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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?"
Dude, you're getting screwed.
True story.
Just like there were two CD-R and CD-RW "standards" that were argued over, a third standard emerged to replace them both. I imagine this is probably what is going to happen here.
Funny how history repeats itself like that.
[insert witty comment here]
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
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.
If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor - Albert Einstein
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!
This is minor. The real question is which DVD-HD format will become the standard. It looks like we're going to have 2 incompatible formats introduced the US, with a 3rd format introduced in China.
I don't see why they don't just do what Apple does. Slap in a DVD-/+RW drive and just don't tell anyone. Add support to the OS and again, tell no one. Then when someone complains it's not there tell them but make sure they tell no one.
If you have a mac running panther you can see if your DVD drive supports whatever format by typing drutil info in the terminal. OS X does not support packet writing, sadly.
P.S. drutil stands for DiscRecording Utility
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
Please read my Canon EOS tech blog at http://www.everyothershot.com
It really doesn't. There are enough shipped DVD-R and DVD+R drives out there in the world now that you'll be able to buy media for the foreseeable computing future for either. There are enough of each out there now that your current burned DVD's will be readable forever, or at least as long at 5 inch polycarbonate disks are in use. Even the VHS/Beta battle that started 30 years ago and was, for all intents and purposes, over 20 years ago (see http://www.urbanlegends.com/products/beta_vs_vhs.h tml ) doesn't keep me from buying new blank Beta videotapes. They aren't available at Walgreen's, but can be had at larger electronics stores still. The same will be true of DVD-R and DVD+R.
Can you imagine the computing landscape 30 years from now? VHS hasn't changed in that many years, but 30 years ago in the computing field is ancient, ancient history - punched cards, hard-sectored 8 inch 256KB floppies, removable disk packs, and memory capacities that didn't need to be abbreviated to be readable. The likelihood that you'll care about your DVD?Rs at that point is pretty darned low. /frank
And the worms ate into his brain.
Well, I have a spot for the obsolete +R drives between my DC2120 tape drive and my zip drive.
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.
No, it'll be whichever one I buy that will lose (Happened with Beta, SyQuest 270, you name it). And since I've got a dual format DVD+/-R/RW you should all be worried...
Not everything that can be measured matters; Not everything that matters can be measured.
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
Who mods uninformed shit like this up? +R just recently got 8x burners (in the past month or so, IIRC, if not more recent). -R will be getting them in less than two weeks (Pioneer DVR-A07).
As far as dual layer DVD+R goes, yet more misinformation. What I've read is that around 70-80% of set top DVD players will be able to play dual layer DVD+R media. I have not heard figures on the forthcoming dual layer DVD-R media and drives, but I can only imagine similar if not better results.
Please keep your misinformation to yourself in the future, AC.
All I know about Bush is I had a good job when Clinton was president.