Title says it all. I’ve held off getting a DVD burner for awhile but the DVD format wars seem to have been addressed by the latest multi-format burners, but the beasts are fairly pricey for brand name models.
I have USB 2.0 ports available for external use, but an internal IDE unit might make more sense price wise. There are so many types of DVD burners on the market it’s confusing. The latest multi-format Sonys and TDKs go for 300.00 to 350.00 or so.
Projected use is mainly for data storage to off load junk off the hard drive, but ability to put movies on DVD disks might be of interest.
What are the best units to get?
What gives the best bang for the buck?
Is bundled software critical or not?
Is having a unit cover ever DVD format really all that critical?
I bought a DVD burner a few months ago. I was seriously considering a multi-format drive (Sony DRU400A, if I remember correctly), but it came down to the fact that I could get a 4x DVD+R for $180, instead of $350 combo drive. I’m fairly certain both formats will be around for at least a couple of years by which time there will be 32x DVD burners for the same price. Thus, even if the single format you choose disappears you’ll be able to buy a replacement 4x of the other format for a song, or just upgrade to a new faster drive.
As I said, I got a DVD+R, which is the newer of the two formats. It seems to be gaining popularity, so I’m hoping it doesn’t disappear anytime soon. The media has usually been a bit more expensive than DVD-R, especially for rewriteable discs, although the last time I bought write once discs they were the exact same price for both formats, so that may be changing.
I got an NEC ND1100A 4x DVD+R, 16x CD-R. It was marked way down because of imcompatibility with Roxio’s Easy CD Creator, but since I use Nero and Ulead Moviemaker 2, I haven’t had any problems. I’ve burned around 50 dvds, with no coasters.
I’ve only started invesigating DVD burners recently, so take my advice with a shaker of salt. If what you really want to do is backup data from your computer, for use on your computer, you could save some money by not using a multi-format DVD burner. Compatibility won’t be an issue if the only thing reading your DVDs is the burner that created them.
You mentioned being able to put movies on DVD is a consideration. If you think this is something you want to be able to do, or if you plan on sharing data with another computer, then I’d consider the multi-format units. This would be my main reason for getting a DVD burner (specifically, to put home movies and pictures onto a DVD that we could send to family), since I can handle my backup needs with my CD burner.
I got a Sony 500a (they dont make a 400a), I use Accu 1x dvds, but the Sony reads them at 2x . The dvds cost me a dollar each.
I saw 500ax’s today at Office Depot for $314.00
I saw Iomega 4x dvdwriter @ tigerdirect.com for $139.00 today (nice comes with great software). that is +r format --best deal too, no rebates required.
I saw a TDK 4x -r/+r at staples today, $299 (not worth it with the Sony so near).
As I understand it, the difference in the dvd+r and dvd-r formats is only in the writing. Once you’ve successfully burned a dvd, it will be readable by any dvd drive or (if it’s a movie) by any dvd player. Hopefully someone will correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think compatibility with other readers is an issue.
Giraffe, according to This site, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R and DVD+RW are compatible with most, but not all players. They have a list of which players are compatible with which format. Astro, that would probably be a helpful site for you as well.