|
|
Date: |
January
13th, 2003 |
| Type: |
Review |
| Supplier: |
RICOH
|
| Author: |
mayhem |
| RRP: |
$595
AUS |
Introduction:
With CD-R/-RW recording equipment becoming common place among new computers
a new technology has been brewing for some time, that is DVD recording.
Although it has been out for a while already, the drives have been high
priced and featured slow recording speeds. Just like its predecessor (CD's),
DVD recording is becoming more common place in the market with the units
dropping in price and increasing in features.
Introducing the MP5125A
DVD+RW / DVD+R writer from Ricoh, the trusted supplier of state-of-the-art
office automation equipment for over 60 years. The Ricoh MP5125A does
it all, burning DVD+RW, DVD+R, CD-R and CD-RW discs. The ideal DVD solution
for both DVD video recording as well as PC data storage!
About DVD+RW/+R
DVD+RW is a direct
descendant of CD-R/RW and has been promoted by the DVD+RW Alliance, formed
by companies that have played a central role in the promotion of CD-R/RW.
With a large storage capacity of 4.7GB, DVD+RW supports stress-free fast
writing and free appending/editing even after data has been recorded.
DVD+RW is well suited to applications where data may need to be freely
overwritten in everyday use, such as for storing data or making DVD-Videos,
and can be used for almost all applications. On the other hand, DVD+R
has been developed for those instances where important data should never
be erased or data is to be distributed/exchanged and compatibility is
extremely important. While keeping data from being erased or overwritten,
the discs share a high level of compatibility because of its physical
specifications that are basically the same as DVD-ROM discs. With its
excellent compatibility, recorded DVD+R media can be read or played by
almost all the DVD-ROM drives and DVD players. Click
Here for Compatibility List.
Random access and
rewritability make DVD+RW an excellent and affordable storage format for
backups, storage or any application that requires editing. With the supplied
packet writing software you can use a DVD+RW as if it were a 4.7GB hard
drive attached to your computer, this makes backups and file sharing from
location to location simpler and more cost effective than tape solutions.
Features
2.4x DVD+RW
2.4x DVD+R
8x DVD Read
12x CD Record
10x CD ReWrite
32x CD Read
Ricoh's new buffer
underrun error prevention technology 'Just Link'
2MB Buffer
Internal Type ATAPI
S/PDIF terminal
for digital audio output
Anti-dust, low
power consumption design
One Year Australian
Warranty
Contents:
The drive comes in complete kit form, with everything you will need to
create your own data, audio or video DVD's.
This kit includes
the following:
DVD+R/+RW Drive
1x DVD+RW Media
1x DVD+R Media
Quick Start Instructions
On-line User's Manual
CD
Software CD including:
- B's Recorder
GOLD v3.2
- B's CLIP v3.2
- neoDVD Standard
v2.6
- WinProducer
2
- WinDVD 3.2
Analog Audio Cable
4x Mounting Screws
Setting Up:
As with most 5.25" drives, the Ricoh MP5125A is a cinch to install
into your machine, all you have to do is slide it into an available bay
and screw it in securely. Once that is complete then you need to connect
a free ATA connection into it, all it requires is a an ATA33 cable and
it is probably a very good idea to put it on your secondary IDE controller
as to separate it from your hard drives (this improves the stability and
data flow). If your fortunate enough to own a board with 4 IDE ports (i.e.
a RAID board or similar) then you can probably set the DVD burner on its
own cable, this is how the burner was setup in our test system.
Once you have installed
the drive and your system has recognised its presence you should see something
like the following in your drives list:
Testing:
In order to put the unit through its paces we burnt all support media
types, that is DVD+RW, DVD+R, CD-RW and CD-R to see how the unit performed.
Once burned the media was tested in a variety of DVD/CD readers to test
for quality.
The test drives for
reading were:
- Pioneer 16 x Tray
Loading DVD-ROM Drive
- Sony Home DVD
Player
- Voxson Home DVD
Player ($178 at your local Dicksmith Electronics)
DVD+R/+RW recording
speeds - Although you may thing 2.4x is rather slow, in actual fact its
quire fast, this relates to almost 20x CD recording and can record full
DVD's in under 25 minutes, here are some tests that were run:
From the above you
can see that the time depends mainly on the amount of data that is being
recorded, but don't forget the more sessions or files that it must record
also affects the total recording time (although not nearly as much).
As you can see the
quick erase time is not really dependent on the size of the disc, this
is because it simply wipes the FAT (File Allocation Table) and doesn't
completely format (so to speak) the DVD.
NEXT: Testing
continued and Conclusion
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