Recommendations on dvd-r drives?

[gt40]

Hi, just starting to look for a decent dvd-r drive, and I would like some suggestions. My requirement are simple: I need dvd-r and cd-r capability on the same drive. at least 8x on cd-r and as this would be my first dvd-r drive, I am open to suggestions for adequate dvd-r speeds.
my main use would be for making dvd copies of home edited video, as well as backing up on dvd and cd.

If their will be some newer products available soon then I will wait, as I am not in a particular hurry.

Price limit would be sub 700 cndn (500 U.S.

Thanks in advance.

Pat

[Elie]

Pioneer A04, cheap and the offers the best bang for the buck.
Cost? aprox 400 CDN.

Regards,
Elie

[wkulecz]

Sony DRU500A ~US $350

Does CD-RW, DVD-RW/R and DVD+RW/R.

You can buy what media is on sale, and DVD+RW works pretty well for data with Nero 5.5.9.x.

You can also burn to the opositite polarity for the odd player that
works with DVD+R but not DVD-R or vice-versa.

--wally.

[gt40]

Thanks, folks

have looked at the ao4, but would like a little better than 8x cd-r

yep, the sony looks interesting

Question: is having both dvd+r and dvd-r important? - I've noticed that same will do one or the other, and some both.

[Chrono_Wanderer]

Okay I am not an expert and i haven't used a DVD writer before... but i will try a shot at it.... here we go...

Hi. do you think you will be using DVD+R or DVD-R media?
You probably know this but just to claify that DVD-R are not real DVDs. DVD-R and DVDs are completely different media. DVD-Rs cannot be read on normal DVD-ROMs and DVD Players. DVD+RWs, on the other hand, have great competibility. They can be read on most, if not all DVD-ROMs/DVD Players. Personally i'd recommend +R/+RW medias because they ARE actually DVDs . So before deciding which drive to get maybe you should decide. But note if u consider +R/+RW drives... there are older +RW drivers that cannot write +R medias. What you probably want is a drive that can read both +R and +RW. An example of a +RW drive that cannot read +R media is that the Ricoh MP5120 and the HP DVD100i (well the HP's core is an OEM version of MP5120 with a new cover lol).

If you get a +R/+RW drive (aka second generation DVD+ drive), here is my thoughts. What you may want is the DVD200i +R/+RW drive that can read both media. These few months the HP DVD200i had a huge price drop, from 700 to 400 canadian dollars. The DVD200i, again, is the OEM version of the newer Ricoh MP5125 that can read both media. I saw some reviews and they got nice ratings.

About speed: Generally speaking, DVD+RW drives burn DVDs faster than DVD-RW drives. DVD+RW drives usually burn both DVD+R and DVD+RW at 2.4x, which is around 2.4mbps (or around 24-32x CD-RW speed). Also, their CD-R speed is 12x and CD-RW is 10x, which is quite decent for a dvd burner. The dvda04 i think can burn at 2X DVD-R and 1X DVD-RW. Should take a bit longer to burn.

[THE_Editor]

If it doesn't look like the AmigaOne will be released this side of Xmas (Hopefully all will be revealed tomorrow@ WOAse) then I too shall be getting the Sony DRU500A .

It looks an excellent drive.
I also got an email yesterday from Matrox about the 256mb version of Parhelia being available....

Ooo .............. Decisions.

[Chrono_Wanderer]

heh no point of getting parhelia 256 because apparently it's clocked even slower than the parhelia 128 retail... and it seems like the parhelia 256 has the same bugs as the parhelia 128 has... unless you are doing DCC works and needs more than 128MB memory... $500 USD is sort of an overkill

[Jerry Jones]

Chrono_Wanderer:

I'm sorry, but you appear to be EXTREMELY confused about what constitutes a 'real' DVD.

DVD-R and DVD+R achieve pretty much equal compatibility on DVD-ROM and DVD stand alone players.

DVD-RW and DVD+RW achieve equal, but lesser compatibility on the same previously mentioned DVD-ROM and DVD stand alone players.

DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM are the three formats approved by the DVD FORUM:

http://www.dvdforum.org

DVD-R = WRITE ONCE and HIGH COMPATIBILITY
DVD-RW = 1,000 rewrites and LESSER compatibility
DVD-RAM = 100,000 rewrites and LESSER compatibility BUT BEST DATA STORAGE

DVD+R and DVD+RW are alternative formats developed by Sony, Philips, and HP.

DVD+R = WRITE ONCE and HIGH COMPATIBILITY
DVD+RW = 1,000 rewrites and LESSER COMPATIBILITY

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Chrono_Wanderer]

aaHH i see. thanks jerrold! thanks for the info. now i get the picture. you were right. i WAS really confused about the 3 medias.

so the real difference between the two formats is that they are made by different alliances? AFAIK it was poineer and parasonic that came up with -R. If i remembered correctly -r came into the market first then it was +r that followed. So what's the advantage over -r anyways? The +r/+rw media and the drives are quite expensive.

p.s.: i think i got -R and -RAM confused quite badly. thanks for the clarification

[Brian Ellis]

Thanks for clarifying it so politely, Jerry. I was about to do the same, but less politely

BTW, I use a Pioneer DVR-AO3 with -R flavoured media. Have perfect compatibility with my stand-alone (Grundig) for CD-R, CD-RW and DVD-R but not for DVD-RW. For me, speed is not important. If it takes me a week to edit and render a project, then to initially burn a DVD-RW for a final check, I couldn't care two hoots whether it takes 45 or 90 minutes to burn the final DVD. In fact, I would prefer 90 minutes if it were glitch-free (as is the case). I've noticed higher speeds = more glitches.

IMHO, the quality of the media is more important than the drive. My preferences for DVD-R, to date are:
1. Panasonic 1 x
2. Verbatim 1 x
3. Pioneer 2x

Imation 1 x is a decided no-no for my drive: it is not even recognised.

[wkulecz]

I'm not seeing any "media" effects yet with DVD+R.

I've used HP, Verbatim, and a totally sterile, unmarked DVD+R blank that came with my burner.

Compatability of burned DVD in existing players is not what it should be because the DVD Forum sold out to Hollywood, but I've so far not found a problem player that had the problem fixed by playing one of the other disk media. All DVD+RW/R burn 2.4X

Since you pretty much can't use the computer while burning this speed matters to me.

I'll probably pick up the Sony DRU500a if they have 4X DVD-R blanks in stock. If my Sony NS315 player glitches with them, back it goes!

The NS315 advertisizes DVD-R and DVD+RW compatibility on the box, but it doesn't do SVCD. All my original DVD-R burned in the Pioneer A03 back in Oct '01 play fine in it.

Since I've always burned an "image" and verified the image after the burn I've been suspect of clamis about media -- I've had a few bad disks but they failed verify! Burning from the authoring application generally doesn't allow verification, but if a disk plays fine in player A but not player B, I blame player B not the media, Otherwise why the pretense of "standards".

One downside to external 1394 burners I've discovered. Made my first DVD+R coaster. Was burning while a thunderstom moved thru, system in on UPS and lights never dimmed, but after a load thunderclap I was greated with a SCSI protocol error from Nero and a failed burn -- presumably lightning EMI was picked up by the 1394 cable enough to corrupt a command :-(

--wally.

[gt40]

Thanks for all the info folks, looks like the sony dru500 is the ticket