Talk me into/out of this purchase

[Wetling23]

I've got a Pioneer A04, and a 24x Hi-Val CDRW.

Whenever I stick a CDROM in the Hi-Val nowadays, the system hangs.

What I'm thinking about doing is getting a Sony DWU18A from newegg for $85. To replace the Hi-Val (I'll keep that A04). I was also looking at the Pioneer DVR-107D because I've been happy with my A04, and I've heard that it can be flashed to support dual-layer burning. However, the CDRW speed is the same as what I have now, so there's no upgrade there.

Does anyone have any information on the Pioneer flashing? Any other comments/suggestions?

 

[jcwagers]

Well, since you want to keep the Pioneer drive.......have you thought about checking into a combo DVD/CD-RW drive? I believe that Samsung makes one and there may be a few others that do too. You might check newegg and see what they have available. I believe they go for around $50 or so. That would be your cheapest option. If money isn't a big problem, you might get a combo drive and possibly check out a faster DVD dual format drive like the NEC 2500A. It's very cheap at around $75-80. That would put you up around $125-135 for both. If you have another computer, you could always move the A04 to the other computer. Good luck with your purchase!

jc

 

[OdiN]

I wouldn't get the Sony. I doubt that the Pioneer can be flashed to do dual-layer - the drive wouldn't be that cheap if that was possible. No way any company would do that unless they charged for the firmware upgrade. Dual layer drives are going to make the companies money, they won't just give that away for free.

Personally I would grab the Lite-On 8x8 DVD+-RW drive. I sell a lot of them, have not had one of them come back, and I have one of their 8x4's and it has burned everything I can think of just fine.

 

[Wetling23]

The NEC seems pretty good, but why would I buy a combo drive, and the 2500A?

Odin, there is apparently hacked firmware for the Pioneer (and 2500A) that allows you to burn dual layer disks.

 

[jcwagers]

Well, you would only buy the combo drive and the 2500A if you were of a mind to want dual format burning and wanted to relegate the A04 to another computer(or sell it). Otherwise, just go with the combo drive and save the extra cash.

 

[SickBeast]

IMO DL burning is a moot point ATM since media will not be available for awhile, and is a very long ways away from being affordable. Also, the DL burners only burn at 2X right now, which is the equivalent of a 1X single layer burner as far as burn times will go. 80 minutes to burn a DVD. Yuck.

I've been eyeing the Pioneer 107 for awhile myself. I have the A05, and it has been excellent for me. I would jump on the 107 if I were you, regardless of DL flashing or capabilities.

Really though, you should get rid of all the optical drives in your machine right now and drop in the new DVD burner and a good DVD reader. I don't think the A04 will cut it for ripping DVDs. Besides, what's the use in having 2 burners?

 

[Wetling23]

Well, what I was thinking about is putting a DVD to be ripped into the A04 in the morning, and a blank DVD in the other one. Then, I can remote desktop in from work, and when it's done ripping, starting the burn process.

Or, ripping two movies from work, and switching the disks out at lunch, before going back to work and burning both.

It is my understanding that DL media should be available in the next few months. See?

 

[SickBeast]

Yes maybe. Maybe we will have some quality DL media at reasonably affordable prices within a few months. Maybe.

The serious problems I'm having with the DL situation are numerous:

-the DVD+DL format reportedly is plagued with compatibility issues
-I have no idea when DVD-DL will be released to (hopefully...maybe?) combat these compatibility problems
-the burn speed is really really slow on the DL media
-the cost of the media will be more than buying many retail DVD movies (not that I'm a pirate or anything, just making a comparison)
-it is still an unproven format
-availability of the media is questionable at best

The best I've heard is that we will have good cheap DL media by Christmas. I don't know if you've noticed, but things move VERY fast in the optical drive business; probably faster than any other computer sector. By Christmas I wouldn't be surprised if we have 8X DL burning speeds and 16X SL speeds.

It's your call. If you really want the DL stuff, the new NEC drives are dirt cheap and apparently very good.

BTW, isn't it worth the $20 to have a 16X DVD reader so you don't have to remote desktop from work? Mine can rip a DVD in about 8 minutes.

 

[batmanuel]

Originally posted by: Wetling23
Well, what I was thinking about is putting a DVD to be ripped into the A04 in the morning, and a blank DVD in the other one. Then, I can remote desktop in from work, and when it's done ripping, starting the burn process.

Or, ripping two movies from work, and switching the disks out at lunch, before going back to work and burning both.

It is my understanding that DL media should be available in the next few months. See?

Yeah, but the estimated cost is somewhere around $13 or so per disk. At that price, you would end up paying $26 to copy your basic 2-disk special edition movie and over $50 to copy something like the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions (which cost around $25 in the store if you can find them on sale). The media prices will go down eventually, but by then the DL burn speeds will be a lot faster than they are now (45 min per disk according to the AT review of the Sony DL burner).

EDIT: Actually around $6 per disk, I know, but that still puts the price per disk pretty close to what most retail pressed DVDs cost (usually around $12-$15 per movie, and most new movies are two disk special editions). And you still have to factor in the cost of renting a movie or subscribing to Netflix.

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Yes maybe. Maybe we will have some quality DL media at reasonably affordable prices within a few months. Maybe.

The serious problems I'm having with the DL situation are numerous:

-the DVD+DL format reportedly is plagued with compatibility issues
-I have no idea when DVD-DL will be released to (hopefully...maybe?) combat these compatibility problems
-the burn speed is really really slow on the DL media
-the cost of the media will be more than buying many retail DVD movies (not that I'm a pirate or anything, just making a comparison)
-it is still an unproven format
-availability of the media is questionable at best

The best I've heard is that we will have good cheap DL media by Christmas. I don't know if you've noticed, but things move VERY fast in the optical drive business; probably faster than any other computer sector. By Christmas I wouldn't be surprised if we have 8X DL burning speeds and 16X SL speeds.

It's your call. If you really want the DL stuff, the new NEC drives are dirt cheap and apparently very good.

BTW, isn't it worth the $20 to have a 16X DVD reader so you don't have to remote desktop from work? Mine can rip a DVD in about 8 minutes.

Strange...DVD+R seems to be the most trouble free format now, wonder why the DVD+R DL would be troublesome. I don't even think we have good prices on DVD+R/DVD-R media right now. I would like to see it at half the current price...which will probably be the case by the end of the year and DL DVD's will take the current price point, or something roughly along these lines.

We already have Plextor releasing a 12X SL DVD burner, so no doubt we will have 16X by around Sept./Oct. I would think, if not sooner. What I would also like to see is CD/DVD devices start using SATA and boards coming with 4-6 SATA ports standard, perhaps a 4-port SATA RAID with 2-port non RAID or something of the sort. You really only need 2 CD/DVD devices these days - DVD burner and DVD reader. Most people don't use more than 4 HD's (ignore me...I use 5 heh). But yeah some cool things coming. I say death to PATA devices and cables...not because SATA would make CD devices any faster, but just the cable situation would be much improved...no more slave/master, no more cable select working on some drives but not certain branded ones when they are mixed with other certain branded ones.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: OdiN
I say death to PATA devices and cables...

:beer:
Well said.

 

[Wetling23]

Okay, I went with the Sony Sony CRX320E Combod Drive. It was $0.50 more than the Lite-On drive.