Memorex DVD16+/-DL4RWlD2 16x DVD Burner Review

The specifications of the Memorex DVD+/-DL4RWlD2 state that the drive is able to write CD-R discs at 48x and CD-RW at 24x. Let’s find out how the drive really performs in speed and quality.

Writing Data CD-R discs:

For our data writing tests, we simply set up a new compilation of 701Mb using Nero Burning ROM software. Writing method used is DAO (Disc At Once), and the disc is set up as a non multi-session disc with ‘finalize disc” enabled. The screenshot below shows how long it takes to write a disc at the highest speed. (48x):

The drive used 2 minutes and 43 seconds to write the disc at 48x. (Actual write speed 48x).  Let us see how this compares to other drives:

The Memorex DVD+/-DL4RWlD2 turns in comparable speeds to other 48x CD-RW writers.

Write Quality:

We will be testing discs from 6 different CD-R manufacturers. To measure the write speed we used the ‘Create Data Disc” function in Nero CD-DVD Speed. The discs were written at the maximum speed that the drive supports. For the quality test, we used K-Probe 2 which is a tool developed by a Lite-On employee. It runs under Windows and works with drives made by Lite-On. Also note that different drives and different reading speeds may affect the results obtained when scanning the discs. We used a Lite-On LTR-52246S drive with firmware 6S0F and scanned the discs at 48X speed.

A written CD-R disc will always have some C1 errors. C1 errors are easily corrected by the drive’s error correction capabilities. The next level of errors is C2, while C2 errors could also be corrected by most drive’s error correction capabilities; they are not wanted on a good quality disc. A good disc should not contain any C2 errors, and preferably have an average C1 error amount of below 2.0 for the best discs, or at least below 10.0 averages for good quality discs. After C2 errors, there are only un-correctable errors that will make a disc unusable.

Below are the obtained results:

Sony media ‘“ starts out ok but with the increase of C1 at the outer edge it’s not what we would like to see.

The appearance of C2 errors is not acceptable.

RiDATA media ‘“ very nice start to this media but again we see the rise of C1 errors at the outer edge.

Again the drive couldn’t avoid creating C2 errors.

FujiFilm media ‘“ manufactured by Taiyo Yuden Company Limited. We see the same pattern here, good start bad end. C2’s exist.

FujiFilm media ‘“ manufactured by Prodisc Technology Inc. The C1 counts are great but again we see C2 errors.

esa media ‘“ manufactured by CMC Magnetics Corporation. A pattern that looks all too familiar.

OfficeMax media ‘“ manufactured by Moser Baer India Limited.

At last! A media that is very well written. Low C1 count and no C2. Very Nice!

Writing Quality with Re-Writable discs:

Due to requests from our readers, we will add a few write quality tests with re-writable media. Settings and testing procedures are the same as used earlier in this review, so you may want to go back and read them if you are unsure.

CD-ReWritable media:

This Memorex branded Infodisc CD-RW does not fare well. The appearance of C2 errors is not a good sign.

This is a very nice result for Highspeed CD-RW.

Wow, very high C1 errors but no C2 errors. The drive would only write to this 32x Ultra Speed CD-RW at 16x instead of the drives 24x maximum.

Summary:
We are very surprised and disappointed with the Memorex DVD+/-DL4RWlD2’s CD-R and CD-RW writing quality. This is a departure from the expected performance of a LiteOn based drive.

We hope the CD writing problems can be solved with a firmware update but until we can verify it with further testing on newer firmware we cannot recommend the Memorex DVD+/-DL4RWlD2 for CD writing and neither can we recommend it for those of you who will rely on a single drive for all of your optical media burning needs.

So let us head on to next page and read about DVD-Writing performance…