writes to DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media at 12x
• Writes to DVD+RW media at 8x
• Writes to DVD-RW media at 6x
• Writes to CD-RW media at 32x
• Reads single layer DVD-ROM's at 16x
• Reads DVD±R media at 16x
• Reads DVD±RW media at 13x
• Reads DVD±R DL media at 12x
• Good selection of writing and rewriting speeds
• Includes buffer underrun prevention technology
• Good CD-R writing quality
• Features Pioneer's Optimum Write Speed technology
• Supports bitsetting for DVD+R DL media
• Affordably priced

Lows:

• Questionable writing quality with some DVD±R and DVD±R DL media
• Reads DVD-RAM media at only 5x
• Reads CD-ROM's and CD-R media at only 40x
• Writes to CD-R media at only 40x
• Cannot set the book type of DVD+R or DVD+RW media
• Overburns to only 94:27