Cyber Drive DM126D DVD ROM - Page 4

DVD Tests

- Test Method :
These are probably the most important test of the whole review. We used the latest Nero DVD Speed 99 to run DVD tests (DMA enabled for all drives). All tests done at least 3 times and with the same DVD title. The DVD Speed author suggests avoiding using dual layer DVDs since the performance might be lower than the actual one.

- DVD Speed results:

The Pioneer DVD-105S manages to deliver around 15.000kb/s and confirms the title of the faster DVD-Rom around. But we must admit that the DM126D performs quite well, and certainly better than the 104S model.

As a second test, we decided to use a slightly damaged DVD. The reason for this was that we needed to see how each drive handles errors. So, here are the three diagrams produced by Nero DVD Speed :

The DM-126D seems to try really hard when it comes to error situations. It is persistent and tries to raise the average speed right to the end. The only solution that the Pioneer drives have to offer is a huge speed decrease and right after that no extra care. Of course, this is not vital to users who do not own defected CDs... but then again, who doesn't?

- Movie Tests :
We watched lots and lots of different movies with the Cyber Drive DM-126D. PowerDVD 3.0 seemed to like the hardware it was running on. We haven't noticed any lost frames or variations in the playback speed. We took the TV-Out of the ATI card and connected it to a Sony 25'' 100Hz TV. Still, the results were completely satisfying. Of course, due to the absence of a means to change the region info of the drive, we weren't able to test any foreign DVDs. So looks like we have to wait until a custom DM126D firmware gets released.