BDR-S12XLT vs BDR-212EBK - what's the difference?

[kesh99]

1 hour ago, dbminter said:

The 213 only got worse!  Pioneer did update the firmware to fix BD-R, CD-R, and DVD+R DL, where the 213 WAS working with 8x DVD+RW FINALLY after TEN years... Pioneer BROKE 8x DVD+RW AGAIN in the 213! 

what current market drives would you recommend these days? that i could flash the firmware to use as a mkv libredrive. the WH16NS60 you recommended is basically a mythical creature now. some crazy websites have it listed for $1k which is laughable

[dbminter]

Yes, the NS60 is not commercially available anymore.  Even though LG claims to still sell it, the only way to get them is to send in existing NS60's for replacements.  Which means you must buy the NS40.  I haven't had an NS40 is a while, but a fatal flaw in them that existed for a long time was though they claim to support writing BD-R/RE DL, they will fail to write properly 9 times out 10.  Still, the NS40 is the least worst of what is available out there.  ALL BD drives have some sort of fatal flaw, but the NS40's was only the one: DL BD media.

 

So, basically, the only thing I recommend is the NS40.  Unless you never plan on writing DVD+R DL, then go with the ASUS or if you never plan on writing 8x DVD+RW, the Pioneer 213 appears to "work" now.

[kesh99]

1 minute ago, dbminter said:

Yes, the NS60 is not commercially available anymore.  Even though LG claims to still sell it, the only way to get them is to send in existing NS60's for replacements.  Which means you must buy the NS40.  I haven't had an NS40 is a while, but a fatal flaw in them that existed for a long time was though they claim to support writing BD-R/RE DL, they will fail to write properly 9 times out 10.  Still, the NS40 is the least worst of what is available out there.  ALL BD drives have some sort of fatal flaw, but the NS40's was only the one: DL BD media.

 

So, basically, the only thing I recommend is the NS40.  Unless you never plan on writing DVD+R DL, then go with the ASUS or if you never plan on writing 8x DVD+RW, the Pioneer 213 appears to "work" now.

the pioneer drive can write DVD+RW at lower speeds or other speeds, yes? the flaw with that drive might be the most manageable

[dbminter]

Probably not.  It's a firmware error writing to that particular DID.

 

The whole point of 8x DVD+RW is to write at 8x.  If I wanted to write at 4x, I'd buy Verbatim DataLife Plus DVD+RW, which is 4x.  DataLife Plus is the best out there, but it maxes at 4x.  The only 8x DVD+RW media manufacturer is Ritek.

 

So, if you never write at 8x with the 213, just get the 4x Verbatim media which does work.  Well, it probably works.  I don't think I ever tested my Verbatim 4x DVD+RW on the 213, though.

[dbminter]

A firmware update, 1.05, was released for the BDR-213 on September 20th.  So, I got another one of these units to try it out.  The good news is, apparently, after my last e-mail to Pioneer tech support, they did address the 8x Ritek DVD+RW issue.  A brand new, unformatted disc wrote and verified without error.

 

So, now I'm testing other media in it.

[dbminter]

Well, I've tested it enough to know that 1.05 firmware is still not ready for prime time.  While the Ritek Verify issue was fixed, a new one came up.  I wrote an unformatted Imation Ritek 8x DVD+RW at 8x that wrote and verified fine.  However, my 2nd attempt to write to the same disc only wrote at 6x max.  While it did pass Verify, it did not write at the maximum rate.

 

#2: Disc ID: MCC 03RG20) 16x DVD-R: wrote at only 14.5x max.  Otherwise, PASSED!  Not TOO off from maximum write speed, though.

 

#3 though is a deal killer. 8x branded Verbatim MKM-003-00 DVD+R DL wrote at only 4x max!

 

Once again, despite its few drawbacks, the LG WH16NS60 is still the one to get.

 

So, back goes yet another BDR-2213!  I'll let Pioneer know they dropped the ball again and that they need to update the firmware yet AGAIN!