I leave my burn setting at 4X on CloneDVD. When I use my Ty or Verbatim discs that are rated at either 4X or 8X my burn times are between 14:30-14:33. Using either 16X Sony or Verbatim the burn time is between 9:11-9:55. I just read in the forum that burning too slowly on the 16X produces poor results. Is my lite-on burner compensating automatically, or should I manually change the speed setting in CloneDVD based on the disc speed?
That is kinda odd on the burn speeds. It should be close to an average speed if you never change the write speed in CloneDVD2. There shouldn't be that big of a difference in burn times if CloneDVD2 is set at 4x for all media you use. I hardly ever get 16x media anyway because I have no need to burn that fast. So I tend to stick with 4x or 8x media and burn at 4x. So it might not be odd since I have not had that much experience with 16x media. But I would assume that even using 16x media and you have CloneDVD2 set to 4x it should not have a 4 to 5 minute difference in times. Are you sure you have CloneDVD2 set to 4x and not MAX? You will never get every member to agree on what speed is best to burn at. Some say it is best to burn no slower then 4x and half the rated speed of the media. So if you have 4x or 8x media burn at 4x if you have 16x burn at 8x. Some will say if they are high quality brand DVD's that you should have no problem burning at the rated speed. I tend to stick with burning at half the rated speed. There is more of a chance to get DRE (data read error's) if you burn at MAX speed.
@mrhilbily, You should be burning your 16X @ 8X anyways. This is the general rule of thumb, burn at half the rated speed. It appears that your Liteon is burning your Sony and Verbatim 16X media at 8X. I do know Liteons have 'Smartburn' technology, which automatically picks the best write strategy for the media. It appears this is overriding the settings within CloneDVD. I can't say for sure, but this appears to be the case. Here is a guide for general burn times (see "How Time Flies") http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-7613_7-5135505-2.html BTW Excellent choice of media!!!!
