I like to consider myself on top of things, for the most part, regarding computers and computer…things… but I am relatively new to the DVD burning concept. As such, just about the only thing on my “wish list” this holiday season is a DVD burner.
From what I can tell, I want a drive that will burn DVD-R/RW AND DVD+R/RW discs. Those seem to be in abundance everywhere. What I have no idea about is brand, speed, media, etc.
For example, what kind of DVD recordable media will be playable in a standalone DVD player? What is double layer/double sided? Will those play in DVD players? What are the top speeds available nowadays for internal drives, as far as DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, as well as CD-R and CD-RWs (I’m assuming I’ll end up with a drive that will also write CDs)? Who makes the best DVD burners?
Finally, I know pricewatch.com and newegg.com are good sites to buy computer parts from-- does anyone have any product-specific suggestions for what’s a good deal?
Addendum- as an educated consumer just perusing newegg.com, I think I like the Samsung TS-H552B/WBCH. It’s comparable in speed to every other model, except it’s DVD-R speed is rated 12x (the fastest I saw was 16, most were 8) and its CD-R writing speed is rated 40x (not slow by any means, but most were 48).
Another is the Benq DW1620, which is identical to the Samsung, but is rated at 16x for DVD-R, and just 24X for CD-RW.
The hardware difference, as far as I can see, is that the Samsung (like most of the others there) is ATAPI/E-IDE, while the Benq is Internal IDE. What’s the difference? Is my machine, bought less than a year ago, likely to support either? Are either of these good choices for the price? Better choices?
DVD+R9 (double layer) is out. How soon until Pioneer unveils their DVD-R9 technology? Should I hold off until then, so as to achieve maximum compatibility?
How far off are recordable DVD+/- R18s? Will I be able to record to them using a DVD+R9 burner by just flipping the disc over?
To continue the trend of replying to myself, another question for pros-- is it worth it to get an external burner (w/ FireWire), so that I can use it with my desktop computer AND my laptop? Will I lose out on recording speed? Are they less reliable than internal drives?
Well, I’m not the expert on this matter that I used to be when I was working in the industry, but I try to keep up. I will try to answer some of your questions to the best of my knowledge.
As far as I know, if your aiming for optimal compatibility with standalone players (including older players, 3-4+ years old) then it’s better to burn in DVD-R mode. This will all but guarantee that the disc is playable in a standalone unit. Lately though, with the huge increase in DVD+R burners and the recent move to almost exclusively combo (DVD+/-R) units, most standalones hand DVD+R fine. The -RW discs are slightly less compatible - but recent players should have no problem handling these either.
Double layered discs are discs with…double layers. Usually the term is “Dual Layered” though, for your info. Data is recorded in two layers on the same side of the disc, making the total 4.7 x 2 GB. Same as DVD+R and +/-RW, new models of standalones play these without problems, the older the standalone, the higher the risk for incompatibility. Generally though, the dual-layer disc you burn with your dual-layer burner should conform to standards and should be readable.
Highest DVD+/-R and RW speed currently is 16x. CD-R is 40x, CD-RW is 24x. Dual-layer DVD+R (‘DVD+R DL’) is 2.4x.
This is a hard question to answer, but I’m going to say Pioneer. They’ve been the pioneers (pardon…) since the first DVD burners were available and have always stayed in the frontline regarding specs and quality.
There is no difference - it’s just two different names for the same thing.
Last night I went ahead and purchased a NEC ND-3500A (and upon review of the URL, I’m glad I did last night-- it was $62.99 then, and $68.00 now!)
Its specs are 16X DVD+R, 16X DVD-R, 4X DVD+RW, 4X DVD-RW, 4X DVD+R9, 48X CD-R, and 24X CD-RW. Read speeds of 48X CD-ROM and 16X DVD-ROM.
The drive originally wasn’t on my list of “ones to check out” and I only came across it after several posts at www.dvdrhelp.com praised it. I believe the $62.99 price was an “after Thanksgiving” sale price, and Newegg has already shipped it, less than 16 hours after I purchased it!
Damned double-layer media is still really expensive, though. 7+ bucks a disk. I was an early adopter (Sony, will do 2.4x DL), but if I thought it through, I would wait to get a double layer burner until the media was cheaper. (3 bucks a disk or so seems acceptable to me.)
It is nice to copy, errr, ‘data’ without reencoding it, that’s for sure…
