Some DVD questions for ya

[Muerto]

I'm thinking of buying a DVD-ROM to replace my generic 44x CD-ROM. I've looked around the forums and the most popular brand seems to be Pioneer. Although people also say that Toshiba is good too. I'll probably buy one of those to brands.

My first question is how fast does it need to be? I've seen them up to 16x. How fast will that read CDs? Will I notice any difference when watching DVDs or will a faster drive just speed up loading.

What's the difference between slot and tray loading? Is slot loading like CD players in cars where you just slide the disc into a slot, and tray loading like a conventional CD-ROM?

What are some other good brands? ASUS? Acer? Sony? Panasonic? Any and all info will be appreciated! Thanks.

 

[Soccerman]

a 16x DVD drive reads CDROMs at about 40x.

the slot loading Pioneer drives have a Digital out, so if you want you can connect your soundcard to the DVD ROM to play audio through there instead of the analogue out (which uses an onboard Digital-Analogue converter).

they're also cool looking

as a side note, if you also want a CDRW drive, I suggest a Ricoh DVDROM/CDRW drive, the MP9120 (I think that's the #), it's got great seek times, 8x DVD read speed, and burnproof like technology.

though it's more then 20x CD read, I think it's more like 32x.

 

[Comp10]

The speed of your DVD-ROM will not affect how well DVD movies are played because they are only read at 1X. The only advantage to having a faster DVD drive would be for loading DVD software if it ever becomes popular.

 

[kami]

Toshiba if you are concerned about noise at all. But both Pioneer and Toshiba's are good choices...can't go wrong either way.

 

[oolong]

Comp 10,
you're correct in saying that DVD speed doesn't make a difference in playback since you only need 1X to play a DVD title. However, the faster the DVD-ROM drive is, the lower the cpu utilization becomes(that doesn't sound like good grammar...)

oolong

 

[Packet]

While the CPU utilization may become lower, its not going to make a difference with watching DVD's. You could stick a 16x dvd player in a PII-300 and its still going to run choppy. As long as you ahve a 450+ you should be doing good for watching dvds.

 

[fishingeek]

If you backup your software with CloneCD, I would suggest that you look at the Toshibas. They are the best for reading datafor copies.I have the Tosh 1502 and it is quiet and fast. Just my $.02.

 

[fishingeek]

If you backup your software with CloneCD, I would suggest that you look at the Toshibas. They are the best for reading datafor copies.I have the Tosh 1502 and it is quiet and fast. Just my $.02.

 

[tjdavis1138]

I recently purchased an Asus 12x DVD and it seems very nice. Very quiet, which was a requirerment for me.

 

[dcdomain]

I have the Toshiba 1402, paired with my VeloCD. It's a 12x dvd and 40x cd rom drive.

I think it's a terrific drive, but if you want the slot load, only the Pioneer is offered in that configuration. Just remember slot loads won't be able to read business card cd's and probably the mini cdr's. However if you have a burner, you won't need to worry, just play those suckers in the burner...

 

[Muerto]

What exactly are business card CDRs and mini CDRs? Why wont it be able to read them?

 

[Muerto]

^

 

[d33pt]

They are cds that're smaller than normal..... it'll get lost in a slotload

 

[Muerto]

How often are they used? If I wont be using them too much I might buy a slot load just cause it looks cool. Although a tray load would be fine.

 

[A2KLAU]

If you have a slot loading drive and use one of those mini CDs then when you push it in the mini CD will get lost somewhere inside and won't be able to find the "spindle bit" So just incase it would be wise to go for a drive bay load rather than slot. The slot loading DVD drives look nice. but sometimes there are limitations like those mini CDs and stuff.

Good Luck,

Albert. (SKY)

 

[crash2much]

A DVD drive is supposedly to read CD at 6 times the speed.

 

[SUOrangeman]

After a minor scare this evening (weird hardware error, but all seems to be well now), I am still very hapy with my Ricoh MP9120A DVD/CDRW combo. I haven't touched the DVD side of things, but burning at 12x with the assurance of JustLink behind me is a wonderful thing.

-SUO

 

[Auric]

There are adapters for the 8cm CD's ya know. They were popular for a time until manufacturers decided it was cheaper just to put singles on a 12cm CD rather than handle both. As for the business card ones, I don't know if there are adapters for them.

 

[fallenoncrack]

my biggest concern is "has the dvd industry settled on an industry wide accepted standard?" I remember that the DVD industry was full of non-compliant versions.

 

[XRdirtHead]

bump...just giving the pot a stir....