LiteOn 401S and DVD-R media

[glc]

Hi, anyone have one?

Few days ago I bought this LiteOn LDW-401S DVD writer and it has ES0E firmware.

On the box it says about its capabilities concerning DVD:
Read: DVD +R/+RW and -R/-RW and DVD single/dual layer.
Write: DVD+R/+RW

So now I go to the shop nearby and ask for +R DVD media and they say they only have the -R now.

Would -R work on this drive I have?
(don't even try?)

Thanks.

[defaultuser]

The 401S is a +R/W drive only.

Unless of course, you choose to do the "questionable" firmware upgrade to the 411s, which should be able to burn and read -R/W media..but you didnt hear it from me

http://liteon401s.front.ru/index_eng.htm

[glc]

That looks real tempting. Thanks.
(... maybe I'll go look for region free thing)

[smegma]

Try meritline.com

dvd r+ dsiks are very cheap there and work pefect in the newer sony 325 dvd player I got from walmart. Anyway, in bulk the disk are $1.10

[glc]

Hi again.
Nope I didn't convert the drive to be able to write DVD-R media.
And I've bought some DVD+R.

Funny thing, the first disk burned 4+gb data (3 files) at around 15+ minutes.
Now it burns at around 22 minutes for 4.14GB data (4 files)

I really don't mind it doing 22 minutes but just for comparison's sake, how long does yours take?

[ashy]

I have a pioneer 106 which takes about 13/14 mins to burn a full DVD at 4x and about 22/23 mins to burn at 2x.

It seems your media is infact burning at 2x rather than 4x.

[smegma]

What brand DVDRs do you buy? I get wholesale opto disks and they say they are 4x but will only burn 2x also.

[glc]

Really? 2x burns at around 23 minutes?
Hurrah! For a while there I thought it was the LiteOn Util that caused it when I used it to make my drive region free.

The one that burned at 15 minutes came free with the drive and doesn't have a brand on it.

The ones I bought burned at around 22 minutes:
1) Melody DVD+r x4
2) Philips DVD+R but without any indication of its speed.
They're cheaper than the others on display.

CD-Rs on the other hand still burns at 3 to 4 minutes for 640MB.

... Yup, I think your right. It's the media and my drive is still well.

(Happy now. Now, if only the more expensive ones that I'm going to buy next will burn at 15 minutes ...)

[ashy]

What burning software are you using?
I would advise trying NERO which will tell you the speed it is burning at.
There is also a hack for NERO which will make the program tell you the actual real speed it is burning at.

http://forum.digital-digest.com/archive/topic/24705-1.html

[glc]

Oh wow. A True Burn speed indicator thingy for Nero 5 or 6.

I did use Nero Express before but only on a CDRW. Very simple to use and efficient.

I'm now using Sonic MyDVD (RecordNow DX 4.45 for disc mastering) that came with the drive.
I got used to it and kinda good at it. It has this DLA that's somewhat like the InCD for drag 'n drop in windows but has DVD+rw included.

For DVD data it only has this option called "Track at Once" either closed or not closed. Like, there's no "Disk at Once" although it offers disk duplication.

For CDR it offers a wide gamut like:
Track at Once (close/ not closed)
Session at Once which is the same as Disk at Once not closed (multi-session)
and Disk at Once (closed)

Along with making AudioCD songs into wav/mp3 and vice versa.

[glc]

I think it could be a firmware thing.
Like media incompatibility that makes it burn at 2.4x speed instead of 4x.

Maybe a firmware upgrade would fix this to make the Melody brand compatible but I'll just look into other media brand and hope I get it right the next time I buy one.