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DVD-Rs go 8x

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the thats-a-lotta-x dept.

DiZASTiX writes "It seems that the next speed level for DVD Writers is here. "The race for Xs is still on and Plextor has gone into the lead with the PX-708A, what Plextor claims is the first commercialized 8X DVD recorder. At this speed, a 4.5 GB DVD+R takes under 9 minutes to record. That is about the same as a CD in just over a minute. What we wanted to know was whether the reliability and compatibility of blank supports suffer from this breakneck speed...""

6 of 237 comments (clear)

  1. When does this quote get old... by c_oflynn · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thought this was kinda funny:

    from this breakneck speed...

    Kinda like when the blazing fast 166 MHz pentiums come out, you know in a year people will be scoffing at 8x DVD speed ;-)

  2. DVD++R by gmania · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually ...

    its DVD+R at 8x and DVD-R at 4x

  3. buffer by iamthemoog · · Score: 5, Insightful

    8x is a pretty damn fast write speed for a 2MB buffer. I know Plextor have introduced a whole bunch of buffer under-run stuff, but I for one would be happier with a bit more. (especially since my hard drive is so horribly fragmented....)

    8MB wouldn't (shouldn't?) be out of the question for a top of the line product such as this.

    --
    No Norm, those are your safety glasses; I'll wear my own thanks...
  4. Re:speed is not a concern by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Wow, doesn't anybody read DVD sites around here? Phillips has already demoed a 16X and in RPMs that's roughly equivalent to a 48X CDR, so it's not all that amazing.
    And as for the dual layers, that's a known quantity as well. The 8.5 dual layer 8 speed drives are supposed to be hitting the shelves before March 04. As for the price on the dual layer media, well that's another issue. Personally, I'm watiting for it though. No hurry. When the media is good and cheap I'll be good and ready.
    And BTW, DVD media production costs for 8X media are currently around US0.30 cents a disc. So, if you're paying fifty cents or more consider how much markup you're forking over.

  5. Always the way by Frodrick · · Score: 5, Funny
    "It seems that the next speed level for DVD Writers is here."

    Of course it is - I just bought a 4x DVD burner yesterday. 8+(

  6. Re:DVD-Rs go 8x by RonBurk · · Score: 5, Insightful
    1. price: the cost per GB of DVD-R crossed hard disk prices recently, though they are still very close.
    2. durability: DVD is not as susceptible to physical shock and magnetic fields as a hard drive.
    3. movability: more PCs can read a DVD-R than have a slot for inserting a removable IDE drive.
    4. size: when what you want to store fits fine in 4.7GB, a DVD is a much nicer form factor than an IDE hard drive (so far). (e.g., daily incremental backups extending back for a full month.)
    5. movies: I can't create a movie on a hard drive and then stick it in my consumer DVD player (so far).
    However, DVD+RW and DVD-RW would certainly be more attractive for general data use if the operating system actually supported them as random access devices. Don't know about *nix, but Windows does not support such access until the next version (XP supports drag and drop, but simply copies files to a temp area, and then waits for you to tell it to do the One Big Burn).