Sony DVD±RW for $200 Shipped (No Rebate/Coupon/Pricematch)

[h0mi]

Man this is tempting but I really do not have the money to spend on this at the moment. If it were $100 cheaper I'd have to plunge head first into it but ....

Since we're talking about DVD burning, anyone know of good (for clue-bies) walthrough on how to burn DVDs? I don't mean copying DVDs, I mean if I have a video file already on my computer (ie- from a camcorder) and I want to burn to a DVD-r or +r?

 

[conehead433]

dvdrhelp.com will have everything you need to know, want to know, and more in regard to DVD burning as well as info on making VCD or SVCD's.

 

[Steve0]

Originally posted by: Snatchface
I think we may just be seeing the leading edge of a price plunge on these drives.
I would definitely wait a while on this one. That's just my feeling on the matter.

I have the same feeling. After the recent spate of new dual-format DVD burners hitting the market, market forces are gonna take hold and...well...I think it's fair to say that unless you have a compelling need to have one of these now, the time is right to sit tight.

Steve

 

[Lager]

What's up with lots of places like Staples and OD carrying only DVD+RW drives? Is this a sign that DVD+RW is the standard format or the leading DVD burner?

Also, lots of price drops on DVD+RW burners but not DVD-RW burners....

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: coldcut
What's up with lots of places like Staples and OD carrying only DVD+RW drives? Is this a sign that DVD+RW is the standard format or the leading DVD burner?

Also, lots of price drops on DVD+RW burners but not DVD-RW burners....

it's a conspiracy 😉

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: coldcut
What's up with lots of places like Staples and OD carrying only DVD+RW drives? Is this a sign that DVD+RW is the standard format or the leading DVD burner?

Also, lots of price drops on DVD+RW burners but not DVD-RW burners....

Microsoft has chosen to support DVD+ and Dell sells all their pc's with DVD+ drives. It just seems to be an overall better format.

 

[RDMustang1]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: coldcut
What's up with lots of places like Staples and OD carrying only DVD+RW drives? Is this a sign that DVD+RW is the standard format or the leading DVD burner?

Also, lots of price drops on DVD+RW burners but not DVD-RW burners....

Microsoft has chosen to support DVD+ and Dell sells all their pc's with DVD+ drives. It just seems to be an overall better format.

Microsoft is supporting BOTH formats.. they realized that it's stupid to put your support behind one when there is no clear "better" format... Also, Staples and OD still carry both formats, they have just been having more sales on the +RW lately.. Remember +RW has a royalty to pay, -RW does not so if demmand/support remains equal then -RW will always be cheaper..

As for me, the main reason I would prefer a +/-RW drive is because then I can take advantage of whichever media I can get a better deal on when I need some..

 

[Lager]

Originally posted by: RDMustang1

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: coldcut
What's up with lots of places like Staples and OD carrying only DVD+RW drives? Is this a sign that DVD+RW is the standard format or the leading DVD burner?

Also, lots of price drops on DVD+RW burners but not DVD-RW burners....

Microsoft has chosen to support DVD+ and Dell sells all their pc's with DVD+ drives. It just seems to be an overall better format.

Microsoft is supporting BOTH formats.. they realized that it's stupid to put your support behind one when there is no clear "better" format... Also, Staples and OD still carry both formats, they have just been having more sales on the +RW lately.. Remember +RW has a royalty to pay, -RW does not so if demmand/support remains equal then -RW will always be cheaper..

As for me, the main reason I would prefer a +/-RW drive is because then I can take advantage of whichever media I can get a better deal on when I need some..

Excellent explaination. I have DVD+RW, but this deal seems too hot to pass up. I'll be getting this dual format when my rebates finally roll in, in months. 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁

 

[hans007]

dvd+r seems to have already won.



there are no standalone dvd-r drives anymore. only combo.


there are still plenty of dvd+r drives being made.



thus either we will be going with combo or +. its pretty easy to see that we will be going with + as it is cheaper. the only option on compaq, HP, and dell is DVD+R.

gateway, emachines, micron and sony allow combo.

not to mention pioneer released the a06 which is a combo . they will probably stop making the a05 i'd figure. they stopped making the a04 now that the a05 is out.

i think apple still offers a dvd-r standalone as an option, but well they are apple and no one cares.

