Hi guys,

I have tried Memorex, and Traxdata - both DONT finalise.

A verbatin 4x works fine.


What are you using?

ive been using tesco 8x and they have finalised ok i must be lucky.

i bought 4 tubs of Verbatim 16 speed - work great - copies 2 hours in 7 mins

Yes, I think you are. I've been using Tesco 8x DVD-R also - two okay and two shiny silver coasters.

Also gone for Verbatim 16 speed.

Tesco 8x DVD-R work fine for me.

Can the latest Pioneer burn at 16x.
I have a Pioneer 420 which burns entire disc in 7-8 minutes(8x),so can the new ones burn in 4 minutes?

One more coaster and one success last night. Running total with Tesco discs for me = 3 coasters, 4 successes. If it fails first time, it has always (so far) succeeded on the second attempt. Very odd, none of the parameters have been changed...

The frustrating thing is that it gets through to the finalisation bit every time with no problems - the menu design appears on screen - but the thumbnails don't pull in. If they don't pull in within a few seconds, I know it has failed again (I've left it for nearly an hour just in case it was on a go-slow but no change). And frustratingly the only way I can get out of this when it happens is by forcing a complete shutdown by holding the power button in for ten seconds - can't be good for the machine to keep doing this. If this situation isn't improved by using better quality discs like Ritek or Datawrite I may have to assume I have a dodgy machine.

Anyway, sorry OP - going slightly off topic...

Just get some branded babies mate! then no coasters.

Yup - well almost!
But time depends on amount of compression for original recorded material.
See manual page 102.
XP mode (1 hour of recording) gives 8 minutes for 8xDVD and 6 mins for 16xDVD.
Not that in SP mode (1 hr of recording) these times are halved.
HOWEVER to record a full 4.7gB DVD still takes the same time because you get 2 hrs of recording time in that mode!

Personally I don't find much real time difference between 8x and 16x DVDs.

cheers mate - very helpful.

i wasnt too sure and wondered if i'd wasted money opting for the 16 speed ones....although it does look like i still might have.

Think I will go for 8 speed dvd's next time, they should be cheaper too.

I think the total burn time will be affected by the write strategy built into the firmware. The discs wont start burning at their maximum speed, they normally start off at a lower speed and then ramp up in one or two stages as the burn progresses. I wouldn't expect much difference in overall times between 8x and 16x for this reason.

Pete F.

Lets make a list of brands of DVDs we KNOW work:

Verbatim 16 x

TDK 8x work very well
Phillips 8x occasionally have problems

Thank goodness for that - just bought two 50 disk cakeboxes from Maplins for £30. I know they're cheaper online, but I thought that was a pretty good price for the high street. No more coasters!

Amazon have 100 DVD-R for 17.49.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...ics/B000BVLXXQ

5 star reviews from all seven reviewers. May be worth a go.

Verbatim 16 x made in India do not work on my 433.

Weid stuff - just checked - mine are made in Taiwan.

The packs I purchased that were copyright 2004 and made in Taiwan I had 100% success with.

But those made in India and copyright 2005 didn't work.

worth knowing, many thanks!

My latest batch of Verbatim 16x discs are only recording at 4x on my Pioneer 420,which records at 8x max