DVD-R or DVD+R

[Staz]

I was going to go down to Best Buy tomarrow bright and early (well dark and really early) and pick a Lite on DVD burner for my wife for Xmas.

The drive can burn DVD-R, DVD+R, and DVD+RW. Which media should I get her to go with it?

I was also going to get her DVD X-Copy Gold to go with it. Is this a good program for burning DVDs?

[MercutioUK]

Originally Posted by Staz

I was going to go down to Best Buy tomarrow bright and early (well dark and really early) and pick a Lite on DVD burner for my wife for Xmas.

The drive can burn DVD-R, DVD+R, and DVD+RW. Which media should I get her to go with it?

I was also going to get her DVD X-Copy Gold to go with it. Is this a good program for burning DVDs?

Personally staz as there is little difference between the media (as for compatibility) and dvd-r is cheaper id go with that.
For software nero is still my favourite and has some "interesting" options and I think we'll leave it there
Alchohol 120% is also a fine piece of software. Not sure what your after doing with the burner to recommend anything else
I was one of the early adopters - stuck with a 2x DVD burner for the time being heh

[SteveI]

Highly dependent on other HW in the house. Some DVD-ROM drives can read only + or -, others both, others neither. Then, the same applies to DVD players.

The best thing you can do is research what you have in the house. In my case, I found that my player could handle everything, but most of my DVDroms could only read -, so I stick with that.

Most of the arguements surrounding -/+ revolve around future speed step ups, which don't help you at all. They are about the same price for blanks... just make sure you get 4x only, which only take 15minutes to burn... I got stuck with 1x recently, and it is really annoying. Blanks today are a lot like CDr was many years ago. There are a lot of shady disks out there, even brand names have problems. Stay away from fuji, can't burn full disk, and have many problems.

[robbie]

[QUOTE=Staz]I was going to go down to Best Buy tomarrow bright and early (well dark and really early) and pick a Lite on DVD burner for my wife for Xmas.
[QUOTE]

Yeah, I plan on getting my wife a new power drill or dremal!!!

hahahaahah J/k

Anyways...... if I remember the -R's are cheaper then the +R's. I would just get one that is multi format.
Rob

[Daniel ~]

Sorry Staz, I still live in CD-RW land.":O}

[Staz]

So do I Dan, but the wife really wants one for x-mas. I keep telling her that they are too expensive and haven't settled on a format yet so we still have to wait. I think she will be pleased x-mas morning.

Hey Robbie
I got real luck with my wife in the fact that she hates shopping and loves technology. She used to love telling people that her computer was faster than the fast computer that you could buy. Now she just tells them that her computer is "Kick A$$".

Sometimes it is a curse though. Last year I bought her an Axim PDA for x-mas. It was expensive enough in itself but then after x-mas she went out and bought like $400 in accessories for it. This year she asked for a Samsung 21.3" LCD monitor. And not the one with the silver bezel but the one with the black. She ain't gettin' it! But I garuntee she will have it before tax time.

She was looking at the stand alone DVD recorders but she wasn't happy about the way that they recorded. They record like a VCR, simple start and stop of the video feed. She also wanted to be able to record the TV shows that she watches by putting in a blank disc and pushing record. I forsee a stand alone DVD recorder in my futre but not until the prices come down.

So I guess I will check out my DVD player and DVD Roms and see whats up. I will most likely pick up a 10 pack of each and try them out.

P.S.
Best Buy was a mad house. And it was outreageously cold standing inline. Got down to 42. Burr.

[Daniel ~]

"So do I Dan, but the wife really wants one for x-mas. I keep telling her that they are too expensive and haven't settled on a format yet so we still have to wait. I think she will be pleased x-mas morning."

Say no more! ":O}

[Daniel ~]

Actually the law forbids ANY copying of Movie DVD's for any purpose. I'll have do so some post editing I'm afraid. Not saying I like it or even think it's sane, but read the intro to any Movie DVD.

BTW what's the difference between + and - DVD-RW's ?

[Staz]

Sorry Bout that Dan

As soon as I saw Big Reds post I tried to edit but got caught on that one hour thing.

Thnx for editing it for me.

