Dreamcast CD-R's make the lazer weaker?

[ParryPerson]

Hi, I'm not going to get into everything, I just heard people say that CD-R's make the lazer die quicker on DC's, I'm using regular old cheapo brand CD-R's.

I've people say it doesn't matter. And I've heard people say it kills the lazers reading.

Can someone give me a truthful answer?

[FMJaguar]

I've seen everything, DCs that won't read originals, DCs that won't read cd-r's , DC's that don't read anything, and a bunch in between. That is just speculation / rumors IMO.

[ParryPerson]

I was thinking along those lines as well, thanks.

[MagnetGenocide]

I belive it only harms your lazer if you use a poorly ripped copy.
A poorly ripped copy causes the lazer to overwork trying to read it, causing it to die faster.

[lonewolf6465]

I ve seen DC's that read CD-Rs better than original games.

[ParryPerson]

Ah well, my CD-R is shit, and my drive slows to a crawl when burning, should I set it to a low burn speed? Would that help it burn/read better? What CD-R media should I use?

[x_tremer]

Ive got my Dreamcast since launch, used all this shit brand media, and still works... I am lucky...

[gl0ry]

Depends how you burn your games. Use dummy files to emulate the reading of gd-roms. Either way if you use burns they will take a toll on the system. You start to notice this when music starts skipping a bit.

[ParryPerson]

Yeah, the music is ALWAYS skipping when I hear it loading, ever since I picked it up.

Poop.

[Dj_Matrix]

well i say the best way to burn DC games of most images is with Alcohol120%
in the TAO/DAO format or somethin like that... also alot of the newgen dreamcasts(after june2000) had problems but not all so i say its best to try for a 1999 dreamcast... i have a ton of DC fighting game ISO in good shape if any1 needs them email of PM me

[Chupacabra]

I got my dreamcast at launch in '99. Didnt start using CD-Rs til beginning of '04. I have been using them quite a bit since then. No problems here.

[Dj_Matrix]

yeah the 1999 dreamcasts seem to have the best lasers by default in them... or those sport ones that are black.
but then again it all depends on the ISO and how u burn it which i dont recommend faster than 8x

[junker]

I've seen everything, DCs that won't read originals, DCs that won't read cd-r's , DC's that don't read anything, and a bunch in between. That is just speculation / rumors IMO.

yeah, same here. usually dc units can take a beating, and prolonged cd-r use doesn't affect it much, in my experience anyway.

[ParryPerson]

Awesome, I burn my shniz at 2x.

LOL, hey, I have alot of time on my hands.

[Dj_Matrix]

yeah parry, burnin at 2x is pretty good... i my self always burn stuff at 8x TAO/DAO on alcohol 120% and ive never had a single problem except with a late 2000 DC.
the only thing that is bad is when some1 like rips a burned copy with some cheap ISO extractor unlike NERO in .nrg and then puts it for download which makes u have a bad copy sometimes.

[Shodokan123]

yeah parry, burnin at 2x is pretty good... i my self always burn stuff at 8x TAO/DAO on alcohol 120% and ive never had a single problem except with a late 2000 DC.
the only thing that is bad is when some1 like rips a burned copy with some cheap ISO extractor unlike NERO in .nrg and then puts it for download which makes u have a bad copy sometimes.

i burn at 52x with no problems at all.... all my disks work and my DC hasnt had any problems in the year and a half ive been using it...

i use it every day 4-5 hours... so thats hella lot of hours...

all on PNY or memorex Cd's... all burned with alcohol

[Kayin]

Had my DC since '99 has well, no problems playing anything that isn't badly damaged.

[454Casull]

Lazer? What's that? :P

[Dj_Matrix]

yeah i do all mai CDR on memorex or TDK.. always seem to work the best..

[ParryPerson]

Ok, well,

My CD-Burner (since a long time ago, maybe it was there before) won't burn at high speeds anymore. It starts out burning fast, but then burns at a slow rate, in anycase, I burn at a low rate to begin with, using whatever works (DiscJuggler, FireBurner, try not to use Nero as much, but sometimes you have to)

But the MAIN question I have is.

How loud is your dreamcast when reading CD-R's? Mine makes a slight "swooshing" sound when it's spinning the disk, and when it louds, it's like, squeeky, when the lazer is reading something. Sometimes it's so squeeky You can hear it over the TV, but the DC is right below it.

It also takes (well, I don't know, but it seems long) a longer time for things to load, like music/scenes/loading in general, although I don't really know what "slow" is for the DC.

Would this be a problem with my burner? Or my DC?

I did buy a 6 month warranty on it, should I take it back and tell them it's squeeking? Maybe I should pop in a GD-ROM to see if it does the same thing?

Any help is really great, thanks.

EDIT: I've been using Sony brand CD-R, but I just ran out, so I guess I'll get some of the brands you guys use.

[Dj_Matrix]

yeah well most DC are prettu loud unlike the silent PSX of the day...
dont use SONY cdr.., they dont burn to well in burners for DC games... memorex or TDK always works well and its a common brand...as well as somthin called OPTIMUM from this biglots store down my street...

DC shouldnt take very long to load at all... do u have a copy of MVC2 or SFA3?

heres a situation and hopefully i can help:
You are playing SFA3 burn right...
it loads up as usualy then u select your character ... u know when the like 3 bars flow on the screen that spell A,X,or V?
at that screen it shoulda take like 1-2 second if even that long...
but if it is takin forever making a ER ER EERRE ERR sound like the lens is moving back and forth then u have a BAD burn or DC...
SFA3 should load almost as fast as the EMULATED version on DC...

lemme know if this helps at all

[ParryPerson]

I have a MVC2,

The music skips when it's loading anything from the lazer, or I hear the lazer.

Lets just hope it was shitty sony media and not my DC, if it is, I'll just have EBgames fix it for free.

I got DOA2 for shitz and giggles, and it takes a pretty long time in "survival mode" loading in some chars, but not all. The "loading DOA2 engines" screen lasts about 12 seconds or so, maybe a little longer.

all these are on cheap sony media.

[Dj_Matrix]

DOA2 is actually the game... even the real one takes forever
so dont worry about it MVC2 might be too compressed

[ParryPerson]

Thanks alot for your help man. The DreamCast scene is the most helpful scene I have ever ....seen.....

[Dj_Matrix]

yeah anytime man... i know alot about DC cause i been fixin them for friends alot and i used to help out at gamestop alot back then too...

also since live in shreveport lousiana i could prolly ship u a game or 2 off mai list since DC games are no longer sold in stores i dont see the problem doing so... i live in dallas texas so itll prolly cost u no more than like 2 bucks to stick a couple CDRs in a mailer and send it... PM me if u want a list or somethin