:. Introduction .:

Pioneers first DVR-A03 was the first true low-price DVD-R recorder that made a lot of people happy that needed to store a large amount of files or home video on something other then a hard drive, The DVD-R(W) technology has really bloomed in the past years and a new generation is going to start soon where the CD-R(W) is going to start being like the floppy... its in the computer, shipped with new computers but not used as it used to be. There where a lot of great features in the A03 but people wanted more, so Pioneers made there fourth-generation DVD-R(w) and the name of this new DVD-R(W) is  DVR-A04 and the DVR-104 that we have for review for you guys.

:. Specifications .:

System Requirements:

• Min operating system: Microsoft Windows 98/ME
• Microsoft Windows Media Player 6.X or later
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.X or later
• 800 MHz Pentium III minimum (1 GHz Pentium III or better recommended)
• 128 MB RAM (256 MB recommended)
• CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
• AGP video graphics card with 8 MB RAM min.
• Monitor with 16-bit color at 1024x768 min. screen area (24/32-bit color recommended)
• Windows-compatible sound card
• At least 10 GB free hard disk space (20 GB or more recommended).
• Disks must be formatted using the FAT32 or NTFS file system
   

To capture analog video, you need:

• Analog video device (TV, Camcorder, VCR)
• DirectShow-compatible video capture card
   

To capture digital video, you need:

• DV Device, such as a DV camcorder
• IEEE-1394 adapter (FireWire or I.Link) to connect the DV device to the PC.
   

:. What's inside the box .:

• Pioneer DVI-104 DVD recorder
• Nero 5 Burning Rom
• Analog Sound cable
• IDE Cable

Because this is the DVI-104 (OEM) version you wont see:

Sonic MyDVD Real Time Transcoder, video capture, DVD authoring and DVD recording software

CyberLink PowerDVDxp DVD Video playback

Veritas RecordNow DX Data & Audio disc creation and supports disc-to-disc copying (replaces Veritas PrimoDVD)

Veritas DLA (Drive Letter Access) Packet writing software to let the DVR-A04 act as a hard drive with DVD-RW /CD-RW discs

If you would like these programs and some extra goodies please purchage the DVI-A04 but if you would like to save some money then the DVI-104 is your best buy.

:. Pioneer DVR-104 (DVR-A04) DVD-RW IDE Drive .:

In 1997 250 major companies wanted to establish a single format for each DVD application product that would be for all consumers. Later DVD-RAM was made but the problem with this was it was only good for Toshiba, Hitachi, and Matsushita products and it just did not work out for them, then Pioneer came out with a product that was more fitting for the general public that wanted to record there home video on DVD's or just back up a large amount of files. DVD-R and then DVD-RW was born and it was in those days everything anyone would want and it worked great with almost every set-top DVD players. After some major Companies realized they would have to pay royalties to Pioneer for using there DVD-RW technology they decided to make there own and they officially made DVD+RW and the DVD+RW Alliance was formed. You might ask so who is supporting and backing up DVD-RW or  DVD+RW drives, well for now Pioneer, Compaq, Sony, Apple, and NEC are behind DVD-RW and for DVD+RW its only Sony and HP.

Let me first point out that this DVI-104 (DVD-RW) is the exactly the same as the DVI-A04 but this is the OEM version. If you’re unsure what OEM is it is basically what Dell, Compaq and local retail stores get when they build computers for customers. It comes in a normal white box and not all the extra goodies like extra software (sometimes) that the retail box has, the great thing about this is that you save a lot of money. All the necessary parts do come with the product though like the IDE cable and sound cable and they also included the Nero 5 Burning Rom in this DVI-104.

Ones I got my hands on this DVI-104 the first thing I noticed is the shear weight of it, wow was I ever amazed how heighy this drive actually is (2 pounds).

Some people must be wondering what is up with the 1X and 2X speed this DVI-104 has and why is it so low? Well let me point out that DVD drives use a different kind of multiplier then what CD-RW use. A 1x CD drive records only 150KB/sec, and a 1x DVD drive records at 1.32MB/sec so that is basically a 9x CD-RW, so as you see a 1x DVD recorder is nothing like a 1x CD-RW.

My first test was to burn some videos I had on my hard drive and see how it would look and perform on my Pioneer set-top DVD player, I used the Nero 5 that was included and made a VCD and after waiting about 10 minutes I ran downstairs and put the DVD-RW in my DVD player and everything ran the way it should with no problems at all. You might be asking yourself if you can do a DVD to DVD-R copy and backup ;) all those DVD movies you have, well the bad news for now is that no you can not because of firmware, the drive cant burn where the copyright, region encoding, and encryption information is stored on the DVD and if you do try to copy the DVD movie you will be missing most of the movie.

Pioneer has also done a good job on making sure the DVI-104 has enough cooling by adding a extremely small but effective fan on the back but also small ventilation holes on the front of the drive and make sure you don’t cover these because you might run into some problems.

Some extra features Pioneer has put into the DVI-104 is for example the ability to install the writer vertically by providing two disc support tabs on the tray, this is excellent if you have a server case or another case where you have to install the writer vertically. Pioneer has also included a different kind of short socket, it’s much easier now to change jumper pins if you got chubby fingers.

The only negative point in this DVD drive has to be that not all media can be recorded on this drive at 2x. I tested some branded media from Pioneer, Panasonic, Verbatim, Maxell and TDK and they all worked great at 2x and I had absolutely no problems with them. But when it comes to no-name DVD media or less popular media like Imation that is where all the problems start because most no-name media won’t burn at 2x only at 1x. Pioneer has said though that they plan to support more media with future firmware upgrades, and they have already released new firmware since they released the DVI-104 so they are actually doing something about it and not just forgetting about us.