Slow speed CD/DVD burners - backups

[Einzelherz]

I'm in the process of building a new computer and while trying to back up some of my older files it occurred to me that my current burner is limited on the low end for CD-Rs at 20x. I have a much much older DVD combo drive that will burn slower than that, and I hook it up whenever I'm making backups but it got me wondering;

How can you find out the minimum burn speeds on modern drives without actually owning one? I've been window shopping for just a cheap $20 dvd burner on Newegg and even after going to the manufacturer's sites, all I can find are max speeds. That's not going to work well when I have to burn 4x-10x depending on which system I'm making copies for.

Any and all help would be appreciated.

[cynicalhat]

they will all burn at like 2x if you please

[Darkman2K5]

A few things I'd like cleared up.

1. Why is this in classic gaming?

2. Why are you using cds to back up your files? An external usb drive would be a much more efficient solution.

3. Why do you need to burn your media at such a low speed? I would understand if you were burning cdrs to play on a sega cd or something, but you don't mention the reason for your need.

[InsaneDavid]

I would understand if you were burning cdrs to play on a sega cd or something, but you don't mention the reason for your need.

Isn't that the only reason?

[Kitsune Sniper]

Not at all, you can burn CD-Rs for your Dreamcast too!

Some of them legal, too!

[Einzelherz]

Sorry I wasn't more clear. Yes the CD-R backups are for CD based systems. Most of those would be considered classic games. If there's a more applicable forum I'd be glad to have this thread moved.

If anyone has a modern SATA drive that will burn really slowly please mention it specifically as it will be a factor in what drive I'll end up buying.

[megasdkirby]

I usually obtain the model number, then google it to find the technical spec sheets indicating all burning speeds.

[Az]

To be honest I've never ran into problems burning media at the recommended speed and it not working. I've heard this mentioned a hundred times, but I'm not sure I buy it. Using low quality media, regardless of the burn speed, will always produce worse results than higher quality media.

[Darkman2K5]

Sorry I wasn't more clear. Yes the CD-R backups are for CD based systems. Most of those would be considered classic games. If there's a more applicable forum I'd be glad to have this thread moved.

If anyone has a modern SATA drive that will burn really slowly please mention it specifically as it will be a factor in what drive I'll end up buying.

If you're burning isos, use a program called imgburn, it will allow you to burn at nearly any speed you want. I've used it to burn sega cd images at 1x on my SATA dvd burners.

[YoshiM]

If you're burning isos, use a program called imgburn, it will allow you to burn at nearly any speed you want. I've used it to burn sega cd images at 1x on my SATA dvd burners.
I tried that (for the Pier Solar CD) and I couldn't get the program to burn slower than 8X no matter what CD-Rs I threw at it. Not sure if it's the program or my drive.

[davidbrit2]

I've always had great results using an old Iomega Zip CD USB (4x max, I think) and the demo version of CDRWin, which is conveniently limited to 1x burning. I'll bet you could find one of those drives cheap on ebay.

[InsaneDavid]

I've always had great results using an old Iomega Zip CD USB (4x max, I think) and the demo version of CDRWin, which is conveniently limited to 1x burning. I'll bet you could find one of those drives cheap on ebay.

That's why I'll never buy a copy of DiscJuggler for Dreamcast stuff, the limited 4x burning is exactly where I want it. If the burning software guys were smarter they'd make the demo versions locked into burning only at high speeds.

[davidbrit2]

That's why I'll never buy a copy of DiscJuggler for Dreamcast stuff, the limited 4x burning is exactly where I want it. If the burning software guys were smarter they'd make the demo versions locked into burning only at high speeds.

"Here's our trial version. It only burns at 300,000 RPM. Feelin' lucky?"

[InsaneDavid]

"Here's our trial version. It only burns at 300,000 RPM. Feelin' lucky?"

LOL Exactly.

[ki_atsushi]

I've been wanting to find an old CD drive that can burn 1x as well, unfortunately, most of them probably don't work anymore.


they will all burn at like 2x if you please

Not true at all. Most new drives don't burn any slower than 8x.

[Gameguy]

My current laptop is less than 2 years old and I can burn DVDs at 1x speed without issues. I use DVD Flick which uses IMGBURN to record to discs. I use Verbatim DVD-RWs that are rated at 2x max so I know the drive actually burns them slow or I'd be having problems. I haven't tried burning CD-Rs yet though I'm not sure if there would really be a difference as IMGBURN does everything.

None of the software that came with my laptop has options to limit the speed that low, I believe most offer 4x at the lowest.

[Jorpho]

Has it actually been firmly established at this point that if two discs from the same spindle are burned on the same burner at different speeds, one of them will be more likely to have problems being read on a console?

It seems to me like this might be one of those voodoo things that people have repeated over and over throughout the years without any experimental evidence.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I actually read that burning modern discs at slower speeds might actually cause more errors. :p Wish I could find the source.

Edit: By the way, sometimes disc burn speeds are not limited by the burner, but by the media. I have a lot of 4x DVD-RW discs that will not burn at any speed other than that.

[Einzelherz]

Has it actually been firmly established at this point that if two discs from the same spindle are burned on the same burner at different speeds, one of them will be more likely to have problems being read on a console?

It seems to me like this might be one of those voodoo things that people have repeated over and over throughout the years without any experimental evidence.

I personally have experienced this, particularly with Saturn backups. These and Dreamcast backups are the only ones I've used thus far as I don't own a Sega CD.

The last time I made some Saturn backups 8x and up wouldn't work so I ran them all at 2x or 4x.

[Kitsune Sniper]

... I've burned Sega CD backups at 24x and they work fine.

[Einzelherz]

... I've burned Sega CD backups at 24x and they work fine.

I couldn't get my Saturn backups to work (Memorex giant cakebox) at anything over 4x.

[Oldskool]

I think Imgburn autodetects your hardware minimum speed. Because on my laptop when I burn an ISO and set it to 1X, it always defaults to 10x as the slowest possible speed.

I dunno why I burn it at slow speeds. Just because everyone says to I guess. They seem to work just as good at full speed than they do at minimum speed to me. And I am just using cheap memorex CDs.