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Drives Supporting All DVD Writing Standards?
lnxslak asks: "I was asked today to research a viable DVD burning solution. I thought this would be a simple task, little did I know of the horrors waiting me just around the corner. There are 5 different DVD writing standards. DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW. After coming to terms with this I figured I'd just get a drive that does them all. Is there a drive out there that does this, and (hopefully) more ? Have you guys had any experiences positive/negative with various brands? C-Net reviews are great, but I'd like some comments from people that actually know how to use a computer."
DVD-RAM is old (outdated), and DVD-R/DVD-RW is sort of the same standard, as is DVD+R/DVD+RW. AFAIK most modern drives can do the recordable-only version of their standard.
From what I've heard, the "-" (DVD-R/DVD-RW) standard is winning the formats race due to higher compatibility and wider industry support. So I'd say go with that type of drive. However there are drives coming to market that can burn both the dash and the plus standards.
This is why...
By the way, I think Hitachi is making a universal DVD burner. It at least does DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW. I am not sure about DVD-Ram. See that mods!!! I'm NOT off topic!
How ya like dat?
Enjoy
I got the Sony DRU500A a few weeks ago. It does DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD-R, and CD-RW. No DVD-RAM, but who uses that anyway? Comes with all kinds of great software. Not bad for $350.
I've been looking for a "do everything" DVD drive for a while. Still haven't found it. But I have found a couple of good spots on the net for DVD comparisons and info:
Extremetech DVD page
Extremetech dvd/cd page
arstechnica dvd a04 review with a great comparison table down the bottom.
Cool, but useless.
The Sony DRU500 is the most universal drive currently available, however other companies have announced drives with similar capabilities.
There are drives that combine DVD-RAM with DVD-R/RW out there. I have one of the first DVD-RAM drives made, (read very slow). DVD-RAM has some advantages over other rewritable formats, most particularly in that it really is designed from the ground up as format for rewritable data storage. The big downside with DVD-RAM media is that you can't put a DVD-RAM disk into a typical DVD-ROM drive and read the data, while this is possible with other DVD formats.
Sony is working on one, but it hasn't hit the market (that I know of) yet. Personally, I use DVD-R (it came with my Mac).
Here is a list of what other vendors are using:
Apple: DVD-R
Dell: DVD+R
Gateway: DVD-R
HP: DVD+R
I like the -R format, it seems to work well. Haven't tried the +R yet but I'll bet it's just as good.
DVD-RAM is not worth worrying about.
Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.
DVD drives burn YOU!!!
Hello, my name is Alice, I am a retired homeworker currently using AOL as my "Internet" portal and electric mail.
I own a universal DVD burner myself, which came with my computer, which was conveniently bought from my local Gateway Country store, where I got best deal on the dollar, professional technical help on setting up my modem and extended warranty for a very low price.
I am satisfied with my universal DVD burner, I usually use it to save digital pictures of my cat. In Windows XP Home Edition (it's a company called Microsoft that makes it, I think they are a Seattle-based company, but you might check your local phonebook to see if you have a dealer in your town) you just click "Burn this to CD..." and even though it is DVD, not CD, the operating system from Microsoft (highly recommended for high-tech professionals, by the way) knows the difference and does the burning just right.
On a 5-point scale I would rate my universal DVD-burner as 5 stars.
C-Net reviews are great, but I'd like some comments from people that actually know how to use a computer *cough* that's a bit harsh. I thought CNet actually has pretty good reviews.
Repeal the DMCA!
Check out the Sony DRX500UL (External USB2/Firewire) at http://www.sonystyle.com/ or the Sony DRU500A (Internal EIDE).
Both read/write DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R, and CD-RW. DVD-RAM is basically obsolete.
Non Sequitur \Non seq"ui*tur\ [L., it does not follow]
n 1: a reply that has no relevance to what preceded it
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I would go broke if I had to use DVD+R media. Generic DVD+R blanks cost 2 times more than DVD-R.
I use it constantly to help friends & family to choose what DVD player (standalone) to buy, so they don't buy something that *only* does DVD and pay through the nose for it.
Anyway, I currently don't see any significant advantage of +R/+RW over -R/-RW, given the people actually write these discs. So I think if I get a DVD burner any time soon, it will be a Pioneer DVR-105. This burns -R discs at 4x speed (maximum DVD+R speed of any current drive is 2.4x), though the 4x blanks are currently considerably more expensive than 1x and 2x blanks. I figure that won't last and DVD blanks will be like CD-R soon enough.
One drive to do them all
One drive to read them
One drive to write them all
and in the darkness bind them.
