Which DVD-Recordable Drives?

We've had a couple stories recently about DVD-RW and such. I'm wondering what ones out there people have used, how well they work, what's the support etc etc. I'm also still on my quest to build the ultimate quiet machine, so any comment on the amount of noise the drive generates would be great - I love my Yamaha Drive for burning - but it's a *loud* one.

Comments

Dual layer

[Sabalon]

The linked-to article mentions 9.6 GB - isn't that dual layer, and don't all the current DVD-R drives coming out now just support single layer (4.8GB)?

So, when will be see dual-layer DVD-R's - the MPAA's true nightmare. Or even better, the quad layered DVD's that the spec originally had in it for 17+GB!!! :)

I think its DVD-R

[ZxCv]

IIRC, it's actually DVD-R that can be played in regular DVD movie players. As far as I've seen, the new Mac G4's that have the SuperDrive, which is specifically touted as being able to make DVDs which work in the movie players, is a DVD-R/CD-RW combo drive. Maybe DVD-RW can also be played in DVD movie players, but I am fairly sure it is the DVD-R drives which are mainly being promoted as DVD player compatible...

This may seem obvious but..

[Sir_Real]

Will these drives allow dvd ripping analogous to the cd ripping we're seeing now. Will people be able to rent a dvd, and copy it?

Re:This may seem obvious but..

[(void*)]

Which goes to show that the DVD Consortium thinks about YOUR copyrights. They are allowed to use CSS to scramble their disks for their "copyright protection", but someone who wants to protect their own creation must pay up and join in their cartel. Why?

Re:This may seem obvious but..

[sacrilicious]

I think we should promote the usage of open systems - like linux boxes - for widespread playing and processing of media, in liu of "industry standard" dvd/pvr/cd/etc devices. Such promotion would help competition, and bring prices down... but more importantly, hardware manufacturers will be more reluctant to make stealth changes to hardware if there is a large user base of open standard systems that will take notice and be alienated. Example: if it is true that there are dvd players that will only play encrypted media, it may be only a matter of time until all dvd players are like that.

Non-conforming players (was Re:This may seem...)

[pastie]

...which must surely be illegal, as it would be unable to play a disc conforming to the DVD standard

Sorry, but there is no way that players not conforming to the standard are `illegal' in the sense of the law. If they were, then there would be many manufacturers of early DVD players who would be being sued by consumers for non-100%-conforming players, which wouldn't play their discs properly.

Hmmm, consortium-based standards.

I wouldn't recommend any proprietary storageFormat

[Anonymous Coward]

The ownership of the dvd format may decide to hold our data hostage! I won't buy a dvd recorder until I can use it with 100%gnu/linux.

Re:You Monsters!

[esper_child]

uhm, don't know if you noticed this or not, but we spent a whole day covering that. To stop what we are doing to cover it more would be giving victory to the terrorists, we need to keep going. If we stop all that we do just because something horrorable happened then we loose, also covering this trivial stuff keeps peoples minds off of the atrocities that happened yesterday, and that is a good thing. Keeping the peoples minds off of the horrorable events will help the depression that we all feel towards the cowards that caused them.
In a way slashdot is providing a service to the american public and the rest of the world by simply carrying on with what they do. Do not say this is trivial, do not say this is monstorous, do however say that this is the right thing for them to be doing. By doing this we are helping to fight off the evil that tried to demoralize and destroy the american people. Sometimes the most appropriate action is to not take action at all, to instead just go about your business. I think they are doing a good job at what they are supposed to do. Also, remember that this site doesn't just cater to the Americans, that it caters to the rest of the world as well, and i seriously doubt that they want to hear as much about the death and destruction as we will be hearing in the next couple days. Also, what you should be doing is saying prayers, giving blood, and donating money if you that that will help, complaining things online does nothing. Bitching will get you nowhere, only actions will.

DVD Info

[nudibranchOne]

There is the Pioneer DVR-A03 (same as the drive in the Mac version but newer BIOS) and the Panasonic RAMBO LF-D311.
Both are great drives. Software with the Panasonic is more versatile, shipping with VOB's INSTANT CD/DVD+ (UDF, VCD, ARCHIVING,BACKUP) vs. Veritos Primo DVD (Prassi).
Basically the differences in the drives are:
Pioneer: DVD-RW:
records DVD-R (Gen'l purpose), DVD-RW (Gen'l purpose), CD-R and CDRW
US software: Sonic MyDVD for DVD authoring, Veritos (Prassi) Primo DVD for CDR(W) and Cyberlink PowerDVD.
European software: VOB only.
Panasonic: DVD-RAM/DVD-R:
Records DVD-R (Gen'l Purpose) and Rewritable DVD-RAM.
Software: Either Sonic DVDit Standard or NEODVD (Mediostream) DVD authorizing software, VOB Instant CD/DVD+, and Cyberlink PowerDVD.

If you need to record CDs, or make VCDs, then the Pioneer DVR-A03 is the one to get, no question.
If you need system backup, serious video editing, network backup, or if archiving is a priority, then the Panasonic LF-D311 wins. DVD-RAM is a true rewritable media and has built in error correction that DVD-R(W) can't match.

Best prices I've seen are $618 for the DVR-A03 and $534 for the LF-D311 (both with free shipping). http://www.esbuy.com/dvdram2.html
(found a 10 pack of DVD-R media there for $60!)
Both drives are quiet, and are multi-read compliant (exception: The Pioneer does NOT read DVD-RAM)
DAE is surperb for either drive.
I'm using both of them and can't find any bad habits about either. If the Panasonic did CDR it would be perfect (have to wait 'till January, I guess).
I've tried the resulting DVDs made from both the Pioneer and Panasonic machines on Sony (including PS2), Panasonic, Pioneer, and Toshiba DVD home players and all work great with the exception of DVD-RW media, not all players will recognize DVD-RW.

The DVD+RW from HP and Sony probably won't be available on the market for another 2-4 months.
Panasonic will be releasing a "Super Drive" in January that does DVD-R, DVD-RAM and CDR(W).
Pioneer is releasing a table top model in the Fall, the PRV-9000.

It should be noted, if you have a Mac, your only real choice is the Pioneer DVR-A03 with Roxio's Toast Titanium. At this time, only the DVD-RAM side is supported by the MAC (Software Architech SAI DVD-TUNEup has unreleased beta drivers for the DVD-R side).