Dell Throws In For The +R/+RW Standard

srothroc writes "Dell has been selling DVD+R burners for a while, but now they're tossing them in on free deals with some decent everyday consumer systems. I wonder if this increased support from one of two companies to pull a profit on PCs is going to tip the scale towards the +R format... If not, what's going to happen to the Dell users who have all of these +R drives if it turns out that -R wins out in the long run?"

Comments

Old standards.

[saintlupus]

If not, what's going to happen to the Dell users who have all of these +R drives if it turns out that -R wins out in the long run?

Fuck 'em. My friend never got reimbursed for his choice of a Bernoulli drive, and that was a lot more than 100 bucks down the drain.

Sometimes you bet on the wrong horse. It happens.

--saint

Re:Old standards.

[Richard_at_work]

Thats the point he is making. Noone should expect to be reimbursed for anything that becomes obsolete, be it because its old or because it just lost out to a different technology. If the + format does loose out to - then it isnt Dells responsability that its customers bought the kit, its the customers fault for not anticipating the fact that out of two standards, one will probably fall pretty soon.

Nothing Happens

[lordvdr]

DVDs will forever READ both +R and -R. If -R were to win right now, in 1-2 years you wouldn't be able to buy DVD+R discs. That means you'd have to buy a new drive. That's not unreasonable for 1-2 years.

Re:Nothing Happens

[dasmegabyte]

There are about 3 or 4 different footprints for portable video cameras -- HI-8 and Mini DV being the most popular nowadays, but you can still find media for the VHS-C cameras YEARS after they were replaced.

Digital camera media is available in 6 flavors: memory stick, smartmedia, compact flash, secure digital, XD and Mini CD. You can buy any of these at your local camera shop, bestbuy, or walmarts.

I mean, come on: you can still get discs for DVD-RAM drives, and they didn't even sell that many!

+R isn't going away

[drinkypoo]

As unfortunate as that is. +R media tends to be slightly cheaper for some reason, but -R is the more compatible of the two formats. Regardless there are lots of dual-format drives being made and sold at quite reasonable prices these days, so there is no real danger that +R will disappear any time soon, though it probably should.

Re:+R isn't going away

[ComputerSlicer23]

Uhhh, I hate to beat you with a stick labelled economics, but I'm going to do it anyways....

I remember when RAM was $200 for an 8MB SIMM (yes, SIMM, 60ns 72pin EDO). I remember how you could pickup 16MB of ram for around $120. I'm pretty sure that got to where you could get the same type of RAM, about 64MB for $75. That was because they we're selling hordes of it, so the one time costs we're amortized across more units, and there was less risk of overproducing.

Now the price is pretty outrageous. I know similar things happened for 30pin memory. I know that 30pin was going for $5-10MB at a time when DIMM's we're around $1 per MB. That's because reliable 30pin memory was hard to find, and not made in large volume.

Now for CD's, the same thing happens. When everyone stops buying CD's, and the backstock runs out, the price of CD's won't be $0.12. He's worried about the price never getting to $0.12, and instead moving in the other direction, because of it's scarcity.

Go try buying audio tapes. They aren't as cheap as they used to be. And it's not all inflation. The other thing to remember, is that at least some of the cheapness of CD's was due to the strong dollar (CD prices dropped from $10 in 1995 to $0.25 in 2001). That's also a timeframe when US currency was gaining value relative to the foreign currency. Thus all imports got cheaper. It's part of the reason why computer prices fell so much in the US. They got cheaper to produce, and things are more efficient. However, just assuming that prices of parts will drop, and stay low long after they are produced in volume is a false economy.

Kirby

Win?

[Platinum Dragon]

I get the feeling the world will move on to the next major jump in burning capacity, and probably another format war, rather than actually settle on +R or -R. Unless the industry as a whole decides on one format or the other, and decides to leave a whole section of consumers out in the cold, neither format will "win."

Now Dell ads are news????

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't believe this. Someone links to a Dell ad for a free DVD burner, and now all of a sudden, "it's a shift in the industry". What the fuck, April Fool's isn't for another few months!

Very simple reason

[jolyonr]

All single-format recorders, such as +RW drives, are effectively end-of-line items, so Dell can buy up inventories at knock-down prices. If they could have got -RW at a buck cheaper, they'd have gone that way, there is no other reason! Jolyon

this is silly in multiple ways

[halfelven]

First off, why people don't buy and use more of those multistandard units... it's beyond me. You know, those drives guaranteed to support all formats: -R, -RW, +R, +RW... They're really nice.
I have a Sony DRU-510 burner, it supports every conceivable format, and works very well.

Second, many units (DVD readers, not writers) that claim that they support only one standard (only -R/RW or only +R/RW) actually do work with the other standard. I don't have exact numbers, but it seems to me that the vast majority of the new drives support de facto all standards. Just try it, you might be suprised.

Then, -R/RW has the advantage of a slightly larger compatibility. There's a lot of slightly older units that, for the majority, support only the "minus" disks.
Every single device that i own and has DVD capabilities is multistandard (knows both "plus" and "minus" disks), however all DVDs that i create for my own purposes are -R, just because of this slightly larger compatibility.

Finally, i wish i had a magic of sorts, to get together all those morons who are responsible for inflicting standard wars on us poor customers. Then i'll only ask to give me, for twenty minutes, a machine gun with lots of ammo. It has to be a model which withstands very long shooting sessions without melting or jamming. After twenty minutes, i'll call you to show you what machine-gun-generated meat pulp looks like. :-(
I'm really pissed off on these stupid issues.

Really, it HAS been decided...

[Chordonblue]

HD-DVD IS the standard as proclaimed by the DVD Forum anyway. When HD-DVD is sold in the U.S. and Europe it will be HD-DVD you see in the stores - nothing else. This is what the movie manufacturers agreed on through the DVD Forum.

My prediction is that Blu-Ray will find its niche in backup applications and video production houses. This is due to it's greater production expense (dual head for compatibility as opposed to HD's single lensing) and better media longevity (sealed discs).

Remember Betacam Vs. VHS? It's the same thing all over again. Betacam is STILL the standard in production houses all over the world but it was VHS that ruled the home front.

As for China's weird-ass format, guess what? No one really cares but the Asian markets and media/players/recorders will be made specifically for those markets as needed. Shocking, I know, I know. Proof? The Asian markets have been ignored by Americans before now. Take a look at the popularity of VCD players over there and you'll see what I mean. How many dedicated VCD players have you seen sold/marketed here?

Does It Really Matter?

[nick_davison]

what's going to happen to the Dell users who have all of these +R drives if it turns out that -R wins out in the long run?

You wait the two years that it'll take to make them obsolete and then you buy a $19.99 drive (after rebates).

It's just the same as buying a $19.99 CD-RW now when they were $100 a couple of years ago. Prices drop. Does it really matter what you get for free now as you won't be paying current prices for a drive in two years time?