Flourescent (adj): smelling like ground wheat.
Can't stop me!!
You should buy those $10000 drives that burn REAL DVDs. Works on all drives, don't worry about all the other formats.
maximum DVD+R speed of any current drive is 2.4x
Aren't you living in the past, eh.. ?
My NEC DVD+R/RW that came with Dell burns DVD+R at 4x and I buy DVD+R discs at BestBuy and CompUsa, with holiday discuonts, they cost $19.99 for a pack of 10. Not bad !!
My NEC DVD+R/RW that came with Dell burns DVD+R at 4x and I buy DVD+R discs at BestBuy and CompUsa, with holiday discuonts, they cost $19.99 for a pack of 10. Not bad !!
And the DVD+R's play on most DVD players.
To find out your player compatibility, go to:
http://www.dvdplusrw.org/resources/compatibilityl
Please tell me that was a sarcastic post. Or flame bait...either way. I can respect sarcasm and flame bait. No /.er would talk as if they just bought their first "puter" 2 weeks ago and were doing a AOL/Gateway/Microsoft commercial. Even /. newbies know enough to avoid praising AOL and Microsoft. Gateway isn't as bad, since their not as evil.
However, if that was a real post by a real newbie...sorry. Well, sorry for putting you down for using AOL/Microsoft and liking it. But read more Slashdot. Visit some links from the site. Learn more then what is shoved in your face by the monopolies.
Go buy another book.
Anyway I've had one of these multiformat drives on order for a month now, and there's still no sign of stock. I've looked everywhere - no stock in the UK, and none I can find in the US. No-one has any delivery dates either - the retailer I've ordered from says his supplier won't even confirm a date, and they've already blown three of them.
All this makes me wonder if the device has been withdrawn for some technical reason. I'm aware there's been a BIOS update already, but it does seem odd that no shop anywhere can get hold of these drives. Even Sony's own online shop says end of January before shipping.
Has anyone heard anything?
Cheers,
Ian
Strictly speaking, the formats are properly called +RW and +R. Look at the logos on the front of the drive.
The drives and discs are called "DVD+RW" on the fairly spurious grounds that they are compatible with DVD drives. +RW is *not* a DVD format. That's why it doesn't have the DVD logo on it.
There are several Panasonic drives which support all the DVD writing standards; for example, the LF-D321U. Only one drive supports both DVD and +RW writing standards, the Sony DRU500A.
In terms of which you actually want to use: DVD-R is best for video discs playable on a DVD player. +RW or DVD-RAM are best for data storage. I haven't found much use for DVD-RW, except test burns of DVD-R discs to check the DVD authoring worked properly. +R is a bit better than +RW but not as good as DVD-R for video, and less convenient than +RW for data, so there's no much point in it.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
Thanks to everyone that gave me some info. While I am a little bit wary about getting a dvd burner from sony, it seems as though they have the best product out there right now. So I just request a DRX500UL, not all that expensive either, only 750CDN.
Thanks again.
Fighting for Peace, is like Fucking for Virginity.
electric mail...riiight And you must take a LOT of pictures of your cat to fill up an entire DVD disc.
Actually, DVD-RAM is not old/outdated. It was recently enhanced to allow 4.7GB per disc (9.4GB per double-sided disc) and is being used by many set-top DVD-Video Recorders, like the Panasonic DMR-E30, DMR-HS2, and some models by Toshiba as well.
If you plan on investing in any of this equipment, being able to read/write DVD-RAM discs on your computer could provide you some benefit as it lets you easily exchange information between these units and your computer.
I doubt Panasonic and Toshiba would be releasing new products that support DVD-RAM if it were an obsolete format. I happen to have a DMR-HS2 and have been very happy with it.
Wow, that lady sounded more generic than a spambot. At least spambot writters have the common decency to try to make it seem like they aren't advertising their company blatenly. I wonder if she got paid for doing that?
I can't rember what it's caleld but best buy should carry them. AT least that's wher emy frined got his.
procrastination is a way of life aka i'll think up a sig later
I have a 1st generation DVD-RAM (Panasonic LF-D103). I'm very happy with it, but I really only use for backups. You can write to it 100,000 times, I think the other re-writeables only support up to 1000 writes. I think it is supposed to last much longer too, 30yrs vs 10yrs.
The initial format may take 30mins, but after that formats only take 60secs, although there's no need to format as you can just delete all files.
I would recommend DVD-RAM as a backup solution (new DVD-RAM drives support approx 4.5GB per side of disk). I use one disk for each type of data (e.g. one disk for mp3/ogg, one disk for data). Remember to make off site backups (parents, friends house).