Burning at low speed a problem?

[Bill_st]

Hi there. I have this "old" but good CD-RW, an LG GCE-8160b (16x-10x-40x) and I've had a little problem with my burnt CD-Rs for the first time ever with it.

I was using 24x certified Verbatim media (metal-azo, dark blue) until recently, and all CD-Rs I burnt with it (usually written at 8-12x) were read without a hitch on any drive or standalone DVD, especifically s/vcd-cds. Now I've purchased a 25-spindle of 40x Verbatim media (super-azo, light blue) and I've noticed for the first time that my standalone had problems reading Video-CDs burnt at 8x with this media. Burning at 16x (max speed of the drive) seemed to solve the problem but left me wondering..

Are faster media supposed to be burnt at speeds closest to its certified max speed (and thus unreliable if burnt at lower ones), or is it just a particular problem with this drive-media combo?

Btw, I've never updated the firmware for the CD-RW, are there any particular benefits of doing so, and if yes where can I d/l it from? Thx.

[glock20rocks]

I had a similar problem with PNY 48x rated discs. If burned at 32-40x, the burn came out with no unreadable spots (but some damaged spots). At 8x the discs had some unreadable spots.