Superb burner. . . once they got the bugs worked out

Author's Rating:

Pros: Plenty of firmware update options, sets the booktype to DVD-ROM on D/L media.

Cons: May have to manually set burning speed on slower CD-Rs.

The Bottom Line: 
An excellent drive once the firmware is updated.

Author's Review
I originally started out with a Pioneer 105 and had great luck with it for two years, so when I wanted to update to a faster burner with double layer capabilities, I once again looked to Pioneer. Unfortunately the Pioneer 109 got off to a really rough start. It took several firmware revisions before they finally got the bugs straightened out of it. So before you buy this burner, keep in mind that unless the burner comes stock with at least the V1.40 firmware revision, that you are almost certainly going to need to update before you burn.

Now down to the nitty gritty:

The Pioneer 109 boasts the following specs:
Up to 16x DVD-R burning
Up to 16x DVD+R burning
Up to 6x D/L DVD+R burning
Up to 6x D/L DVD-R burning
Up to 8x DVD+RW burning
Up to 6x DVD-RW burning
Up to 40x CD-R burning
Up to 24x CD-RW burning
Up to 16x DVD-ROM reading capabilities
2MB Cache

Now it should be noted that these specs could varry with firmware updates. For all sorts of nifty firmware updates for the drive check out rpc1.org.

I have tested out 4x Taiyo Yuden (TYG01) DVD-R, 8x Taiyo Yuden (TYG02) DVD-R, 8x (CMC MAG E01) DVD+R, 2.4x Verbatim D/L DVD+R (MKM 001), 2x Memorex (Ritek) DVD-RW, 2x Fujifilm (MCC) DVD-RW, 16x Taiyo Yuden DVD-R, 32x Prodisc CD-R. The 4x Taiyo Yuden TYG01 DVD-R burns at 4x as it is rated. The 8x Taiyo Yuden and 8x CMC DVD+R burn without any problems at 12x. The real bonus though is that the 2.4x Verbatim D/L DVD+R burns without a hitch at 6x which saves quite a bit of burning time.

It should be noted that the +R format by nature is less compatible with videogame consoles, standalone DVD Players and PC DVD-ROM drives. This can however be fixed by setting the booktype to DVD-ROM. This allows the disc to be read like a factory pressed disc. Thankfully the V1.40 and higher standard firmware for the 109 will automatically set the booktype to DVD-ROM for you on D/L DVD+R so no worries for the double layer discs at least. Unfortunately the single layer discs don't get that option with the standard stock firmware. However, there is an out for this drive. There was a development firmware for the OEM model called the Buffalo firmware (designation 8.40 or higher). This firmware will set the booktype to DVD-ROM on both the single layer DVD+R discs and the D/L DVD+R. The trade off is that the standard V1.40 and higher firmwares support the rip-lock removal feature which allows the drive to rip very fast. The buffalo firmwares do not give you this option. So you will need to decide what is more important to you.

The one thing that I have to complain about is that for slower speed rated CD-Rs the burner has some issues with the auto-detection of write speeds. Now this could be fixed on later firmware revisions but at least on my burner I ran into this problem. I had some 16x rated Fujifilm CD-Rs (Taiyo Yuden) and the burner attempted to burn them at the max rated burner speed of 40x rather than the max rated CD-R speed of 16x. So I got a couple of coasters until I figured it out. I just had to manually set the burning speed in my burning software and it works just fine. The 32x Fujifilm (Prodisc) CD-Rs auto-detect just fine though. So be aware that you may have to manually set the burn speed on CD-R if it is slower rated media. No other problems with max speed auto-detection on any of the other formats though.

Anyways, I have tested out all of the above media burned with the Pioneer 109 and V1.40 firmware on the following and all of the above work perfectly (barring the crappy CMC Mag media):

V1.0 XBOX with Samsung 605B DVD-ROM, for data, videogame and DVD Movie backup applications.

V1.4 XBOX with Phillips DVD-ROM, for data, videogame and DVD Movie backup applications.

V1.5 XBOX with Phillips DVD-ROM for all 3 of the previous applications.

V1.4 XBOX with 605F DVD-ROM for all 3 applications.
SCPH-30001R PS2 for data, videogame and DVD Movie backup applications

SCPH-30001 PS2 for DVD Movie backup applications
Panasonic S-35 for music and DVD Movie applications.

One cheap Coby for DVD Movie backups.

One cheap Mintek for DVD Movie backups.


So in conclusion barring the need for an up to date firmware and having to manually set the burn speed on slower CD-Rs the drive is excellent in all respects.