LG ( Hitachi?) GSA-4040B DVD Writer

[icvideo]

Yesterday I purchased the LG DVD DVD-RW / CD-RW DRIVE (Made by Hitachi?) GSA-4040B. From the spec’s I thought this would be a excellent player because it not only does what most newer player Multi-Format Writing players do: DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R, CD-RW but it also does DVD-RAM (3x) and at a cheaper price! My two consideration for a DVD writer was the Sony DRU-510A and the Pioneer DVR-A06U, but hey at this player was about 100 bucks cheaper. Reviews for this player were hard to find so I thought I would give you my thoughts about this DVD writer.

Installing the player was simple and the software that came with it was I thought was not worth installing (IMHO). My first project to test the drive and back up my MP3’s and some video’s.

To my big disappointment, the player took almost 45 mins to record a movie (4.3 G’s) onto a Memorex DVD+R 4X disc and used almost 90% of my CPU using Nero 6 on a AMD Athlon 1.4GHz system. After several disc’s and a few hours of frustration, I went looking for a firmware update. My current firmware was A104 and I flashed after reading the flashing instructions (do this at your own risk) it to A300 firmware that I found here:http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?download_id=1628 . I burned the same movie to a DVD+R 4X disc in under 14mins with only 10 to 15% CPU usage! Now I think this drive is great and so far, I am not having problems with it!

Spec’s are here: http://www.lgeus.com/Product/CD/GSA_4040B.asp

Enjoy!

[styles]

i also bought this drive a few days ago and i did not regret this.
but i would recommend to use DVD-R (minus) discs because the recorder handles them better than + discs. the record-quality is much better.

[icvideo]

Since I updated the firmware, I have not had problems with this drive and I think it is a very good burner. It works will all standard very well.

[MiniM3]

I also have the LG 4040B writer, I do have one question. I bought the e3Works DVD-R 4x media from Future Shop yesterday and i went to do some backups using Nero 6 Ultra and I could only write at 2x, when I am at the burn window, the drop-down only allows me to burn at 2x and no other speed is listed.

I have done the firmware update for the drive. Can anyone help me with this. Oh, btw, I can only get 2x speed using the software that came with the LG drive also. I'm confused, this is a 4x drive using 4x media and I'm only getting 2x writing speed.

thx.

M

[icvideo]

MiniM3,

" I can only get 2x speed using the software that came with the LG drive also. I'm confused, this is a 4x drive using 4x media and I'm only getting 2x writing speed. "

I have had this problem too. I purchased DVD-R 4x (Princo) and I am only getting 2x speed recording. I assume that LG needs to update their firmware? I purchased DVD+R 4x (Memorex) from Future Shop and it worked just fine. It burned a DVD in under 13 mins. I think that there must be a media compatability issue?

[MiniM3]

icvideo,

I've done the firmware update to the newest, still the same. so you're saying it writes to a dvd+r at 4x no problem just not the dvd-r right?

M

[icvideo]

MiniM3,

Yes it writes to a dvd+r at 4x no problem using DVD+R 4x (Memorex) from Future Shop but I can not get it to write 4x DVD-R using no Name type 4x DVD-R 's. I have heard that those same no Name type 4x DVD-R 's work fine in a Pioneer drive.
Hope LG fixes this!

[MiniM3]

icvideo, that is weird...

so what dvd-r media "does" work with 4x buring in the LG drives, that I would like to know.

M

[icvideo]

"so what dvd-r media "does" work with 4x buring in the LG drives, that I would like to know."

Yes, so would I. Contact LG and let them know about this problem.

[MiniM3]

I went out and bought memorex +r 4x media and it burns those at 4x no problem...you would think that LG would have seen this considering this is a more popular format.....doh.

M

[styles]

thats a common problem with all dvd burners. you just have to buy high quality recordables like memorex, verbatim, maxell, tdk ... and you will be able to burn them 4X if they are specified for this speed. if you buy cheap crap like princo dont wonder if you only can burn them 2X.

[icvideo]

"if you buy cheap crap like princo dont wonder if you only can burn them 2X."

I agree with your comment to a certain degree. Pioneer and Sony however both burned the same DVD-R 4x (Princo) that was a problem in the LG with no problems. Also, memorex, verbatim, and maxell DVD-R 4x are hard to find or very expensive.

[MiniM3]

Gave up...

well gentlemen, I pretty much gave up on the LG, after tons of wasted time and expensive coasters I took my LG back and got the Pioneer A06. Right off the bat, the pioneer picked up "all" my media as 4x as they should be. However, burning time has not improved. It's taking almost 45 minutes to burn a full dvd -r at 4x speed and I know it should be faster.

I will be spending some time playing around with this "speed" issue tonight. Anyone have any suggestions, please let me know.

my specs:

P3 866 CPU
512MB RAM
80 GB 7200 RPM HD
GeForce 4 64 mb video
pioneer A06 dvd-/+RW

thx.

M

[styles]

seems your decision was a mistake.
45min = 1x speed....
only because showing 4x speed doesn't mean automatically that the burning speed is really at 4x.
almost everyone has broblems with princos.
you should consider to buy better recordables. of course it is more expensive but you can be sure that your data will be readeable for years and you can burn at fast speeds.

[MiniM3]

styles,

read the threads carefully before you comment.

for one thing, I did not make a mistake in my decision, right off the bat, the media are recognized by my Pioneer as 4x writeable media and the LG did not.

Also, I am not only using princos but others as well, I have tested Princos, Memorex, Legacy (Ritech) and e3Works media on both Pioneer and LG DVD writers, and LG did not recognized any of them as 4x writeables and Pioneer did.

Plus, I found the problem as to why it was writing a 4x media at 45 minutes, my IDE properties in my windows 2k was set to PIO mode and not DMA, stupid little thing I overlooked. Once I changed that and rebooted, every worked great, I tested burning a 4x "CHEAP MEDIA" as you put it and it burned a full dvd in approx. 18 minutes...

You are correct on one thing, showing 4x speed doesn't necessary means it burns at 4x. But wouldn't you want your burning software to at least show it??? at least that way your software will burn it AT that speed instead of burning it AT 2x... so your statement is kind of redundant.

I prefer to use cheap dvd r's, from my experience with cheap cdrs I've really had no problems with "inexpensive" media for everyday stuff. When you are backing up as much as me, using $3.00 (cdn) media is just not economical. Of course, if i need to burn good quality video/audio, I will resort to the "higher" end media, but realistically, there isn't "that" much difference.

M