DVD Recording

[Alex]

hi,

my bro is into makin movies etc and hes lookin to get a dvd burner so that he could distribute them on DVDs... with all the turmoil etc and different standards im not sure what to recomment to him...

so basically which standard would be the most reliable for backing up and playing movies?

also can anyone recommend a decent model?

thanks a lot!

 

[acejj26]

u can currently get a TDK IndiDVD DVD+R/RW for $150 at staples after using a $50 coupon code and a $50 mail in rebate. i hear that the +R variety are better for set-top players. a dual mode +R/-R burner would be a safer bet, but more costly.

 

[LethalWolfe]

A dual format burner would be your best bet. But keep in mind that even in a "perfect" situation you'll only going to get about an 80% compatibility rate. Newer set top players, in general, play both + and - equally well. The older the player the less likely it will play + meida.


Lethal

 

[Tung]

Originally posted by: LethalWolfe
A dual format burner would be your best bet. But keep in mind that even in a "perfect" situation you'll only going to get about an 80% compatibility rate. Newer set top players, in general, play both + and - equally well. The older the player the less likely it will play + meida.


Lethal

yeah get a dual format burner. sony dru500a is a good one 🙂

 

[Alex]

Originally posted by: Tung

Originally posted by: LethalWolfe
A dual format burner would be your best bet. But keep in mind that even in a "perfect" situation you'll only going to get about an 80% compatibility rate. Newer set top players, in general, play both + and - equally well. The older the player the less likely it will play + meida.


Lethal

yeah get a dual format burner. sony dru500a is a good one 🙂

im kinda scared of even looking up the price on it.... sonys are always overpriced... ill check it tho! 😛

 

[Alex]

Originally posted by: LethalWolfe
A dual format burner would be your best bet. But keep in mind that even in a "perfect" situation you'll only going to get about an 80% compatibility rate. Newer set top players, in general, play both + and - equally well. The older the player the less likely it will play + meida.


Lethal

like how old wont play + media?

what about - media? is there no kind of media thats 100% compatible with standalone like hometheatre style players?

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: franguinho

Originally posted by: LethalWolfe
A dual format burner would be your best bet. But keep in mind that even in a "perfect" situation you'll only going to get about an 80% compatibility rate. Newer set top players, in general, play both + and - equally well. The older the player the less likely it will play + meida.


Lethal

like how old wont play + media?

what about - media? is there no kind of media thats 100% compatible with standalone like hometheatre style players?

itsa ymmv ...but springing for dual/format drive there are more choices than just Sony...NEC,OptoRite,Liteon(rumored to be Sony ) and probably others....once burned and finalized - and + should play on standalones ..but its still ...ymmv 😉

 

[LethalWolfe]

Originally posted by: franguinho

Originally posted by: LethalWolfe
A dual format burner would be your best bet. But keep in mind that even in a "perfect" situation you'll only going to get about an 80% compatibility rate. Newer set top players, in general, play both + and - equally well. The older the player the less likely it will play + meida.


Lethal

like how old wont play + media?

what about - media? is there no kind of media thats 100% compatible with standalone like hometheatre style players?

If the player is more than 2 or 3 years old it will probably be less likely to play + as comared to -. And there is no way, currently, to achieve 100% compatibility (even from commercial DVDs you buy). Models released during/after 2001 seem to have a much better compatibility rate in general. What makes it worse is there are three variables going on. The media, the burner, and the player all have a role to play. About the best you can do is purchase a good quality burner, good quality media (Apple brand DVD-R's have always tested at/towards the top of comparrisions I've seen) and then hope for the best.


Lethal

 

[Alex]

swee thanks a lot!

 

[AndyK]

I burn a lot of DVD-R, set-top box compatability is pretty good (using cheap Ritek 4x media in a Pioneer DVDA05).

There are a lot of variables when it comes to compatability, my kids have a mustek DVD player and we had problems with media burned using Prassi PrimoDVD (my favorite burning app) but if I burn using Nero in UDF 1.02 mode discs play perfectly.


