defref,
No, actually it wasn't and if you knew how to use google I wouldn't have to try and explain it every time a "hot dual format deal" pops up to save you people money. Single format drives are capable of bitsetting/booktype setting. That is a part of the disc that a player reads before anything else to determine whether or not it can play it. If it is an older or unsupportive player and sees a format it doesn't understand (i.e. dvd+r) - it simply fails to play the disc even though physically, the player can read the disc just fine. So to get past that step, single format drives can set the booktype to dvd-rom instead of dvd+r/-r to trick the player into playing it perfectly. Dual format drives are not capable of this. So in effect, going dual format is somewhat silly because:
a. You probably won't use both formats
b. You think you're purchasing something more compatible and future proof and it is actually the opposite.
c. even if you did use both formats, how silly is it that you may have to burn two types to achieve compatibility in two different players, one that is only dvd-r friendly, and one that is only dvd+r friendly
My personal experience has affirmed this. Of the 5-6 players that I tested, including the ps2, x-box, dvd-roms, and several brands of set tops, only the booktyping drive produced a result that was 100% compatible. Burn method was not a limiting factor.
No, actually it wasn't and if you knew how to use google I wouldn't have to try and explain it every time a "hot dual format deal" pops up to save you people money. Single format drives are capable of bitsetting/booktype setting. That is a part of the disc that a player reads before anything else to determine whether or not it can play it. If it is an older or unsupportive player and sees a format it doesn't understand (i.e. dvd+r) - it simply fails to play the disc even though physically, the player can read the disc just fine. So to get past that step, single format drives can set the booktype to dvd-rom instead of dvd+r/-r to trick the player into playing it perfectly. Dual format drives are not capable of this. So in effect, going dual format is somewhat silly because:
a. You probably won't use both formats
b. You think you're purchasing something more compatible and future proof and it is actually the opposite.
c. even if you did use both formats, how silly is it that you may have to burn two types to achieve compatibility in two different players, one that is only dvd-r friendly, and one that is only dvd+r friendly
My personal experience has affirmed this. Of the 5-6 players that I tested, including the ps2, x-box, dvd-roms, and several brands of set tops, only the booktyping drive produced a result that was 100% compatible. Burn method was not a limiting factor.
