Just to let anyone know that has this burner or is planning on buying it, the only blank cdr (besides the one that came with the unit) that I was able to burn at a full 48x writing speed are the ones from Riteks factory(under the brand Maxell). If anyone knows of any other Ritek brands, or any other blank cdr's that will burn at 48x and not 40x on the MSI 8348a DragonWriter, please respond to this post. Thank you.

Fuji Film 40x will probably burn at 48x

(in reply to dhurt)

I've tried those...surprisingly they only burn at 40x

(in reply to dhurt)

Verbatim Datalife Plus CD-Rs are pretty good! they may be able to push the envelope as well!

What's wrong with the Maxell 40x anyways? they are good quality and burn at 48x. I even reviewed those ones on my website

(in reply to dhurt)

quote:

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Originally posted by Dolphinius_Rex

Verbatim Datalife Plus CD-Rs are pretty good!

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Tried those, would have loved for them to have worked since I have no problem getting a 100 pack for under $25 @ Sams Club but they only go up to 40x.

quote:

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Originally posted by Dolphinius_Rex

What's wrong with the Maxell 40x anyways? they are good quality and burn at 48x. I even reviewed those ones on my website

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The Maxell's are fine, it's just hard to find them for a decent price. I was very surprised that they were the only ones so far to burn at 48x... I want to throw this lousy MSI burner out of the window sometimes... thanx for the responses, I'm going to check out your web page.

(in reply to dhurt)

I think this is a firmware problem check this. It might be solved by flashing the drive to 150D. Check the folliwing link about it.

http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=155&page=Performance

(in reply to dhurt)

That was a very good read, thanks! I do however already have the latest firmware upgrade and it only reads my Maxell cdr's at 48x. I might just have a lemon out of the batch.

(in reply to dhurt)

Hrm, I'll have to agree on the problem with the price [}:)]

If you ever see the brand RiData, they should be the same. RiData is Ritek's own brand (kinda like smart Buy for prodisc). And it should be the same quality and speed compatible.

On the above note: Smart Buy 40x media SHOULD go to 48x if they arn't using the old stock for it! Most prodisc can go to 40x only, since they've been using the same stuff (as far as I can tell) Since their 16x CD-Rs!! it's only the 40x certified media that I've seen that actually performs differently, and has a higher compatible burn speed. So maybe check them out if you have access to them.

(in reply to dhurt)

Ridata,Traxdata, Arrita are allways made by Ritek.
Prime disc. Is also Ritek. Primedisc is owned by Philips + Ritek.

Arrita is a so called B-brand so most times there is something wrong with these disc's. (High error ratio, a little to curved, to much suspsension in the polycarbonate.) Still they score average in most tests.
Traxdata - Scores below average most times.
Ridata - Some of the better Ritek home brands. Disc score allmost all times above average.
Prime disc - Much variation in batches from very good to very bad.

Smartbuy isn't the home brand of Prodisc. If I am right then Smart Buy DVD-R's where made by Princo or am I makeing Mistakes here.

(in reply to dhurt)

Nope, SmartBuy *IS* the homebrand of Prodisc...or at least that's what Prodisc says LOL!

Good to know about the RiDATA, being I just ordered a whole bunch....

(in reply to dhurt)

Yes, Prodisc have two "house brands" -- Smart Buy and Eproformance.

As Rex says, Prodisc 40x compatible media should go to 48x without problems on most writers. TBH I've managed to get 52x on an Artec writer out of the 16x Prodisc media!!! The C1 error count there was not brilliant (max 63, average 12) but those figures are tolerable.

I have an MSI here. I've been able to burn TY (40x-rated), Ritek (48x), MBI (48x), Postech (48x) and Acer (16x!!!) media at 48x. The write quality is generally quite good as well.

One thing you have to bear in mind though, is that the 48x MSI (and Optowrite and Accesstek which are the same drives) are "dumped" product. They're essentially 40x drives that have been modified in firmware to 48x (hence the reason they use ZCLV instead of CAV), "overclocked" if you like. Hence they are picky, exactly the same as the Artec 48x in fact (which was trashed over at CDRLabs, and rightly so, although the new firmware, which also works on Artec/Aopen 32x and 40x writers, doesn't seem that bad actually). Not much can be done about that really except to avoid these brands at 48x(the 52x writers by both Artec and MSI though are much better, being designed for the purpose). They are cheap because of this fact.

(in reply to dhurt)

wow! the highest *I've* gotten out of 16x Prodisc is 40x! ...then again, that isn't bad either

(in reply to dhurt)

that sux...i bet msi wont get any more of my green anytime soon

(in reply to dhurt)

Well most drive manufacturers have done it dhurt! Aopen with the 20x drive that was little more than a clocked 16x, LiteOn's first 48x that, although it was PCAV, was essentially a repackaged 40x, even the old Yamaha 402t was a clocked 201t, and the laser on the 402 did accordingly burn out more quickly.

It's hardly a new thing. It sucks but that's the way of the world. The combined DVD/VCR units coming out now are little more than old DVD and old VCR components shoved in one box with a PSU running close to tolerance in many cases and sold off cheap. Not all companies are doing that but there are several high-profile examples!!!

(in reply to dhurt)

The thing to do is pay attention to which drives are which, and adjust your buying habits accodingly! I got fairly lucky with a LiteON 40125S which could be overclocked to 48125W. If I was a little luckier I would have waited and gone for the 48126S which can be overclocked to 52246S!!

oh well [:p]

(in reply to dhurt)