Introduction
With certified 16x media still sometime away from retailing, 8x DVD±R media are inescapably the media of choice for OverDrive or Over Specification writing for consumers who want to achieve either 12x or 16x write speeds. It's no secret that a handful of record-once media are capable of being written at a faster than nominally rated burn speed and this was most commonly observed when 8x DVD writers were introduced. Back then when certified 8x DVD±R media were scarce commodities, consumers with '88' DVD writers had to turn to 4x DVD±R media for recording at either 6x or 8x write speeds instead.
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Pioneer understands this media scarcity phase with each new introduction of write speed all too well and Over Specification writing is a feature that the company was quick to leverage on marketing the DVR-A08XLA. Some other finer advantages of the drive include QuietDrive and Precision Recording technologies. These should help keep operational noise to a minimum while ensuring each and every write session carried out on the drive is of premium quality. Will this really be the case? We'll find that out in this review.
Pioneer DVR-A08XLA Technical Specifications
| Interface |
- ATAPI (PIO Mode4) / Multi Word DMA Mode 2
- Ultra DMA 66 (Ultra DMA Mode 4)
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| Write Speed (DVD) |
- DVD-R: 16x, 12x, 8x, 6x, 4x, 2x, 1x
- DVD-RW : 4x*, 2x, 1x
- DVD+R : 16x, 12x, 8x, 6x, 4x. 2.4x
- DVD+RW : 4x, 2.4x
- DVD+R DL** : 4x, 2.4x
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| Write Speed (CD) |
- CD-R : 32x, 24x, 16x, 10x, 4x
- CD-RW :24x, 20x, 16x, 10x, 4x
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| Read Speed (DVD) |
- DVD-ROM (single) :Max 16x CAV
- DVD-ROM (dual) : Max 12x CAV
- DVD-R: MAX 12x CAV
- DVD-RW : Max 8x CAV
- DVD+R: Max 12x CAV
- DVD+RW: MAX 8x CAV
- DVD+DL** : MAX 8x CAV
- DVD-RAM : Max 2x CLV
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| Read Speed (CD) |
- CD-ROM : Max 40x CAV
- CD-R: Max 40x CAV
- CD-RW : Max 32x CAV
- CD-DA (DAE) : Max 40x CAV
- CD-DA : Max 9.3x CAV
- VCD : Max 9.3x CAV
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| Readable Formats (DVD) |
- DVD-ROM
- DVD-VIDEO
- DVD-R
- DVD-RW
- DVD+R
- DVD+RW
- DVD+R DL**
- DVD-RAM (Non-cartridge DVD-RAM Version 2.0/2.1 only)
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| Readable Formats (CD) |
- CD-ROM (Mode 1 & 2)
- CD-ROM XA
- CD-DA(CD Audio)
- Video CD
- PhotoCD (single/multi-session)
- CD EXTRA
- CD-Text
- CD-R
- CD-RW
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| Writing Methods (DVD) |
- Disc-at-Once
- Incremental Recording
- Loss-less Linking for DVD+RW
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| Writing Formats (CD-R/RW) |
- Disc-at-Once
- Track-at-Once
- Session-at-Once
- Multisession
- Packet Writing
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| Buffer |
- 2MB
- Upgradeable Flash ROM
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| Physical Characteristics |
- Dimensions (W x H x D) : 148mm x 42.3mm x 198mm (5-13/16" x 1-11/16"
x 7-13/16")
- Weight: 1.0kg (approx)
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* Supports only DVD-RW Part1 Version1.2 4X-SPEED DVD-RW Revision 2.0.
** 4x Double Layer media is not expected to be available until January 2005. Until then 4x write speeds can be achieved on selected +R 2.4x Double Layer media.
"Writing at 16x on 8x media is only possible with firmware supported verified 8x media"
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