DVD burner...worth picking up now?

[magomago]

Haven't been keeping track of optical media at all for a past two years or so. But this year in college for projects I accumulated about 150-200 gigs of videos that we recorded. They are all divided into 4 gig chunks, and i'm a packrat and can't bear to part with them.

But considering school ended I want to reclaim a lot of space (mainly so i reallocate to ubuntu) and I want to move things on media anyways because its good to backup.

So i've been thinking of a DVD burner. Are they worth it now? They are about 50 bones or so, and if I got one I'd probably stick it in a external case and use it.

But the thing for the past two years I've heard about blue ray and HDDVD and then both consortiums deciding that a single optical standard should be better, etc. etc. Should I wait for that? Or is it all what it simply is: just TALK.

Also lastly, have DVD burners come to the point where brand doesn't matter too much? OR do I still have to go searching for a specific model?

 

[suicidalpigeon]

hi im optical-retarded but i recommend a nec 3520a and get er done.

 

[xsilver]

both hd-dvd and blue ray look to be released together and then fight it out in the market ---- apparently they should be available at the end of the year
however, initial outlay wont be cheap and nothing will touch dvd's from a price standpoint ($ per gig) for a while yet

 

[knothead34]

another vote for the nec3520a

 

[Excelsior]

They are so cheap..yes, get one.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Why not just install the burner in the computer? You'll get the best value from it. It's faster than any 2 year old drive, and it's less expensive. I prefer pricey Plextors, but you can get a decent burner for about 60 bucks. It should be compatible with (almost) all current formats. Just make sure you have the right mobo connector: IDE or SATA.

HD DVD, BluRay, Dual Layer.......please ignore all of this future/vapor-ware.

Are your videos playable in a DVD player? If so, DVD+R is your best bet. DVD-R is equally fine for data. The rewritable versions (+/-RW) are trickier, more expensive and generally useless. Disregard DVD-RAM all together.

DO NOT skimp on blank discs. Buy only what the drive manufacturer recommends. Verbatim makes Datalife blanks that last longer than others. That might interest you for long-term keeping of your school stuff.

Good luck.

 

[ponyo]

Have $50? Then it's worth picking up.

 

[imported_rod]

Yeah, get a DVD burner, preferably a Dual Layer, and upgrade to HD-DVD/Blueray when they're actually affordable. When these other formats come out they will cost alot to buy, and you will have to morgage your car to buy the media for them. Also, when things first come out, they're always full of bugs.

RoD

 

[Zepper]

Any of these three seem to be very popular - Benq 1620 (Philips based), NEC3520, Pioneer 108/109 (NEC variant) or the Plextor PX-716A if you have a little extra scratch.

.bh.

 

[Cheezeit]

yes it is.

44 dollars for a nice dvd burner? Thats one of the best values for your system out there.

 

[Penth]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
Why not just install the burner in the computer? You'll get the best value from it. It's faster than any 2 year old drive, and it's less expensive. I prefer pricey Plextors, but you can get a decent burner for about 60 bucks. It should be compatible with (almost) all current formats. Just make sure you have the right mobo connector: IDE or SATA.

HD DVD, BluRay, Dual Layer.......please ignore all of this future/vapor-ware.

Are your videos playable in a DVD player? If so, DVD+R is your best bet. DVD-R is equally fine for data. The rewritable versions (+/-RW) are trickier, more expensive and generally useless. Disregard DVD-RAM all together.

DO NOT skimp on blank discs. Buy only what the drive manufacturer recommends. Verbatim makes Datalife blanks that last longer than others. That might interest you for long-term keeping of your school stuff.

Good luck.

I think DVD-R are actually sanctioned by the DVD Forum. If you have one disc of each, take a look and you'll see that the DVD logo with a disc under DVD is only on the -R. However, if you do pickup one of those drives with Bitsetting, the +Rs can look like pressed DVD ROMs to your player.

Get the NEC 3520a

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Excelsior
They are so cheap..yes, get one.

:thumbsup:

 

[The Sauce]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Excelsior
They are so cheap..yes, get one.

:thumbsup:

Yeah, they're cheap but the dual-layer media is still a large stick in the ass. Single layer burners are cheap and the media is reasonable as well, but then they don't store as much.

 

[imported_g33k]

Originally posted by: Excelsior
They are so cheap..yes, get one.