 

[Wag]

So do DVD+Rs work on standalone DVD players that came out before them? My DVD player says "DVD-R" compatible but I'm wondering if DVD+R would work too.

 

[RDMustang1]

Originally posted by: hans007
dvd+r seems to have already won.



there are no standalone dvd-r drives anymore. only combo.


there are still plenty of dvd+r drives being made.



thus either we will be going with combo or +. its pretty easy to see that we will be going with + as it is cheaper. the only option on compaq, HP, and dell is DVD+R.

gateway, emachines, micron and sony allow combo.

not to mention pioneer released the a06 which is a combo . they will probably stop making the a05 i'd figure.

i think apple still offers a dvd-r standalone as an option, but well they are apple and no one cares.

There are -r drives still being made (like the a05 you listed).. please don't state your assumptions like facts... +R costs more money than -R because there are royalties that must be paid to license the technology.. There have been a lot of deals lately for +R drives but I have a feeling that the only reason for this is that they are being discontinued because combo drives are becoming the way to go. If -R was dead then there would be no need for combo drives.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: RDMustang1

Originally posted by: hans007
dvd+r seems to have already won.



there are no standalone dvd-r drives anymore. only combo.


there are still plenty of dvd+r drives being made.



thus either we will be going with combo or +. its pretty easy to see that we will be going with + as it is cheaper. the only option on compaq, HP, and dell is DVD+R.

gateway, emachines, micron and sony allow combo.

not to mention pioneer released the a06 which is a combo . they will probably stop making the a05 i'd figure.

i think apple still offers a dvd-r standalone as an option, but well they are apple and no one cares.

There are -r drives still being made (like the a05 you listed).. please don't state your assumptions like facts... +R costs more money than -R because there are royalties that must be paid to license the technology.. There have been a lot of deals lately for +R drives but I have a feeling that the only reason for this is that they are being discontinued because combo drives are becoming the way to go. If -R was dead then there would be no need for combo drives.

i really dont think combo drives are going to the the way to go. computer companies want to settle on a standard. instead of having the confusion of 2 different types of disks. the disc confusion is already a big enough problem and customers have complained or return their system when their new say HP (this is not random speculation, i have seen this happen as well as people who work in the industry that i talk to) with a dvd+r drive cant burn onto dvd-r disks. granted having all combo drives would fix this, but that is just a waste and the companies that are part of the dvd+r standard (i believe HP is one of them) are not going to concede to combo drives anyways. it will go down to which standard is in all the computers and which media becomes the cheapest. and dvd+r being in all the computers and now media getting cheaper because the drives are all over the place looks like it will win anyways.


also stores are not clearing out dvd+r drives. the nec nd-1100a only came out a few months ago. dvd-r had 4x way before dvd+r and the 4x dvd+r drives just recently appeared about 3 months ago. there are a ton of drives non discounted that run on the nd-1100a (the plextor, verbatim, tdk, iomega, memorex, buslink, cendyne dvd+r as well as the retail NEC). the only discounted drives are 2.4x dvd+r drives.

 

[conehead433]

Just wait till you see the confusion and debate over blue laser formats and discs.

 

[h0mi]

Conehead- yeah ... I was gonna say. What about multiple layers and all that? I thought DVDs were basically 4.7 gig discs, with that "multi-layer" adding another 4 gigs... but only if your drive supported it?

 

[geoff2k]

good deal -- no sign of the DW-U14A's though, eh?

 

[Hazer]

"+R has won the format wars because their the only ones being sold at major retailers". Ive never heard anything so stupid. Theres a reason why these are on sale: Low demand and slow rotation. -R drives are sold as soon as they come in. Theres no reason to put a sale on them. But they have tons of +RW in stock. And they move slow.

The over-all conclusion of the 'format wars' has been long dropped because of one final factor: Compatability. When you buy a DVD player, an XBOX, a PS2, and whatver else you want, each unit will have its own prefference in which media it wants to read. So the true winner will be dual format. And DVD-RW disks will have the better part of the market due to price.

