Ricoh MP9200A IDE DVD/CDR-W - Page 6

CDR Tests - Page 2

- Comparison Chart

Let's see how the 20x Z-CLV writing technology compares against 24x Z-CLV and 20x P-CAV:

Ricoh MP7200/MP9200 - support 20x Zone-CLV
Yamaha 2200E - support 20x P-CAV
Sanyo BP1500P - support 24x Zone-CLV

As we described earlier, the MP9200 hits the 20x writing speed faster (4min) than the MP7200 (10min). Despite that fact, our burning time differences were very low (2-3secs).

Here is something interesting...The MP9200 now reaches 8901rpm in order to achieve 20x writing speed in 4mins. Of course, that produces noise and extra load to the drive's mechanism. Notice that even Sanyo BP1500P doesn't reach such a high rpm when entering the 24x writing speed.

As the following chart shows, the differences between various recording technologies and the times they need to complete a full burn are low but they do exist. The Sanyo BP1500P drive is 22secs faster than Ricoh 9200A (25 from 7200) and 40secs than Yamaha 2200E (with 74min CDs). If we look at the 80min CD project, the time differences are much higher - 19 secs from Ricoh 9200 (21 from 7200) and 43secs than Yamaha 2200E:

- Overburning Tests:
We used 90min CDs (from Medea International) and 99min CDs (from Disc4You) in order to check the drive's ability to overburn. The drive denied to write more tha 89minutes with both media. The previous MP7200 series could write up to 98minutes without any problem!

- CD-Text Results:
We used 90min CDs (by Medea International) and 99min CDs (by Disc4You) in order to check the drive's ability to overburn. The drive denied to burn more than 89minutes with both media. The previous MP7200 series could write up to 98minutes without any problem!

- CloneCD Tests:
CloneCD v3.0.2.3 reported that the drive did support the DAO-RAW writing feature, and not "JustLink". The author of CloneCD was kind enough to send us a newer version (3.0.3.5) which included both JustLink and JustSpeed functions (you have to tick "Perform Laser Power Calibration")... From our tests results DAO-RAW writing works without any problem for SafeDisc 1, LaserLock 1/2 and SecuROM 2 protections. Also the "JustSpeed" function seems working very good from our tests.

- SD2 Support
For the SD2 test we used the "No One Lives For Ever" CD title. We used the Ricoh MP9200 both as reader/writer. The produced backup didn't play using the same drive or any drive we tested. Therefore the MP9200 combo drive cannot produce SD2 working backups.

- 8cm mini CDs
The Ricoh MP9200 supports only reading of 8cm CDs as the specifications state.

- Buffer Underrun tests
The Ricoh MP9200A supports the "JustLink" anti-coaster technology for making buffer Underrun error-free CDs. The gap length of JustLink is 2-5micro meters, which may seem big, since the second generation of the "BURN-Proof" technology has 0-gap length. The drive worked fine even under heavy pressure by our side (100% CPU Usage).