New Sony doesn't write my discs at 8x

Posted by: CrackersMcCheese

New Sony doesn't write my discs at 8x - 14/01/2005 16:26

I recieved the Sony DRX-710UL today and tried to write a DVD at 8x but although I can select 8x in the dropdown menu of ULead DVD Moviefactory, it reverts to 3x in the status bar.

Is this a fault with the unit or is the media (unbranded) just not up to the task? I have installed latest firmware etc.

Thanks
Posted by: tman

Re: New Sony doesn't write my discs at 8x - 14/01/2005 16:50

It'll check the media to see if it can do it. The firmware has a list of disc IDs and what they're capable of. At least, that's how my NEC works.
Posted by: Cybjorg

Re: New Sony doesn't write my discs at 8x - 14/01/2005 17:37

Yeah, make sure you are using good, quality media. The first discs I purchased when I got my 8x burner last year were cheap, knockoffs and they only burned at around 2.4x. I picked up a pack of Fujifilm discs next and they burned at 8x (even though they were rated on the box as 4x). I've also had the same great results with the Memorex 4x.
Posted by: schofiel

Re: New Sony doesn't write my discs at 8x - 14/01/2005 18:06

Given the data rate you'd need to maintain an 8x DVD burn (even if buffered) you would need a pretty punchy PC with a gallon of RAM to sustain the transfer. I doubt it's the medium, it will be the data source.
Posted by: Dignan

Re: New Sony doesn't write my discs at 8x - 14/01/2005 18:13

Isn't the UL the external drive? Are you connected with USB2 or firewire?

Also, you don't necessarily need branded media. I got these and they burn great. Plus I don't have any ugly logos on my media, which makes it great for the Casio CW50.
Posted by: CrackersMcCheese

Re: New Sony doesn't write my discs at 8x - 14/01/2005 19:00

The UL is the external drive and I am connected by firewire. I'm using Ulead to make DVDs of mpegs I've captured
with a PVR-250 (about 1.2gb per file).

PC is a P4 2.4ghz, 512MB RAM, 7200rpm HDD.

So... Rob.... you think the PC may be incapable? I'm going to get a couple of branded discs tomorrow to see if it makes a difference. Maybe USB would be a better bet?

Edit: I forgot to mention that the discs are labelled 8x and I can select this in the pre-burn menu. It just reverts to 3x in the status bar.
Posted by: robricc

Re: New Sony doesn't write my discs at 8x - 14/01/2005 19:02

Quote:
Given the data rate you'd need to maintain an 8x DVD burn (even if buffered) you would need a pretty punchy PC with a gallon of RAM to sustain the transfer.

Just to insert my details... I burn Ritek G04 at 12x on my Pioneer DVR-108. My system is a 2.4GHz P4 with 1GB RAM running WinXP Pro.
Posted by: Dignan

Re: New Sony doesn't write my discs at 8x - 14/01/2005 19:17

Yeah, there's definitely nothing wrong with your machine, IMO. I've got an AMD 2100+ with 1GB RAM and, like I said, I burn at 8x with no problems whatsoever. As long as the rest of my machine isn't taxed too much, I'm fine.

Frankly, I'd never in a million years use anything made by Ulead. Ugh. Try the Nero demo and see if it auto selects a higher speed for you.

Are you only burning the MPEG files, or a DVD video you've created?
Posted by: CrackersMcCheese

Re: New Sony doesn't write my discs at 8x - 14/01/2005 19:41

I'm using Ulead to make dvds to play nin standalone players from my mpegs - so going through the whole vob creation thing.

Yeah I agree that the pc should be up to it. I'm not at home just now so cannot check anything but do you think its still the media? Or could USB2 provide a faster burn? Is the burner itself ok do you think?
Posted by: drakino

Re: New Sony doesn't write my discs at 8x - 14/01/2005 20:15

Quote:
Maybe USB would be a better bet?


No, I doubt that. Even though spec wise USB2 is a smidge faster then Firewire 1, Firewire tends to use much less CPU resources for data transfer then USB does. About the only reason Firewire 1 would seem slower then USB 2 would be due to something wrong with the hardware at either the controller end or device end.
Posted by: Dignan

Re: New Sony doesn't write my discs at 8x - 14/01/2005 21:02

Quote:
Is the burner itself ok do you think?

Obviously, the cheapest and easiest test is a changing of the media. The 710 drives are relatively new and should have a very large list of media types in the firmware. Try a name brand, or order the ones I linked earlier in the thread. They're very cheap, but still quality enough.

And I appologize, but I must once again put in a plug for DVD-lab, the greatest PC DVD authoring program out there. Best value, too. I even recently paid the $100 upgrade for the pro version. Worth every penny.
Posted by: newguy1

Re: New Sony doesn't write my discs at 8x - 15/01/2005 15:51

How long does it take to burn the disc?Are you sure it's not actually burning at a higher speed but only reporting a lower speed.Also make sure the drive is set to DMA.