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HP DVD+R Writers Examined
tedgyz writes "CDR-Info has an article on the new DVD-writer lineup from HP - the dvd200i and dvd200e. Both of these models include support for DVD+R. In light of the recent review by "The Tech Report" noted in a recent slashdot article, this is a very important step in the evolution of recordable DVD." I've got a USB HP external burner which works great - I'm strongly considering buying one of these.
Therein lies the problem. We may end up with another VHS vs BetaMax war, which will go on for a short time. The problem is, guessing which will finally take the win.
Remember, Beta was the better format, VHS won because of better marketing.
Personally, I'm impressed with the numbers that the DVD+R/W format has been putting up, the problem seems to be compatibility, where less-advanced and older players are unable to read the format. I'm seeing the same type of compatibility issues that CDR/W had when it first came out. A great many audio players at the time couldn't read either format, now, most modern players are playing both formats, and now even data CDs with songs in MP3 and wma format without issue.
I guess we'll have to see how it all shakes out in the end.
Randal Graves says: I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class... Especially since I rule.
Which is why you should never buy Version 1.0 (Read "We think it works, and people have been pushing for the release, but really, it's just a beta with better packaging") of anything. It's true with software, car models, and any other type of equipment.
Randal Graves says: I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class... Especially since I rule.
Remember, Beta was the better format, VHS won because of better marketing.
Beta
was not discernibly better than VHS, and originally, the tapes only came in 1 hour's. This was a big problem. Also, some people attribute VHS's success to the porn industry, whereas Porn was not allowed to be distributed on Beta.
VCD on the other hand doesn't work quite as well for me, mainly due to the constant bitrate (CBR) used in MPEG1 (SVCD uses variable bitrate (VBR) MPEG2). The CBR tends to make things extremely blocky/washed out with the poorly taped home videos (you know, we're not all human steadicams, jerky videos are a staple of modern living IMHO)...
About making an (S)VCD for free, it can be done. You use VirtualDub for video capture duties, TMPGEnc for MPEG1/MPEG2 encoding (as I think I said earlier, it also handles the sound duties, and has built-in templates for VCD, SVCD and DVD (in PAL and NTSC formats)) and GNU VCDImager for creating the BIN/CUE files to burn (advanced features include making semi-reasonable chapters and I think SVCD even supports using menus and stills). Two of the three tools suggested are even open-source/GPL'd (TMPGEnc is, unfortunately, closed-source, and the author(s) imply in some of the dialogues that they intend to charge $$$ for it in the future (they've been saying this for the past year, and they still do releases about once a month)). That leaves a video editting package (in the event you want to edit your videos or add titles, etc) and the actual CD burner hardware (which, with the prices of 16x/24x CD-RW drives hovering in the $100-170 range, is not an object generally). For video editting, the only viable option I've come across is Adobe Premiere.. if anyone has any suggestions on free/cheap video editting tools for Win32, I'm curious what other peoples experiences are. =) For more info on (S)VCD's, including compatibility with stand alone home DVD players, as well as tools and FAQ's on creation, I suggest the following--
VCDHelp.com
Doom9.org
There's other good sites, but those should be enough to get people going that are curious.
All I know about Bush is I had a good job when Clinton was president.