DVD writers: Panasonic RAM vs Sony +/- R/RW

[Taliska]

Well, I was considering the subject of DVD writers and had settled on the all singing, all dancing Sony DRU500A (now 510A) because it would read and write just about anything out there.

But...

On reading these forums, I was struck by Dr. Mordrid's comment about being more than happy with his Panasonic DVD-RAM drive - that left me wondering again...

Now one advantage of the DVD-RAM is that it's well protected and is good for holding data - I don't think the same can be said for either +RW or -RW.

I think that I can see the use for RW media - presumably for blowing off a home-made DVD and seeing if it works, before committing it to DVD R media.

Is there really much compatibility difference between -R and +R?

If you look at the Sony's specs it will read just about anything... "DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD+RW, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD-R, CD-ROM, CD-DA, Video CD, Photo CD (multi-session), CD TEXT, CD Extra, and others." to quote.

I'm not actually sure whether I intend to read any of these formats - but how does the Panasonic compare with this. Should I care that much?

Now I know some folk who love the 'plus camp' and are bound to get a Sony drive and give me something on a +R or +RW disk just to be awkward... but will the Panasonic read it? I guess it should read the +R disk, but I'm not so sure about the +RW disk.

So, food for thought, to RAM or not to RAM - that is the question.

Oh, and by the way, I'm primarily interested in creating home DVDs, putting photos albums onto DVDs, backing up odd folders from my hard disk and also copying my DVDs so that the kids can't destroy any more of them (aaaarrrrgggghhhh!).

Any comments, recommendations most welcome.

Taliska

[Dr Mordrid]

You know my answer, but it holds double if you ever plan on getting a DVD-RAM capable DVD-VR deck.

Of course its defect management and error correction methodologies give it huge advantages when storing data vs. DVD-RW or DVD+RW. Doing backups on 'em is very nice with only the need for 2-3 disks on most of my systems.

Dr. Mordrid

[IM_Riktar]

The DVD-RAM is worth it for the drop dead simplicity of backups. You can't beat drag and drop.

For my backup I Ghost the C: drive and then just copy all the other drives (Business/Games/Graphics/data files) onto a DVD-RAM disk(s) and if I ever have to restore I just run the ghost backup to get the system going, and then just drag and drop the other drives back from their respective DVD-RAM discs.

The only way it could be easier is if you had someone else place the disc caddies into the computer for you.

[Ted222]

DVD-RAM

Not just "drag and drop" but as I understand it you can delete individual files like on a floppy...cant do that with DVD-RW.

Ted

[mits]

Taliska,
don't know a thing about dvd-ram but i have a sony dru-500ax so dvd+rw is much better than dvd-rw.
Dvd-rw can not be used with direct-cd for drag & drop files and you cannot delete individual files (you write it and then you have to erase all of it).
Dvd+rw you can use it with direct-cd to drag & drop files, delete individual file(s) and it does not require to format it like the cd-rws(formats while it writes) .
Dvd-r and dvd+r are more or less the same. I have 2 standalone dvd palyers a picky sony dvp-s725d and a cheapo yukai, both formats +/-R play fine on both of them.

However, just a thought about sony:
My first dvd recorder was a dru-500a which died 2 weeks after purchase, replaced by a dru-500ax which lasted 1 and a half month and now i'm waiting for a replacement. Well, while they were working they were quite good. If you finally go for a dual writer then you may wait a little for the nec nd-1300 or the pioneer dvr-a06.

[Dr Mordrid]

Originally posted by IM_Riktar
The DVD-RAM is worth it for the drop dead simplicity of backups. You can't beat drag and drop.

......

The only way it could be easier is if you had someone else place the disc caddies into the computer for you.

You don't even need caddied DVD-RAM with my Panasonic SW-9571-CYY. It can use caddie-less DVD-RAM disks, which you can get from either Verbatim or Panasonic.

Dr. Mordrid

[Ted222]

Mits....my DVD-RW allows drag and drop, but no deleting individual files. I didn't know DVD+RW allowed for deleting individual files...cool...will keep that in mind when getting another drive.

thanks,

Ted

[IM_Riktar]

Hi Ted,
Yes individual files can be deleted as well as added. What happens is after you load the drivers (Windows only, no DOS, NUTS!) you have the option of formating the DVD-RAM discs in FAT32 which turns them into removeable harddrives.

It's a real pity the DVD-RAM can't be used to 'Ghost" the C drive but without DOS drivers you are stuck with DVD-R. At least on my drive thats the way it is.

But as long as you use Ghost 2003 to do the image backup you can simply restore the Ghosted C drive by popping it in the DVD drive since the disc you burn is self booting and contains the neccesary program files to start the process. After that you can just start loading your other drives back in. As long as you had the DVD-RAM drivers on your C drive.

[Ted222]

Thanks for the info, Riktar,
Have you tried this with DVD+RW...like Mits said...deleting individual files?

Ted

[IM_Riktar]

My drive is one of the early incarnations of DVD-RAM/ROM and doesn't support any RW format. While their are times I wish I had the RW format for testing burns I can live without it. I have pretty much figured out what works in most of the families desktop DVD players so that feature.

[Jerry Jones]

I also have the original DVD-R/DVD-RAM drive... the LF-D311.

But I went ahead and bought the FIREWIRE version of the SW-9571, DVD-R/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM, and now I have everything I need.

I haven't tested the new Firewire drive, yet, as I have just now installed it.

But I plan to have some fun with it this weekend.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Ted222]

Not only "testing burns" .... but giving a final draft DVD to a client without using up a Blank DVD is pretty nice to do with RW format.

I am currently in the final stages of a 2-DVD set for a client, and we have both made several changes after viewing the DVD-RW disks. Saved me at least 8 blanks...maybe more.

Ted

[Dr Mordrid]

Which is why I love my SW-9571; it can do -R, -RW and RAM, but unlike Jerry I went for ther iDE internal version. Might go IEEE-1394 next time though for portability. Depends on if Jerry runs into problems

Dr. Mordrid

[Fred H]

Why can I not post reply to this:

Why can I not post reply to "DVD writers: Panasonic RAM vs Sony +/- R/RW " at Desktop Video,

http://forums.murc.ws/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42040

Ive got the error message:
* No thread specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the webmaster *

Note, I can post replies to any other threades, but not to this one.

Webmaster didn't answer to my e-mail, yet, so maybe someone can help?

Fred H

[Sasq]

ya all know by now you should bug me with these things...
give me a min and I'll check