Nu Tech DDW-081: More DVD+R madness

by Kristopher Kubicki on 10/22/2003 10:54 PM EST
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  • edbiegler - Thursday, April 1, 2004 - link

    Just bought one tonight. $99 at Computer Sonics in Seattle (Southcenter) The sales guy said the new firmware WILL support -R and +R at 8X. I haven't been home to try yet, but why would he fib. I'm running an AMD Athalon 650 w/ Win XP. Will keep you posted on success (or failure)

    Ed
  • edbiegler - Thursday, April 1, 2004 - link

  • KristopherKubicki - Tuesday, October 28, 2003 - link

    Thanks for the info Murse.

    Here is some updated information concerning Ricoh Disks.


    Media Information
    Region information N/A not a DVD-VIDEO
    Media code/Manufacturer ID RICOHJPNR01
    Format Capacity Not Formatted
    Free Blocks 405405696
    Free Capacity 4.38GB(4.70GB)
    Book Type DVD+R
    Media Type DVD+R
    Media Id Code Speed 4.0x 5540KBps
    Available Write Descriptor CLV 8.0x 11080KBps
    Available Write Descriptor CLV 6.0x 8310KBps
    Available Write Descriptor CLV 4.0x 5540KBps
    Available Write Descriptor CLV 2.4x 3324KBps
    Linear Density Blank Disc
    Track Density Unknown
    Number of Layers 1

    This was a Ricoh Labeled 4X that I pulled out of Best Buy yesterday. I have put the benchmark on the website.

    Kristopher
  • Murse - Monday, October 27, 2003 - link

    Nu Tech bitsetting utility available. No word yet on if it works. It was supplied by QSI in Taiwan.

    http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=13245
  • Anonymous User - Friday, October 24, 2003 - link

    The only place I could find the MCC 002 media was at Amazon.com. Was $58.99 for a 20 pack. Almost twice the price as the Memorex!

    Could someone post links to 4X media that is a good and is resonably priced?
  • Anonymous User - Friday, October 24, 2003 - link

    livewarehouse has this drive for $139 including 3 day shipping >>


    http://store.yahoo.com/livewarehouse/dvnt33460.htm...
  • Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    For everyone above, I copied the wrong DiskInfo for the MMC disk. It should be:

    Region information N/A not a DVD-VIDEO
    Media code/Manufacturer ID MCC 002
    Format Capacity 4.38GB(4.70GB)
    Book Type DVD+R
    Media Type DVD+R
    Media Id Code Speed 4.0x 5540KBps
    Available Write Descriptor CLV 8.0x 11080KBps
    Available Write Descriptor CLV 4.0x 5540KBps
    Available Write Descriptor CLV 2.4x 3324KBps
    Data area starting sector 30000h
    Data area end sector 23053Fh
    Linear Density 0.267um/bit
    Track Density 0.74um/track
    Number of Layers 1


    Cheers,

    Kristopher
  • Murse - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    Nevermind...just copy and paste the link from #15 and it will take you to the right price. Their site is kind of screwy, after adding it to my cart, I had to hit "update" to get it to stay in there.
  • Murse - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    I ordered one from unitedmicro and it's waiting for me at home now. To get the $139 ($132 + 7 ship) you have to go through pricewatch. Their site lists it as $145 + ship. Navigate to DVD-ROM from the pricewatch home page, then search for "DDW 081" and the listing for unitedmicro should come up. Then navigate to unitedmicro through pricewatch. WARNING: Their resellerrating is very bad, but they are $20 cheaper than everywhere else, so I took a chance. They shipped it pretty quickly (although not the same day as ordered), but I haven't inspected the package yet. Good luck.
  • Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    There is some contradictory information on the Nu Tech website as to the CD-RW speed of the DDW-081. The specs for the DDW-081(http://www.nuniverse.com/1_english/3_products/01_i... state the CD-RW speed is 10X. However, Nu Tech's news release on the DDW-081 ( http://www.nuniverse.com/1_english/2_new/01_01_new... states "The DDW-081 supports 8X DVD+Write/4X DVD+ReWrite 16X DVD-ROM/40X CD-Write/24X CD-ReWrite/48X CD-ROM." Furthermore, the Philips refernence literature mentioned above (http://www.semiconductors.philips.com/acrobat/lite... states the CD-RW speed is also 24x. If the drive at present only supports CD-RW at 10x, I'm wondering if a future firmware update will upgrade it to 24x?
  • Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    United Micro has it for $139 shipped.

    http://www.unitedmicro.com/partw.cgi?DWNT006++5
  • Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    #11: My apologies, I did use DiskInfo Pro.

    Here is what DIP says AFTER I burned the media.