 

[FLFastEd]

I don't currently own a recordable DVD drive and agree with other posters that I won't be interested 'till the price drops even more. However I found the flame war over what is the best format interesting, especially the part about this format or another not being available at retailers because it's "being discontinued". To draw my own conclusion I went to Newegg and counted the drives listed by type.

+: 9

-: 12

+-: 15

I also noted as some other posters have that + drives were more expensive, in most cases being comparable to the cheapest +- drives.

My conclusion is that the - drive certainly doesn't appear to be dead yet. I think I'll wait a while and see how this Betamax/VHS duel turns out.

Regards, Ed

 

[APUMAN]

Originally posted by: aGeNt73
what's the difference between the 2? besides the 6 bux in price.?

they look like they have similiar specs...ive been looking at this model for some time now because it has dual support for -R and +R. good deal imo!

Ok, here goes...somebody correct me if I've made a mistake.

The DRU-500A was the first dual format drive from Sony. It had write speeds of:
-R 4x
-RW 2x
+R 2.4x
+RW 2.4x

The DRU-500AX is the 500A with a firmware update already installed (ie the 500A can be flashed to 500AX) and had the +R write speed improved to 4x. Also it's supposed to read dvds faster...

The new DRU-510A improves the +RW to 4x and read speed to 12x.

Well, that's my take on it.
Hope it helps.

😀

EDIT: The DW-U10A = DRU-500A. The DW-U12A = DRU-500AX.

 

[RDMustang1]

Originally posted by: aGeNt73
what's the difference between the 2? besides the 6 bux in price.?

they look like they have similiar specs...ive been looking at this model for some time now because it has dual support for -R and +R. good deal imo!

The difference is that the one that's $6 more already has newer firmware where the cheaper one you would have to update the firmware if you want to be able to write +r at 4x.

 

[Lager]

Is their free shipping?

 

[kennyG]

Originally posted by: gump47371
Hmm, very nice. Looking for a little advice from all you AT experts. IYO, which is a better drive and buy, one of these, or the Optorite dual drive found and discussed here?

Thanks for all the help. I am in the market for one, but don't know much about them, looking for some opinions/advice.

That Optorite dual drive is a rebrand "sanyo"..not a bad drive if I say so myself 😀

 

[kennyG]

Originally posted by: hans007

Originally posted by: RDMustang1

Originally posted by: hans007
dvd+r seems to have already won.



there are no standalone dvd-r drives anymore. only combo.


there are still plenty of dvd+r drives being made.



thus either we will be going with combo or +. its pretty easy to see that we will be going with + as it is cheaper. the only option on compaq, HP, and dell is DVD+R.

gateway, emachines, micron and sony allow combo.

not to mention pioneer released the a06 which is a combo . they will probably stop making the a05 i'd figure.

i think apple still offers a dvd-r standalone as an option, but well they are apple and no one cares.

There are -r drives still being made (like the a05 you listed).. please don't state your assumptions like facts... +R costs more money than -R because there are royalties that must be paid to license the technology.. There have been a lot of deals lately for +R drives but I have a feeling that the only reason for this is that they are being discontinued because combo drives are becoming the way to go. If -R was dead then there would be no need for combo drives.

i really dont think combo drives are going to the the way to go. computer companies want to settle on a standard. instead of having the confusion of 2 different types of disks. the disc confusion is already a big enough problem and customers have complained or return their system when their new say HP (this is not random speculation, i have seen this happen as well as people who work in the industry that i talk to) with a dvd+r drive cant burn onto dvd-r disks. granted having all combo drives would fix this, but that is just a waste and the companies that are part of the dvd+r standard (i believe HP is one of them) are not going to concede to combo drives anyways. it will go down to which standard is in all the computers and which media becomes the cheapest. and dvd+r being in all the computers and now media getting cheaper because the drives are all over the place looks like it will win anyways.


also stores are not clearing out dvd+r drives. the nec nd-1100a only came out a few months ago. dvd-r had 4x way before dvd+r and the 4x dvd+r drives just recently appeared about 3 months ago. there are a ton of drives non discounted that run on the nd-1100a (the plextor, verbatim, tdk, iomega, memorex, buslink, cendyne dvd+r as well as the retail NEC). the only discounted drives are 2.4x dvd+r drives.

I totaly Agree..Good thoughts on this 😎