DVD+ DVD+RW DVD+R DVD+RAM ARRRRG Help

[Epo_Man]

Ok I think DVD+r and DVD+rw are the most popular right?

My question is if I get one that supports DVD+R and DVD+RW Am I safe for compatibility?

Also I want to get a USB 2.0 External is that ok you think?
Will it be fast enough? It will be used on a P3650Mhz 384MB ram
Laptop!

I just dont want to open up my desktop AGAIN for an upgrade, Besides I always use my laptop!!

I was thinking of buying one of those enclosures and getting a internal DVD writer and making my own External what do you think of that?

Whats a good brand of DVD burner?

Thanks..

[JayMan]

Sorry for the short post, but there are now drives which support both the competing formats (DVD+R/RW & DVD-R/RW).

There have been other threads on similar topics here, try doing a search for more info.

Sorry i'm strapped for time, gotta go

JayMan

[fosin]

Should be safe with DVD+RW. Both - and + are around 80% compatible. + is more comp. with newer DVD players.

DVD-RAM is really just removable media. True P-N-P in WinXP. No drivers/software, works just like a hard drive. NOT compatible with almost all players. There's a couple of home players that work with RAM, but high $.

And, there are new multi-write drives like metioned above that support more than one format.

Some good info here:
http://www.vcdhelp.com/dvd

I believe the sony drives write both - and +.
The LG/Hitachi drives write - and RAM. (They are usually rebranded, so may not say hitachi or LG on them).

[davidamarkley]

HERE's one that is a Sony DRU500A. It's about the last DVD/CD drive you would ever need. It can write to DVD+R/DVD+RW, DVD-R/DVD-RW, and CD-R/CD-RW. It's about $325

Talk about format options!!

Or, if you just want a single format drive, I would suggest a - (dash) DVD burner.

Here's what Maximum PC said about it,

Quote:

"There are two DVD burning specs currently vying for leadership, DVD-RW and DVD+RW. We considered putting DVD+RW in Dream Machine 2002 for about three nanoseconds. Not only does "dash" media cost less than "plus" media ($1 vs. $6-$7), -RW discs also offer far greater compatibilty with set-top DVD players. This means that DVD movies cut on DVD-RW burners are much more likely to play on Grandma's creaky, first-generation DVD player. So choosing DVD-RW was the natural choice, and that meant using Pionner's DVR-A04."

HERE's the link for the Pioneer DVR-A04. It's the best "dash" drive out there.

HTH, David!

edit: fixed first link...

[bill1971]

Epo:
The current drive of choice,referenced above, is the Sony DRU-500A. It burns both DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW at 4x speeds.
Also supports 24x CD-R/RW. This is the highest speed that I've seen in this type of drive, and it can be currently be had on-line for about $320 for an internal IDE drive. This should be a simple install inside your case.

I got a great deal on a DVD-R as my first burner. Besides price, I
went with DVD-R because all of my objective research said that
DVD-R was slightly more compatible w/home DVD players. Now
I'm hearing that DVD+R are slightly more compatible(?) 4x media
is now becoming available, as well.

But as far as I know, that Sony drive is only available as an internal unit. You should have a fast CPU,(the faster the better).

Can't answer the USB 2.0 issue - that's 60 MB/sec (theoretical) ; don't know if that's continuous or burst transfer rate, or if you
can enable DMA using USB - I would assume so.

Hope this helps a little. . .
(Mine is a Cendyne, which is a repackaged Pioneer DVR-104). Not sure what the difference is between a DVR-A04 and DVR-104?

- Bill

[davidamarkley]

I agree with Bill.

I've always heard that DVD-RW was the more compatable format with more set-top boxes. Have to get back with you on this one.

Epo:

You could get the sony and also get an external USB 2.0 enclosure. It should work fine for burning DVDs because I believe the ATAPI drives connect at DMA/33 so that is only about half of the theoretical bandwidth of USB 2.0.

BRB, David

[davidamarkley]

Okey dokey...

HERE's a page that talks about the different format's compatibility.

Here is an exerpt from their site:

Quote:

If you want to author DVDs, and need to be as compatible as possible with any DVD players that you might want to play them on, then go ahead with DVD-R. It works, and it will continue to work in the future. With the existing momentum, prices should remain stable and the format will not be obsolete tomorrow.

So, the "dash" media is a little more compatible then the "plus" media. Though, they're both getting to be pretty good.

If you have the money, I would go with the Sony DRU500A. It supports both formats, plus it writes cd's at 24x.

It's just a great drive!!

Let us know what you think!

(what do you know... That's 300 posts!)

[fosin]

Quote:

Originally posted by davidamarkley
[b]
...This means that DVD movies cut on DVD-RW burners are much more likely to play on Grandma's creaky, first-generation DVD player...[b]

That's what I've heard. An engineer at a show said the + is more compatible with newer home DVD players and - more compatible with the older players.

[Epo_Man]

Thank you all for your replys.