HP DVD100i DVD+RW Burner Tested

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HP DVD100i DVD+RW Burner Tested

Posted by timothy on Monday December 10, 2001 @05:48AM from the hardware-lust-spirals-upward dept.

An anonymous reader writes: "I'm fairly sure this is the first review of a DVD+RW drive. Looks like it fared well in testing. The only downsides to the 100i are slow DAE with audio CD's, lousy manuals, and it can't read DVD-RW (note the dash instead of the plus) discs. Still a tad expensive at 599USD though. Are you reading, Santa?" I want this as a heavy-duty *external* drive :)

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Macrovision by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-10 05:53 · Score: 0, Interesting

Does it encode Macrovision or region coding into discs?
1. Re:Macrovision by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-10 10:08 · Score: 1, Interesting
  
  Very true, Macrovision degrades the signal by altering the time base of the 3.57MHz video signal, a methoed intended to screw with automatic gain controls found in recording circuits of a VCR, but does not have visible affects on TV playback.
  
  A video clarifier will help immensly, but for the truly anal, and deep-of-pockets, I'd suggest going to a professional video outfit and buying a Time Base Corrector, works much better.
Comparison to Apple SuperDrive? by Outlyer · 2001-12-10 05:55 · Score: 3, Interesting

Just for a point of comparison... how does this differ from the Apple SuperDrive DVD writer (you've seen the ads) which is included in high end Powermacs? According to Apple's website the SuperDrive is a DVD-R drive, which I was told, couldn't write DVD-Video... so how are they accomplishing it?

--
----------------- "I have a bone to pick, and a few to break." - Refused -------------------
1. Re:Comparison to Apple SuperDrive? by martin-k · 2001-12-10 06:00 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Well, there is:
  * DVD-R & DVD-RW (Pioneer/Apple)
  * DVD+RW (HP, Ricoh et al.)
  * DVD-RAM (Panasonic)
  Ignoring DVD-RAM (it needs cartridges and is not really DVD at all), and DVD-R (there are no DVD-Rs available AFAIK, but all DVD-R recorders can also burn DVD-RWs), it boils down to deciding whether to go with DVD-RW or DVD+RW.
  If I had to decide NOW, I'd choose DVD+RW for the simple fact that it can burn at 2x while DVD-RW will always be written at 1x.
  Better of course to wait for a couple of months for prices to come down and speed to go up ...
  -Martin
  
  --
  SoftMaker Office for Windows|Linux|Android
Re:Heavy Duty External? by Jeffrey+Baker · 2001-12-10 06:03 · Score: 5, Interesting

There are plenty of advantages to an external. First: an external must by SCSI, 1394, or USB, so it won't use up one of your limited motherboard IDE ports. Second: you can swap an external between many systems -- beats having to transfer gigabytes of data over a network. Third: you can turn an external off when you aren't using it. My external CD-RW has probably been on for less than 2 days in the three years I've owned it. This will extend its life. It also saves energy. Fourth: with all external drives, you can have a pizza-box computer. If you want hard disks, cd, cd-rw, dvd, and dvd-+rw in the same case, it has to be an enormous tower.
DVD+RW by House+of+Usher · 2001-12-10 06:10 · Score: 2, Interesting

Hmmm, so all the hype here really is over a drive that is rewriteable and has the capability to hold how much data? 18 GB total maybe? Plus they're sort of slow. Then again, the first CDR drives were painstakingly slow as well.

My feelings are two folded. I guess I am happy that the DVD+RW is finally around, mostly because I don't want to see DVDs go to the wayside like many economists were saying that they would (then again, what do they know really?). But at the same time, with companies like Constellation 3D out there with their Flourescent technologies out there, I'm wondering why this sort of media storage hasn't been developed more. Constellation 3-d uses a flourescent technology to store up to 140 GB of data on a single disc. This would be more than enough to be like that of HDTV :o) Alas, such things are not in the forefront of the news as I guess most companies are scared to invest in something so powerful.

Oh well, like others I'd love for Santa to bring me an external unit... :-)

--
I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw.
Re:Cost by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-10 06:37 · Score: 1, Interesting

Well, if you're comparing the cost to CD-R's right now, then yes. But as an affordable option for archiving data, these things beat the pants off of the alternatives. We generate large amounts of test data from multi-channel high frequency sampling. The current method of archiving is to use magneto-optical disks, also from HP. The drives will set you back $3k a pop, and each 5.2 gig disk will run you another $75. Those $600 DVD+RW drives and $15 media look pretty cheap in comparison eh?
Other reviews (prior art :-) by eddy · 2001-12-10 07:05 · Score: 3, Interesting

cdrinfo reviewed the Ricoh 5120A (CDRW and DVR+RW) months ago. Then they did the Philips DVD+RW 208.

The current review is of a 32x writer, the Mitsumi CR-480ATE, so no need for a "Woow! First review of a 32x writer" in two months :-)

--
Belief is the currency of delusion.
Importsnt questions not answered. by Lumpy · 2001-12-10 07:55 · Score: 3, Interesting

What is best for writing dvd video discs?
the only reason I want a DVD-R or RW or +rw or a r*(rw/r)^rw or whatever they want to call it this week is to make my own DVD flicks (Ok and maybe backup my PS2 DVD's..) but mainly for taking my DV cam's video and spitting it to a nice disc for friends, relatives, archival... basically to completely remove any need for VHS.

What drives will write a disc that is readable in any DVD player I wander up to?

what drives are supported under linux?

--
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
My few cents by quark137 · 2001-12-10 08:40 · Score: 2, Interesting

I have the Pioneer DVR A03. It records DVD-R, and DVD-RW both. I also have a 3 year old Pioneer consumer DVD player. I assumed that DVD-R's will play on the DVD player, but what surprised me is that I was even able to play DVD-RW media on my DVD player!

A little off-topic: From experience, Dazzle DVC II is a great card for capturing TV/VHS video. I also have the higher end Dazzle "Dv Now.AV," and it's simply superb. To top it off, it comes with the full version of Adobe Premiere 6.0!
Re:PC Magazine Review by elinenbe · 2001-12-10 09:04 · Score: 3, Interesting

Ug! Why don't people do research before they blindly post. The DVD-R drives burn DVD-R disks that can play in a MUCH greater number of players then a DVD-RW disk.

Here are some compatibility charts:
DVD-R compatibility in DVD standalone players (apple.com)
http://www.apple.com/dvd/compatibility/

DVD-RW compatibility in DVD standalone players (ricoh.com)
http://www.ricoh.co.jp/dvd/cope/video.html

Personal test of DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW compatibility (labdv.com)
http://www.labdv.com/en/hardware/dvd_player.php

-eric

-eric

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-eric