Recommend -R format if you are looking at best compatability.

Andy

 

[Alex]

Originally posted by: AndyK
I burn a lot of DVD-R, set-top box compatability is pretty good (using cheap Ritek 4x media in a Pioneer DVDA05).

There are a lot of variables when it comes to compatability, my kids have a mustek DVD player and we had problems with media burned using Prassi PrimoDVD (my favorite burning app) but if I burn using Nero in UDF 1.02 mode discs play perfectly.


Recommend -R format if you are looking at best compatability.

Andy

nice im definitely goin for that then!

 

[paperfist]

If the - format has better compatibility as AndyK said then what is the point of getting a dual burning DVD-RW? Does having a dual format burner produce better discs in general or it just allows you the safety to burn - for devices that support that format and + for devices that support that format? Are we pretty much stuck with both formats now or will one emerge as a winner eventually?

 

[Davegod]

I gather the different formats are better for different things, some for data, some for movies, some for capacity... on top of the +- there's also dvd-ram btw, and iirc some older recorders needed dvd cartriges

no idea why or which is for which though, tbh its a ridiculous scenario.

 

[CuttingEdge]

I hear a lot of people say differnt things.. some say + is better some say - is better. It sounds like DVD-R is the best write once technology but that DVD+RW is the best ReWritable out of the bunch. I hear that often but who knows. I am thinking about getting a dvd burner. I would agree that the pioneer DVD a05 is a good choice... ive researched quite a bit. I think the only reason for me to buy a dual format dvd+/- would be because no one knows what's going to happen with the formats. What if the (-) version starts to lose support and drops off the market. that would suck. anyway even though the dvd+rw is more compatible, I don't plan on using ReWritable for anything. I don't use cd-rw as it is.

 

[Alex]

yeah dvd-rw looks like teh best for my bros needs so ive already got my eyes on a sweet sony burner...

 

[Davegod]

CuttingEdge, thats more or less same as I heard. I'm also wanting a DVD burner but am lost in the mess of standards and dont fancy paying the £250+ for the good multiburners when theres drives that do +R -R +RW -RW for £190 [Sony (DWU-10A)], and drives that do RAM, -R, -RW, for £125 [LG MultiWrite GMA4020BR]! Thats a HUGE disparity for options that I dont know wether i need or not - yeah ok so some of the price probabyl speed difference too, something im less bothered about.

edit: err anandtech FAQ plu sa bit more on that mount rainer thing in this letter to dan

 

[theanimala]

I have a DVD+R/RW drive, and I also have 3 home standalone DVD players, all they way back to a first gen Panny A100 player. Guess what? Every dvd I burn plays in all of my players. I have not had a player not read back my +r's. Now, with DVD+RW, the only player I have that reads it is a newer Sony have. I just use the +RW for tests though to make sure my disc's were ripped correctly.

One thing -R has going for it is lower media costs. I would not buy a dual format unless the price were close to the single format. Paying twice the price for something that will be obsolete in a year or two? I'd rather spend half the cash and get a faster/newer burner 2 years from now...

 

[Davegod]

yeah, looking at that faq peice it seems -R is what i'd want mostly, then with RAM having a slight edge over -RW for rewritables.

Im still not sure if i'll get one though, for the £100 even for the cheapest decent ones i could just get a 120gig drive with 8mb cache, maybe even a 160gig normal drive...

 

[Jeff7]

Check here to see what DVD formats your set-top DVD player will support. I tend to prefer DVD-R, because as far as I know, it was the first standard; DVD+R came about because some companies didn't want to lose money on conforming to that standard - issues with royalties I imagine.

 

[LikeLinus]

Dell is selling +R/RW drives with their systems and Microsoft is going to support +R/RW. Also +r/rw is supposed to be better for set-top boxes. Those are probably the majority of reasons why +R/RW is going to succeed out of both formats. Who knows though.