[Daniel ~]

Tell me about the + and - thing and I'll forgive the lapse! ":O}

[SteveI]

Originally Posted by Daniel ~

Tell me about the + and - thing and I'll forgive the lapse! ":O}

+ & - are 2 competing technologies for burning and rewritables. - is the older technology and I've read that 4 to 8x is the max it is capable of. The + is newer and is supposed to be able to go faster. With prices coming down quickly, it looks like + has won. However there is a catch. DVDRoms and DVD console units that have been around for a while, may or may not be able to read these burned disks. Many were made before +/- even existed so it is hit and miss. Some sites offer info on unit compatibility. Even then, it appears that some units are sensitive not only to +/- but also the dye used, and therefore the brand of the disk itself. Guys who burn a ton usually find a brand that works well for them and their HW, and stick with it. I think it may be another year or 2 before there is more consistent compatibility. This also means you may have to buy a new DVD player to not have to care which technology or disk brand you are using... This assumes of course that you buy a unit that guarantees compatibility with both + & -.

Example. I have 3 pioneer s106 DVDROMs. They are the slot load model. These can read -R, -RW & +RW. They cannot read +R. Even with the same model, I have found my wife's unit to be very sensitive. I can read from mine, but on her's often even newly burn disks report an error.

[Daniel ~]

Thanks Steve! I guess my pocket book was right...I'll wait till things calm down and settle in.

Really don't have a need as yet to make the leap.

[SteveI]

Originally Posted by Daniel ~

Thanks Steve! I guess my pocket book was right...I'll wait till things calm down and settle in.

Really don't have a need as yet to make the leap.

Tell me about it. I paid $350 for my Sony last February... I had about a dozen DV tapes I wanted to convert to DVD. The replacement model for the Sony is now about $160. Still, no regrets. I think the price has already come close to bottoming out, with cheaper 4x units going for under $100 on sale. There's even an 8x out for about $200. Quite frankly, I'm a bit disappointed with the selection. Of all the burners I've looked at, both before I bought and more recently, Sony was the only one I could find with 8meg cache. There are probably others, but most seem to have only 2megs.

[Daniel ~]

Same same with CD-RW paid near/around $170.00 for my first Plextor, now Lite-on's go for $40.00 WITH DVD reader!

I can wait I can wait!! ":O}

[BigRed]

Originally Posted by Daniel ~

Actually the law forbids ANY copying of Movie DVD's for any purpose. I'll have do so some post editing I'm afraid. Not saying I like it or even think it's sane, but read the intro to any Movie DVD.

BTW what's the difference between + and - DVD-RW's ?

Actually your allowed 1 archival backup under the law. Numerous companies tried suing 123 studios about their dvd x-copy but falied because that your allowed 1 backup copy

And you could have just cut that last part of my post out instead of deleting the whole thing. Could have left my opinions on the software asked about earlier...

[danrok]

As far as backups go, I think it is wrong that you can't backup a game cd, because they have copy protection.

Recently I had to buy a replacement game because one of the install cds from my first copy was scratched.

[Daniel ~]

Ah geese Big Red,
Your opinions are dangerous and if allowed to spread....I can see this isn't going to work...

Th Lord came down to me from on high and said unto to me of Big Reds post.".....

OK, I screwed up!! I'm almost sorry!! But only if your correct about the back up... I don't believe your are, prove it! ":O}

[Aedan]

Originally Posted by Daniel ~

OK, I screwed up!! I'm almost sorry!! But only if your correct about the back up... I don't believe your are, prove it! ":O}

IANAL - I understand that under US laws, a consumer is allowed a *single* backup copy. This is fine, but understand that the copy of the DVD sitting on your hard disk about to be burnt counts as that single backup copy. Unless your software supports direct disc to disc copying, you'd be breaking the law if the software creates a temporary copy on the hard disk!

The laws in Europe are completely different. I do not believe that the UK laws offers any such concessions to consumers. I couldn't comment on other European countries. Asia? Well, they seem to ignore copyright laws in many places.

[Daniel ~]

And no fair using Aidan as a reference!

OK I'll except Aidan as a reference, thanks now I have a bit clearer idea on how to manage posts!

(You happy now Big Red?)

[SteveI]

I'm not an expert on this, but I think it is not a matter of a law specifically banning or permitting backups.. Instead, there was a specific court decision that in essense said that it was not a violation of copyright law to copy or backup for the purpose of protecting rightfully obtained material. This goes back quite a few years to when the entertainment industry tried to outlaw VCRs on the premise that the product (VCR) was a tool inherently used for copyright infringement. The court disagreed and also provided that the product had a valid use and the mfgrs of VCR were not responsible for any pirating enabled by the their product. Having lost their battle, the entertainment industry responded by doing something to VHS movies so that direct copies of VHS movies were not possible.

For DVDs, encryption has already been cracked so they are looking for the next level... High Def DVDs should be out in the not too distant future, and you can bet that there will be new levels of encryption added.

OH, and before I stop babbling... I don't think there is a specific limit to the number of backups, ie, temp to HDD to burn a DVD should be ok.