Hello All.. New To The Boards. Would Like Help

CD, DVD and (Ultra HD) Blu-ray Writers Plextor Writer
#1

Hello all. I just stumbled across these forums after searching for some firmware for a friend’s laptop burner because it won’t burn at full speed.

I am a DVD burning noob, admittedly, and would like to be pointed in the right direction on how to do some advanced burning, like burning at faster speeds than the media is rated at.

A little backround: I’ve got a Plextor 712a and have burned quite a bit with it, with absolutely no coasters. The media I have used in it (maybe this will help people??) is the following:

GQ (Good Quality) from Fry’s 8x DVD+R - Nero Info tool reports as OPTODISC OR8
Fujifilm 8x DVD-R 25 pack - Nero Info tool reports as ProdiscF01

Nero Info tool also reports available burn speeds of 4x, 6x, and 8x, which I don’t understand. Thought it was supposed to burn at 12. I also have 1.04 firmware.

The reason I switched to DVD-R is because my home DVD player (Panasonic RV-31) will not read +R’s whatsoever. -R’s have not been a problem. The Plextor, so far, has burned about 60 discs with no errors. I don’t have Plextools installed at this time, as I just did a clean install.

Now, on to my “noobiness”. I don’t know how to tell the drive to burn at 12x. I usually use DVD Shrink when burning, and it obviously uses Nero as a back end for that purpose. I’ve got the latest Nero as well. All of my burns have been at 8x. I wouldn’t call myself computer illiterate. I’ve built several machines, for myself and friends and family, and my current rig is sitting in a watercooled Coolermaster Stacker. But my current area of ignorance is the “varsity” level of DVD burning. I see you guys posting graphs and I have no idea what you are talking about. :confused: :confused:

Can someone guide me to a single-source document that will get me up to speed with the rest of you, or is it more of a “read the boards!!!” kind of thing???

Thanks in advance!

#2

Welcome to the forum scroatdog,

FIRST, yur plex 712a can only burn DVD-R at a maximum of 8X it is only DVD+R that it can burn at 12X if you want to burn at 12X you need to buy good quality 8X or 16X DVD+R media to solve the pproblem of compaitabilty with your standalone DVD player then install plextools and use the bitsetting feature. setting it to DVD Rom should alleviate any problems with your player.

#3

Hey. Thanks for the quick response. I KNEW I should have waited before buying that drive!!! I’ve had it for about a month now. Now, of course, the 16x burners are on the street.

I have read a bit on this board and it seems a lot of people like the NEC 3500A??? I don’t know what all of those funny graphs and charts mean, but from what I gather the Plextor 716a isn’t making people all that happy??

Would there be an advantage to getting a 16x burner and keeping both in there??? Like I said earlier, the 712a has burned fine, just takes a little while. And I have yet to see 16x media so I wonder if it would even be worth it…

#4

Scroatdog, what iss meant was to buy a good DVD+R media (disks, not burner) so your 712a can burn it at 12x. For example, Verbatim 8x DVD+R (MCC003 code) can be burn at 12x. Your prodisc and optodisc can only be burn at max 8x. Please refer to plextor recommendation media here http://plextor.com/english/support/media_712.htm

Also, it will be best if you install the latest firmware (1.05) and Plextools 2.17 (download the latest from plextor.com), then set in Plextools - Drive Setting - Advanced: Change booktype for DVD+R, everytime you burn a DVD+R it will be read by your Panasonic player as a dvd-rom just like an original dvd. Give it a try and let us know how it goes.

#5

Will do. Where can I find that good Verbatim media??? Meritline??
As soon as I get my hands on some of that stuff I’ll let you guys know how it goes… So I should have Plextools installed and change the booktype then…ok

#6

Well if you prefer online, I would suggest rima.com, and choose Taiyo Yuden DVD+R 8x (media code YUDENT000-02). If you can go offline (bestbuy etc), you can grab Verbatim DVD+R 8x (MCC003) or Fuji brand DVD+R 8x Made in Japan (YUDENT000-02). Make sure that the Fuji is Made in Japan not the Made in Taiwan.

You might also consider reading user comments on your player http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.php?DVDnameid=241&Search=Search&#comments

Good luck and let us know how it goes.