Number of DVD MULTI Drives Climbs to Three

[Jerry Jones]

THREE new DVD MULTI drives:

1. Panasonic SW-9571-CYY:

http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/computer/storage/dvdram/prods/specs.htm

2. LG GMA-4020B:

http://www.lgeus.com/Product/CD/GMA4020b.asp

3. Teac:

http://www.teac.co.jp/dspd/product/optical/dv-w22e.html

Samsung to be marketing a fourth soon.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[wkulecz]

But these are all 2X max.

You gotta really need DVDRAM to get these instead of a 4X burner.

--wally.

[Jerry Jones]

4X means nothing if it yields a coaster!

:-)

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[wkulecz]

Yes DVD-R does seem to have lots of bad disks flooding the market.

--wally.

[Jerry Jones]

More precisely...

...DV MAGAZINE reported that, in their tests, SLOWER BURNING SPEEDS consistently produce better, GLITCH-FREE discs...

...regardless of whether one has chosen "+" or "-" formats.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[wkulecz]

BS! DVD+R doesn't burn at less than 2.4X Who did these half-assed "tests"?

What you say may be true for DVD-R, but when I had my A03 burning at 1X vs 2X made no difference in the players that I had on hand to test with.

--wally.

[Jerry Jones]

DV MAGAZINE's tests were done before DVD+R hit the market.

But the testing was extensive and was reported in the July 2002 issue.

The testing included DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD-R for general and DVD-R for authoring.

I believe the tests are valid.

Slower burning speeds are more reliable.

The same was true of the early days of CD writing.

I'm sure faster burning speeds will be reliable for DVD, eventually.

But I'm not going to rush out and buy based on burning speeds.

It would be a very unwise decision to do so, in my view.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[wkulecz]

IF you'd left off:

"...regardless of whether one has chosen "+" or "-" formats"

Then I wouldn't have had a bone to pick. DVD+RW/R drives don't offer speeds lower than 2.4X.

--wally.

[Jerry Jones]

Wally, your position seems a bit inconsistent and confusing.

I was referring to the fact that both the "+" and the "-" camps have been promising faster drives all along and they continue to promise faster drives in the future.

This is similar to what happened with CDs.

As the DV MAGAZINE study revealed, faster speeds are not necessarily a wonderful thing as the industry is still in its infancy and the DV MAGAZINE test statistics revealed the slower speeds were better for video disc creation purposes.

Naturally, the DVD100i they tested didn't support recording at a speed lower than 2.4.

That drive had other issues, however, such as the issue that led to a class action:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/25093.html

As for your confusing position...

YOU claimed earlier in this thread that the new DVD MULTI drives, with their 2X speeds, were somehow not as worthy of consideration as other new drives that will write at 4X speed.

How is it that you can tout DVD+R/DVD+RW drives with their 2.4X speed out of one side of your mouth...

...and then out of the other side of your mouth, you seem to advocate non-DVD MULTI, DVD-R/DVD-RW drives (or the new Sony) that write at 4X speed?

The 4X speeds are supported by CERTAIN Pioneer (DVR-A05-J) and Teac (DV-W50E) drives as this article explains:

http://www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article/0,aid,106007,00.asp

Pioneer and Teac are in the DVD Forum camp, Wally, but these new 4X drives are not DVD MULTI drives with support for DVD-RAM.

Remember, the DVD FORUM is the group you usually BAD MOUTH (even though Sony retains its membership):

http://www.dvdforum.org

So now you're changing your position and advocating the 4X speed drives of Pioneer and Teac?

Again, your position seems rather inconsistent.

The Sony DRU-400A, WHICH ALSO DOES NOT SUPPORT DVD-RAM, can also burn at 4X speed.

However, the 4X speed capability...

...in my view...

...is not a significant selling point this early in the game.

Not until I see more confirmation that it yields glitch-free discs for video producers.

I find the DVD MULTI drives far more interesting as they support multiple formats, INCLUDING DVD-RAM.

1. Panasonic SW-9571-CYY:

http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/computer/storage/dvdram/prods/specs.htm

2. LG GMA-4020B:

http://www.lgeus.com/Product/CD/GMA4020b.asp

3. Teac:

http://www.teac.co.jp/dspd/product/optical/dv-w22e.html

Since all DVD+R discs I've tried play in my DVD-R/DVD-RAM drive...

...and since all DVD-R discs I've tried play in DVD+R/DVD+RW devices I've tested...

...the issue of incompatibility between DVD "+" formats and DVD "-" formats is a NON-ISSUE.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[wkulecz]

Don't extrapolate the shortcomming of DVD-R to DVD+R.

When the 4X DVD+R burners and disk get widely available we'll see if compatability is lessened. Right now there is no data since DVD+R burners don't offer speeds lower than 2.4X -- I've tried in Nero.

If the DVD+R camp hasn't screwed this up, 4X burns means a whole lot more to me than DVDRAM compatability.

--wally.

[thop]

DVD-RAM will dissapear over time anyway IMO. I'm waiting for the new NEC ND-1100A, the new Sony isn't bad either though.

[Jerry Jones]

thop,

Your guess may turn out to be true...

...but I don't think it will.

:-)

DVD-RAM is, quite simply, going to prevail on its merits, in my opinion.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Hulk]

I've done some testing of my own burned DVD +R DVD video's created using DVD Workshop. In general, the Sony, Samsung, GoVideo, and Apex players play all of my discs glitch free while the Panasonic and Toshiba players will not read them.

I'm not really concerned which format "wins." When that day comes I'll simply takes my +R's and transfer them to the new format.

I'm using DVD workshop and Easy CD creator with my Sony DRU-120A and have yet to create a coaster. I was actually quite surprised with the stabilty of both software and hardware. Much better than the early days of CDR's on my old HP 2X external parallel port burner! A nightmare!