Ritek 4x DVD-R

[golfextreme]

Just saw Ritek 4x DVD-R for sale at supermerdiastore.com (yes, I know, don't start). They're about half the price of the pioneer discs. I was wondering if anyone has heard or tried these? I like Riteks and I'm wondering if these are worth it.

[scimani2]

i just checked em out myself, but $4 for me is just too expensive when 1x are on there for $0.83! ill just wait the hour it takes...burners prob would be sensitive to these and give you underruns too. Ill wait for new firmware as well. Good find though

[scimani2]

ADDITION: From supermediastore:

This media CAN NOT Be Use in Pioneer DVR-A03, DVR-104, DVR-A04,SuperDrive or any other dvd burner unless new firmware is not updated. It will Cost a permenent Damage on Drive and media!! Customer are Reponsible at their own action on downloading the new firmware!!!

[napalongcasidy]

How can media break a drive?

[wfn1]

if you have a f/w revision less than 1.90 on your DVR-A03/103 and 1.30 on your A04/104 the new 4x media can permanently damage your drive.

the drive will not be able to OPC properly and will continue to try and a refocus the laser indefinitely, eventually it will start overheating which will lead to permanent damage. It's not going to happen right away but the issue is real and pioneer released the new firmware specifically to address this issue.

[scimani2]

exactly.....obviously you shouldnt buy a product that is giving you that kind of warning...just wait unitl they come out with 4x media that doesnt eat drives apart for dinner...thanks

[LB]

"exactly.....obviously you shouldnt buy a product that is giving you that kind of warning...just wait unitl they come out with 4x media that doesnt eat drives apart for dinner...thanks"

Well, that's partially incorrect. The media does not "eat drives apart" especially for dinner. ;p The problem lies with pioneer drives and the fact that < v1.33 firmwares incorrectly handle the 4x media and essentially fry the drive. It's not the media's fault at all. It's the drives. So, how do you fix it? Well, you obviously can't install 1.33 because pioneer are jerkoffs and currently do not allow ritek burning at speeds greater than 1x. Ok, so now what? Well, if you use the little button called "search" you can find links to a page that contains 1.33 hacked firmwares that allow 4x burning on ritek media AND won't fry your drive. Many people have successfully used it.

LB

[wfn1]

the overheat bug is fixed starting from firmware 1.30 for a04/104

you can read h**p://forum.firmware-flash.com for more info

[napalongcasidy]

4x with Riteks, sounds good (You must have an A05). Can you post the link to the Firmware page mentioned.

[EcchiNut]

i was about to say.. only the A05 can burn the 4x at 4x speeds. Unless anyone has confirmed otherwise?

[golfextreme]

Yes, I have the sony dru500a which also burns at 4x speeds. I brought this thread up for all that have a 4x dvd-burner and wanted the high speed media, this thread wasn't meant to be for the people with older burners. Why on earth would anyone pay that much more for media that they can't burn at full speed? It's a dumb debate going on in here. Don't worry about the high speed media destroying your drive. If you're wasting your money on expensive high speed media that you can't use, you deserve to have your burner fried.

[EcchiNut]

yah i've been coin flipping between the A05 and the Sony. unfort where i reside thats a 100$ in difference for me. On a already expensive drive. Im probably just going to go cheaper in this case with the A05.

[golfextreme]

where ya been looking at?

[EcchiNut]

im a canuck; i do with what i can from resellers in this area. I occasionally do online ordering, but i always have a set rule to order within my country. As customs and that will add unneccary charges to cross the border for any orders.

[LB]

Well if I can make one. Get the A04 and install 1.31 firmware w/4x fix. You can get it at officemax or ccity for 250$ and then there is a $50 MIR. Yea, its only 2x but its 100$ cheaper than any 4x drive now and are you really going to be burning a DVD every 15minutes? The other thing is that 4x prices probably will not decrease to current 2x levels until 2H 2003. Best cheap 2x media is Ritek at meritline and it can be bought for .85$. Haven't had any problems with it thus far. If I could go back, would I buy something different? No. The sony has to many issues at the moment and there are rumors of a recall. The A05 doesn't have a hacked firmware to handle non-certified cheap 2x media now. So I'd still pick the A04. Just a suggestion though.

LB