I have a Dell Inspiron 5150 laptop, which has an NEC 5100A DVD+RW drive in it with the following specs: • Write DVD at 4X Speed • Rewrite DVD at 4X Speed • Read DVD at 8X Speed • Write CD at 24X Speed • Rewrite CD at 16X Speed • Read CD at 24X Speed • Onboard Lan card • Read DVD+-R/RW and CD-R/RW discs One problem I have always had with this drive/laptop is DVD playback performance. The video stutters, skips and jerks when playing a disc, even when the laptop is running on AC power. This problem is especially noticeable when there is rapid movement in the video, stuttering is much worse. The audio does not break up, only the video. This is ONLY when playing a DVD, not when playing a movie from the hard drive. I am not sure whether the problem is with the DVD drive, or possibly the video card in the laptop. I have 2 512MB memory chips for a total of 1 GB RAM, P4 3.06 HT CPU running XP Pro. I use PowerDVD 6 to play my DVD's, which works fine with no problems in my desktop PC, with a Toshiba DL DVD+-RW, which I am very happy with. I have seen internal Toshiba DL DVD+-RW laptop drives during my searching. A bit pricey, but great if they're worth it. Does anyone know if this would be compatible with my Dell? I would really like the ability to burn -R and DL DVD's from the laptop, as I can only do +R's now, as well as solve the skipping playback problem. Any advice and experiences would be a BIG help! Thanks!
the skipping and stuttering you mention are these problems happening when you are playing ORIGINAL store bought DVD discs? or are you referring to "backed up" ones that you made having this problem when played back on your laptop drive? IF these issues are occurring when you are playing back "burned/backup" dvds, good chance it is the MEDIA being the problem~ using good quality media to burn onto makes a BIG difference in the end result. if THIS is your case, what brand media are you using? suggestions for GOOD quality media are in my signature... but, if this problem is occurring when playing back STORE BOUGHT dvds, then, there is something definitely wrong with your drive in the laptop...or perhaps something that needs a bit of "tweaking" to get it back to optimal output... let me know and we can troubleshoot this further~
The skipping occurs only when playing discs I have burned onto DVD's that I have mastered from edited video. I use Sony 1-8x DVD-R yellow-label store-bought discs. I had previously used Verbatim and TDK discs, but experienced dropouts and other playback glitches with both these brands. I was recommended to stick with Sony for best quality. I tried playing an original DVD movie title, the skipping doesn't happen, even when a lot of motion is on-screen (this is when the other disc skips, otherwise it's fine). I can play the same disc in ANY set-top player with NO skipping. I use Sony Vegas to edit my video with, and create & burn the DVD using Sony DVD Architect 2.0. Eventually will get v3.0, which updates to DL support. The discs were burned using my desktop PC and Toshiba DVD+- internal drive.
