Burning stops sometimes

[rjc7394]

I have a relatively new (March 2008) PC (Gigabyte SATA)/Athlon XP 2.5 CPU/DVD drive (Pioneer). About 1 out of 12 DVDs I burn stop in the middle of burning. I have tried Verbatim and HP DVDs (which I have used for years) and Cheetah and Ashampoo software (both of which I've never had problems with). I don't have any other applications running when I burn. Using XP SP3 and 2 GB RAM. Never had this problem with my old computer: ABIT IDE/Athlon XP 2.2 CPU/Plextor DVD-ROM.

[not important]

I've read on some DVD type forums about pioneer's being problematic. Does the problem occur burning data or movies? Movies require a lot of compression and the most frequent problems are poor quality media (Verbatim is good-HP is not), burning too fast and the copying software. Rule of thumb is to burn at 1/2 the rated speed of the media. i.e. 16X media / burn at 8X. Check for a firmware update for the Pioneer.

[rjc7394]

I burn at lowest speed, 4x. I looked at a DVD-R that stopped burning and part of the outer ring of the burn was not round but distorted so maybe the burner is not burning correctly. Guess I'll buy a new burner. Other than that Pioneer was a good DVD-ROM. Quiet device.

[not important]

Burning too slow can also have negative effects. I would also try some +R media.
LG and Lite-On are very good drives.