Pioneer DVR-R100 16x DVD±RW

CD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero CD/DVD Speed 4.01 and DLA 4.95:

For this test I used Nero CD/DVD Speed to create disc images of 650MB and 700MBs, entirely compiled of random data. These two images were then used to burn one CD-R each in order to test the time it takes the drive to write and close a CD. All of the times below include not only the actual writing time, but the lead in and out times too. This gives a more realistic idea of how long it takes to write a CD.

The DVR-R100 uses CAV, or Constant Angular Velocity, to reach its maximum writing speed. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that the drive started writing at ~18x and just barely surpassed its listed top speed of 40x at the 80min mark. The total time taken to record the 80min disc was 3:19, this gave Pioneer's new drive an average writing speed of 30.06x.

To test the DVR-R100's writing times, I wrote our test data to some media Taiyo Yuden CD-Rs rated at 52x. The results are below.

Pioneer's new DVD writer went into this test with a slight disadvantage. While the drives from BenQ and Plextor can write CD's at 48x, the DVR-R100 has a maximum writing speed of only 40x. Nevertheless, it was still able to write an entire 650MB CD in a little more than 3 minutes.

To test the drive's writing quality I used Plextor's Plextools Pro, provided by Plextor Europe. This utility can be used to test the number of C1 and C2 errors on a disc, as well as the number of uncorrectable sectors on the disc (CU errors). For these tests I used a Plextor Premium drive (firmware 1.05) and read the discs at 24x.

BenQ 52x 80min @ 32x (Daxon) 97m22s67f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 1.9 26 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

Fuji 48x 80min @ 32x (Prodisc) 97m32s19f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 0.7 14 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

MAM-A Gold 52x 74min @ 40x (Mitsui) 97m27s58f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 0.6 18 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

Maxell 40x 74min @ 32x (Ritek) 97m31s07f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 3.4 33 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

Melody Vinyl 40x 80min @ 32x (Unknown) 97m27s18f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 5.1 43 C2 0.0 65 CU 0.0 0

Memorex Music 40x 80min @ 10x (CMC) 97m26s66f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 1.3 48 C2 0.2 213 CU 0.0 0

Memorex Orange 48x 80min @ 40x (CMC) 97m26s66f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 9.9 84 C2 0.1 66 CU 0.0 0

Optimum 48x 80min @ 40x (CMC) 97m26s66f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 2.2 32 C2 0.0 20 CU 0.0 0

Precision Value 52x 80min @ 40x (Taiyo Yuden) 97m24s01f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 0.8 20 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

RiData Blue 48x 80min @ 32x (Ritek) 97m15s12f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 17.1 53 C2 0.0 1 CU 0.0 0

Sony 48x 80min @ 40x (Sony) 97m24s16f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 6.2 30 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

Verbatim 52x 80min @ 48x (MCC) 97m34s23f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 2.5 27 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

The DVR-R100's writing quality for CD-R's is actually quite good. By looking at the scores above you can see that most of the C1 maximums and averages are at reasonable levels. However, five of the twelve discs showed C2 errors when tested. The best results came from the MAM-A Gold, Fuji, and Precision Value media.

BenQ 32x 74min @ 32x (Daxon) 97m22s60f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 155.3 1847 C2 1.1 83 CU 0.0 17

Imation 24x 74min @ 24x (Verbatim) 97m34s24f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 37.2 154 C2 0.1 46 CU 0.0 18

Memorex 4x 80min @ 4x (Infodisc) 97m25s30f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 2.2 22 C2 0.2 0 CU 0.0 0

Memorex 12x 80min @ 10x (Infodisc) 97m25s30f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 Inc. Inc. C2 Inc. Inc. CU Inc. Inc.

Memorex 24x 80min @ 24x (Infodisc) 97m25s31f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 105.0 613 C2 0.2 59 CU 0.0 1

TDK 10x 74min @ 10x (Verbatim) 97m34s23f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 2.9 21 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

Verbatim 24x 80min @ 24x (Verbatim) 97m34s24f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 1.7 20 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

Verbatim 32x 74min @ 32x (Verbatim) 97m34s25f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 81.3 346 C2 0.0 0 CU 0.0 0

Yamaha 24x 74min @ 24x (Verbatim) 97m34s23f Avg/Sec Max/Sec C1 1019.0 2202 C2 10.9 2930 CU 0.0 5

The DVR-R100's writing quality was not nearly as good with CD-RW media. Out of the nine discs tested, six of them reported C2 errors or very large amounts of C1 errors. This means that only 30% of the tested media performed well enough to be recommended for use with this drive. These recommended discs are: Verbatim 24x CD-RW, TDK 10x CD-RW, and Memorex 4x CD-RW.

For the rewriting tests I created 400MB of files on the hard drive and wrote them in DAO mode using Nero. To test the packet writing speeds I copied and pasted the same files off the hard drive onto a CD-RW disc using DLA from Sonic. Verbatim's 32x Ultra Speed CD-RW media was used for these tests.

While the DVR-R100 uses CAV when writing to CD-R discs, it uses Z-CLV, or Zone CLV, when rewriting at 32x. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that it starts writing at 16x and jumps to 24x at about the 20 minute mark. The drive writes at this speed until about the 50 minute mark. At this point, the writing speed increases to 32x and stays there until the very end of the session.

Pioneer's new DVD writer didn't perform very well in our rewriting tests. Despite being able to rewrite to the CD-RW at 32x, the drive performed much closer to what we would expect from 24x rewriting. Unfortunately, due to a combination of poor recording quality, and a bug in DLA, even while using top notch media like Verbatim CD-RWs, the DLA Read test took more then twice the time we would expect from this drive.

The DVR-R100 is also capable of erasing a CD-RW at 32x. Unfortunately, due to the drive's poor writing quality, it took longer than expected to perform a full erase. Quick erasing on the other hand was handled very well, and Pioneer's new drive took the top position in our comparison.