If the skipping is only on the burned copies then you need to look at your burn process and blank media. Verbatim are usually good but have heard of some problems with some batches. I never used Sony blanks so I'm not sure of their quality. Here are a few things to check while burning. 1. Shut down all programs running in background on startup(anti virus etc). 2. Check for spyware and adware that may be running and using resources. 3. Do not surf the web or multi-task while burning. 4. Do not burn above 4x--keep at 2x for lower quality blank media. 5. Do a disk cleanup and defrag if you haven't done so recently. When doing the actual burn you don't want anything to interfere with the burn process. Hope some of this helps. Jerry
jerry hit it RIGHT on the dot, nothing more that i can personally add...his recommendations for the "fix" is all right there~ your media SHOULD be pretty good, i have not had a LOT of experience with Sony's own coded media, but, i have found that it is above average on MY setup at home: Sony DVD-R 4.7GB SONY08D1.... 8x (it's the SAME coding regardless of made in japan or made in taiwan for THIS particular speed rating and format) so, while i have personally found the Verbatims to be MORE successful than the SONY08D1 coding on MY setup, there could be the possibility of you getting a "bad batch" with your Verbatims, and lastly, i DESPISE TDK's own manufactured discs (ie. the TTG01/TTG02 coded ones, even MORE than the dreaded CMC MAGs that TDK uses on some of their media), i wouldn't waste money on THAT crap~ anyways, before i go off into a rant about media and MID coding...the MAIN suggestion of slowing down your BURN speed i feel is an important one...what speed are you currently burning the discs at using your Sony software? i have never used the Sony Architect that you speak of, so i can't offer any suggestions there..but, slow your burns down to 4x and don't multitask while burning, this is ALL i can emphasize at this point~ good luck~ docTY
I have normally just let DVD Architect detect the media and determine the burn speed. You can manually select speed from 1x on up. Never made a coaster with it, always completes fine. I always assumed you could pretty much burn at the fastest speed the drive/software would support without getting buffer underruns and failing the burn process. I don't allow any other prog's to run when burning. How can I tell what "coding" my discs are? Never heard of this. I looked on the label and the inner ring, in blue silkscreen there's DVD-R Ver. 2.0/1x-8x Sony Corporation, and, on the underside, in the ring area in tiny black print, DRM5G80001 29, along with some other symbols and a barcode. On the paper ring label it says DVD-R for General Version 2.0/8x-Speed, DVD-R Revision 3.0. That's all I know about them. Got them at Best Buy. You're probably right on keeping the speed down, though I didn't know it made any difference. I figured as long as it completes without errors it should be OK. My primary drive is a 10,000 rpm SCSI 8mb cache, which is used to write data to the disc. I have heard about Taiyo Yuden, have seen them on Neato.com for sale, didn't know if they were any good or not. You seem to believe in them, looking at your sig at the end of your messages. Is there more than one quality grade, or are they all really good? I may try a spool of them next. Still thinking about going to the Toshiba DL laptop drive, maybe a bit faster than my current NEC 5100A. I really need -R and DL burn capabilities, most set-top players don't like +R's. Though I wonder if the new Blu-Ray drives are going to be a long time coming, and are they worth waiting for, worth the money? Probably $$$$$$$$$$ until the new toy smell wears off a bit.
you can use a program like this, this is what i use to "identify" the coding on my discs : http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_tools/dvdinfopro.cfm you can also use another one called dvd identifier, it does the same thing...the "coding" is not on the actual packaging, it can only be found once you open up the spindle/pack and use this identifying software to find it~ also, if you CAN manually adjust speeds, keep the burn @ 4x..that might help with the errors and reduce the "skipping playback" you are having problems with. the taiyo yuden are VERY good media, as long as they are AUTHENTIC, it doesn't matter the rated speed, whether you get the 4x or 8x or even 16x..they are ALL high quality. you can obtain GENUINEs online from such reputable retailers such as: www.supermediastore.com www.meritline.com www.rima.com stay away from shop4tech, as i have received FAKE taiyo yudens from them in the past... good luck, hope that helps, if you have any more questions, let me know... docTY~
I downloaded Drive Identifier, and it shows my Sony DVD-R discs as Sony 08D1. It also shows a variety of other parameters about the Toshiba drive. Another dumb question - I know that -R single-layer DVD's are more compatible with most of today's set-top players. Does this hold true with double-layer DVD's as well? Or will DL DVD+R's be recognized in most set-top units, or are they more suited for PC DVD drive use only? I ask because my Toshiba drive indicates DL+R writing only, not DL-R.
i only use dvd+r DL at this time, i've tried Verbatim dvd+r DL and Ridata Ritek dvd+r DL so far, about 50 all together, so i am NOT that experienced in the DL area~ but, it is true with single layer dvd-r to be more thought of as "more compatible" on standalone players, but, dvd+r booktyped to dvd-rom is EVEN MORE so with the highest compatibility you can also booktype dvd+r DLs to dvd-rom if your burner/drive is capable of doing so... hope that clarifies some...