    YUDEN Disks labeled Plextor
    Media Information
    Region information N/A not a DVD-VIDEO
    Media code/Manufacturer ID YUDEN000T01
    Format Capacity 4.38GB(4.70GB)
    Book Type DVD+R
    Media Type DVD+R
    Media Id Code Speed 4.0x 5540KBps
    Data area starting sector 30000h
    Data area end sector 23053Fh
    Linear Density 0.267um/bit
    Track Density 0.74um/track
    Number of Layers 1

    RICOH Disks labeled Imation
    Media Information
    Region information N/A not a DVD-VIDEO
    Media code/Manufacturer ID RICOHJPNR01
    Format Capacity 4.38GB(4.70GB)
    Book Type DVD+R
    Media Type DVD+R
    Media Id Code Speed 4.0x 5540KBps
    Data area starting sector 30000h
    Data area end sector 23053Fh
    Linear Density 0.267um/bit
    Track Density 0.74um/track
    Number of Layers 1

    MMC Disks labeled Verbatim
    Media Information
    Region information N/A not a DVD-VIDEO
    Media code/Manufacturer ID RICOHJPNR01
    Format Capacity 4.38GB(4.70GB)
    Book Type DVD+R
    Media Type DVD+R
    Media Id Code Speed 4.0x 5540KBps
    Data area starting sector 30000h
    Data area end sector 23053Fh
    Linear Density 0.267um/bit
    Track Density 0.74um/track
    Number of Layers 1

    Another Ricoh Disk labeled FujiFilm
    Media Information
    Region information N/A not a DVD-VIDEO
    Media code/Manufacturer ID RICOHJPNR00
    Format Capacity 4.38GB(4.70GB)
    Book Type DVD-ROM
    Media Type DVD+R
    Media Id Code Speed 2.4x 3324KBps
    Data area starting sector 30000h
    Data area end sector 23053Fh
    Linear Density 0.267um/bit
    Track Density 0.74um/track
    Number of Layers 1

    There are two things I'd like to point out. The first being DiskInfoPro identified the MCC disk as 8X before it was burned. Furthermore, the FujiFilm disk was identified as 4X on the box, and 4X in DiskInfoPro before it was burned.

    #12: Thank you for the updated link. The PDF I recieved was straight from QSI and I was unaware there was an update on the chipset.

    Cheers,

    Kristopher
  • Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    Yes... MMC 02 is capable of 8x with that drive. That's why your utility is saying that. However, that doesn't mean that Verbatim/Mitsu. actually rates it at that speed.
  • Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    One more thing, in the review you claim that the PNX7850 chipset does not support 8x speed. Not true, it does: http://www.semiconductors.philips.com/acrobat/lite...
    It was only early versions that didn't support 8x. The PDF you link to is for the complete reference design where the Philips OPU 66.20 limits the speed to 4x (I assume QSI uses a different PUH).
  • Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    Then Diskinfo is wrong because MCC 002 (as in Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. and not MMC) DVD+R media are only certified for 4x speed. Use DVDInfoPro or DVDIndentifier instead for checking the media.
  • Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    Thanks Christopher :)for the links
  • Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    #1: We did not have a verbatim disk included. We have a 4X DVD+RW instead. Remember, we had a review sample so ours might have been slightly different. We had to upgrade from QSI firmware just to bring ours to spec with the retail drives.

    #2: DiskInfo, kind of a neat utlity, claimed the MMC 02 disk is capable of 4X and 8X.

    I uploaded the firmware for anyone who wants to download it. Its on the last page of the article.

    Cheers,

    Kristopher


  • Murse - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    You can also take a look at this thread:

    http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=...

    They sell it at Newegg, Excaliberpc, Atacom, Unitedmicro, Zipzoomfly...to name a few.
  • Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    Check this thread there are a few sites mentioned..
    http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=12956...
  • Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    If anybody knows where you can buy one, please post a link. Thank you.
  • Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link

    BTW IMHO this drive is damm good for the price. (bang 4 your bux)
  • Anonymous User - Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - link

    Is it possible to post the latest firmware? There is no mention of a firmware update on the Nu Tech site. If you can't post it, maybe you can leverage your contact with them to get it up on their web site.
  • Anonymous User - Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - link

    How about some DVD-ROM and DVD-Video read speed tests? DAE anyone?
  • Anonymous User - Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - link

    The MCC 002 discs are technically rated at only 4x. So yes, it can write to some 4x media at 8x.
  • Anonymous User - Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - link

    "Our main concerns stem from the lack of 8X DVD+R media. While our current champion, the Plextor 708A, had no problems burning several brands of 4X media at 8X, the DDW-081 will only burn 8X certified media at 8X. The lack of bitsetting capabilities for the drive seemed disappointing also. Granted, our Plextor 708A does not support bitsetting either, but it does support DVD-R burn capabilities."

    Did you try the DVD+R 4X Verbatim media that came with the drive....I did and it allowed me to burn @ 8X :)

    See here for some results:
    http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=12956...

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