Pioneer DVR-A08XLA DVD Burner

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PioneerEurope was kind enough to send us their latest DVD-Writer;
The Pioneer DVR-A08XLA. This writer is a much anticipated drive and our
expectations are very high. In this review we will run the drive through several
advanced tests, and try to test as many aspects as possible.

Some short Pioneer information:

Pioneer is a large and well-known company over the whole
world and has since the 1930s been providing quality products, so let us take a
look at their product history:

As we can see they have been providing high tech, quality
products for a long time. Pioneer, as we know them now, has the following
vision:

sound.vision.soul

Pioneer group's sense of purpose

Everyone's got soul. The never-ending challenge is to find
better ways to feel it deeper down inside. At Pioneer, 'Move the Heart and Touch the Soul" means more than
words can express. It's our mission to stir as many senses and sensibilities as
we can through the wonders of everlasting sound and vision.

Since we are pretty sure that almost everyone knows
Pioneer, we do not think a longer company presentation is needed and go directly
to drive specifications.

Drive specifications:

These are the specifications of this drive, found at the
Pioneer webpage:

High Speed DVD-R/RW CD-R/RW Writer
The DVR-A08XLA is the industry's first DVD writer to support 16x write speeds on both DVD-R/+R along with the option to write at 4x speed on Double Layer media. This extends Pioneer's track record of establishing key performance benchmarks when introducing new DVD writers.   Press Release: DVR-A08XL: First Multiple Format 16x DVD Writer with 4x +R double layer recording capability
Key features	DVR-A08XLA
	Writes and reads DVD-R/RW, +R/RW and CD R/RW formats
	DVD/CD buffer under-run protection
	Max. 16x writing speed for DVD-R/ +R Max. 4x writing speed for +R Double Layer Discs Max. 4x writing speed for DVD-RW/ +RW
	DVD data capacity of 4.7 GB per single-sided disc and 8.4 GB Double layer discs
	Bundled Software: 'Sonic Digital Media Suite' includes... - MyDVD Deluxe - DLA - RecordNow! - SimpleBackup - CinePlayer
Specifications	DVR-A08XLA
Write Support	DVD-R (4.7 GB for General disc only), DVD-RW , +R, +RW  CD-R, CD-RW
Read Support	DVD-ROM (Single layer & Dual layers)  DVD-RAM (Version 2 - 2.1 only)  DVD-R (all types), DVD-RW, +R, +R DL, +RW  CD-ROM Mode 1, CD-ROM XA Mode 2 (Form 1, Form 2)  CD-Text, Photo-CD (Single or Multiple session),CD-DA, CD-Extra  CD-R, CD-RW (Supports AM2)
Write Speed DVD-R	16x Zone CLV (22.16 MB/sec)  8x Zone CLV (11.08 MB/sec)  4x CLV (5.54 MB/sec)  2x CLV (2.77 MB/sec)  1x CLV (1.385 MB/sec)
Write Speed DVD-RW	4x CLV (5.54 MB/sec)  2x CLV (2.77 MB/sec)  1x CLV (1.385 MB/sec)
Write Speed +R	16x Zone CLV (22.16 MB/sec)  8x Zone CLV (11.08 MB/sec)  4x CLV (5.54 MB/sec)  2x CLV (2.77 MB/sec)  1x CLV (1.385 MB/sec)
Write Speed +R Double Layer	4x CLV (5.54 MB/sec)  2x CLV (2.77 MB/sec)  1x CLV (1.385 MB/sec)
Write Speed +RW	4x CLV (5.54 MB/sec)  2.4x CLV (3.240 MB/sec)
Write Speed CD-R	32x Zone CLV (4.8 MB/sec)  24x Zone CLV (3.6 MB/sec)  16x CLV (2.46 MB/sec)  12x CLV (1.845 MB/sec)  8x CLV (1.23 MB/sec)  4x CLV (0.615 MB/sec)
Write Speed CD-RW	24x Zone CLV (3.6 MB/sec)  16x CLV (2.46 MB/sec)  10x CLV (1.5 MB/sec)  4x CLV (0.615 MB/sec)
Read Speed DVD-ROM (Single)	Max. 16x CAV (22.16 MB/sec)
Read Speed DVD-ROM (Dual)	Max. 12x CAV (16.62 MB/sec)
Read Speed DVD-RAM	Max. 2x CLV (2.77 MB/sec)
Read Speed DVD-R, DVD-RW	Max. 12x CAV (16.62 MB/sec), Max. 8x CAV (11.08 MB/sec)
Read Speed +R,+RW	Max. 12x CAV (16.62 MB/sec), Max. 8x CAV (11.08 MB/sec)
Read Speed CD-ROM	Max. 40x CAV (6 MB/sec)
Read Speed CD-R,CD-RW	Max. 40x CAV (6 MB/sec), Max 32x CAV (4.92 MB/sec)
Read Speed CD-Audio	Max. 40x
Read Speed Video-CD	9.3x CLV (1.395 MB/sec)
Access Time DVD	140 msec (Random Average)
Access Time CD (Random Average)	130 msec
Interface	ATAPI (ATA/ATAPI-5 & MCC3, SFFCINF 8090 Ver.5.11)
Data Buffer	2 MB
Mounting Orientation	Horizontal and Vertical
Power Requirement	+5 V 1.4A Max. +12 V 1.4A Max
Power Consumption	22.60 Watt Max.
Regulatory Approval	UL, CSA, TéœV, CB Report, FIMKO, FCC Class B, FDA, CE Marking, C-Tick, CISPR-22B, Korean EMC, Taiwan EMC
Dimensions (W x H x D)	148 x 42.3 x 198 mm
Net Weight	1.1 kg

The specifications are pretty good, but 32x CD-Writing is a
bit low compared to other new drives. The specifications do also state that it
uses Z-CLV/CLV writing strategy, many new writers use CAV/P-CAV which is a
faster (but maybe harder to implement) strategy. We will later on see how this
affects the performance of the drive.

What's inside the
box?

Let us start out pretty easy with taking a look at what we
got and what the box contained.

 

The drive we received was a retail drive that came in a
nice looking box, but a nice box is not worth much '“ so let us look at the
content.

 

Looks like a very small bundle but to make sure that we do
not miss anything we list what we got below:

This is what the Retail bundle consists of:

⋅
The drive itself
⋅
Sonic software CD
⋅
Manual
⋅
Screws

Far from the best bundle we have seen, we are missing
IDE-Cable, Audio cable as well as empty media.

Now it's time to take a look at the drive itself:

 

It does at least have a very special looking front, very
stylish. But it is very stripped for features, there is just a small one
coloured led, we prefer a different led colour when writing compared to when
reading, and there is no head phone connector and volume knob either.

 

Our sample was produced in China and has a production date of
July 2004.

 

On the back of the drive there are from the left: one
undocumented connector; analogue audio connector; pins and jumper to set the
drive to cable select, slave or master; IDE connector, power connector. The
digital audio connector is missing.

Now, let us install the drive and check out the features
and program bundle of this drive on the next page…

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