What's in the box?:
- Pioneer DVR-2920Q 20x DVD±RW/RAM Drive
- Software Installation CD
- Operating Instructions
- 2 Verbatim Qflix DVDs
- Warranty Information
- CinemaNow $25 Gift Certificate
- Mounting Screws
Physical Features:
The drive Pioneer sent us for this review was manufactured in August of 2008 and had firmware 1.01. For this review we used firmware versions 1.01 and 1.06.
From the front, the DVR-2920Q looks very similar to Pioneer's previous DVD writers. It not only shares the same basic bezel design, but has many of the same logos. Along the front of the tray you can see a few showing support for the DVD+ReWritable, DVD Multi and DVD Download specifications, as well as Sonic's Qflix technology.
Below the tray you can see the DVR-2920Q's single LED. Off by default, this LED lights up green when the drive is reading or writing.
The rear of the DVR-2920Q is fairly straight forward. By looking at the picture below you can see the drive's SATA interface and power connector.
Technical Specs:
The specs below have been taken from Pioneer's website and the manual that came with the drive.
| Pioneer DVR-2920Q 20x DVD±RW/RAM | |
| CD Write Speeds | 40x (CAV) 32x, 24x (P-CAV) 16x, 10x, 4x (CLV) |
| CD Rewrite Speeds | 32x, 24x (Z-CLV) 16x, 10x, 4x (CLV) |
| DVD+R Write Speeds | 20x, 18x, 16x, 8x (CAV) 12x (P-CAV) 12x, 8x (Z-CLV) 6x, 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD+RW Write Speeds | 8x (Z-CLV) 6x, 4x, 3.3x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R Write Speeds | 20x, 18x, 16x, 8x (CAV) 12x (P-CAV) 12x, 8x (Z-CLV) 6x, 4x, 2x, 1x (CLV) |
| DVD-RW Write Speeds | 6x, 4x, 2x, 1x (CLV) |
| DVD+R DL Write Speeds | 12x, 10x, 8x (Z-CLV) 6x, 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R DL Write Speeds | 12x, 10x, 8x (Z-CLV) 6x, 4x, 2x (CLV) |
| DVD-RAM Write Speeds | 12x (P-CAV) 5x, 3x, 2x (CLV) |
| DVD Read Speeds | 16x Max (DVD-ROM Single Layer) 12x Max (DVD-ROM Dual Layer) 16x Max (DVD±R) 13x Max (DVD±RW) 12x Max (DVD±R DL) 12x Max (DVD-RAM) |
| CD Read Speeds | 40x Max (CD-ROM/CD-R) 32x Max (CD-RW) |
| DAE Speed | 40x Max |
| Buffer Size | 2 MB |
| Random Access Times |
120 ms (CD) 130 ms (DVD) |
| CD Formats | CD-DA CD-ROM CD-ROM XA CD-R CD-RW CD-Extra (CD PLUS) Photo CD Video CD CD Text |
| DVD Formats | DVD-ROM DVD-R/RW DVD+R/RW DVD+R DL DVD-R DL DVD-RAM |
Optimal Write Speed:
The DVR-2920Q features Pioneer's new Optimal Write Speed technology. According to Pioneer, this function automatically adjusts the writing speed to deliver the best writing quality possible.
Optimal Write Speed is disabled by default on the DVR-2920Q. However, it can be enabled using the utility shown below. Using this utility, you can also check the status of the drive and save the optimal writing speed to the drive.
With Optimal Write Speed enabled, the DVR-2920Q wrote to Memorex's 16x DVD+R media at about 8x, taking nearly eight minutes to burn an entire disc. While this is about three minutes longer than it would take to burn a disc at 18x, the writing quality was considerably better than what we saw in our performance tests.
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More Features:
By looking at the picture below, you can see that Pioneer's new DVD writer is identified as a "PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-216R."
Nero shows that the DVR-2920Q has a maximum CD writing speed of 40x and a 2000KB buffer, which is backed up by some form of buffer underrun protection. According to Nero, the drive can also write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity I found that the drive was able to overburn up to 94:27 with CompUSA's 99 minute CD-R media.
Using Alex Noe's Weak Sector Utility I was able to determine that the DVR-2920Q is a "two sheep" burner. This means that Pioneer's new drive is capable of backing up titles protected by SafeDisc 2, including version 2.51.
Here is a screen shot from Nero's InfoTool. This program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. InfoTool had no problems detecting the DVR-2920Q's maximum reading and writing speeds, recording modes, buffer underrun protection and 2MB buffer.
InfoTool also shows that the DVR-2920Q is an RPC-2 DVD drive. This means that the drive's region is stored in the firmware. The region can be changed five times and after that it cannot be changed anymore. While there isn't an RPC-1 firmware available for the drive, there is a utility available that can make the drive region free.
While InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the DVR-2920Q's features, DVDINFOpro provides a little more information on some of the drive's reading and writing capabilities. By looking at the screenshot above you can see that Pioneer's new drive can read and write to most DVD formats and offers support for Qflix and DVD Download recording.
The DVR-2920Q doesn't let you set the book type of single layer DVD+R or DVD+RW media. However, the drive automatically sets the book type for DVD+R DL discs to "DVD-ROM". This greatly reduces compatibility problems, especially with older DVD players.
