I've got an Optorite DD0401, an 8x DVD burner. When burning Verbatium 4x DVD+R's, the drive will start at 4x, jump to 8x, then drop back down to 4x. Looking at the bottom of the disc, there is a ring in the middle of the disc, right where the drive would have been writing at 8x.
Now...should I be concerned about quality of said disc? I'm burning all of my Verbatium's at 4x now, but have a few burned at "8x".
Oh, the color difference is apparent on the TDK 4x media (which burns fine at 8x) I have as well; the color of the outer 2/3 of the disc is a bit different color. Same for the Ritek 8x, err, *4X*, media. Keep forgetting it's not really 8x.