Advice on DVD Recorders

  • Thread starter Thread starter Skalek
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Skalek

Hopefully someone can help me here. I am looking into purchasing a dvd
recorder for my PC. I know very little about them and was wondering if
someone could direct me to a site that explains the different options.
For example, what dual format is, what +/- means in the descriptions etc.

I am not looking to spend a lot of money on the DVD recorder, yet I will
spend extra for technology that will last me a bit. I will predominantly be
using it for storage and backup purposes of files, copying old tapes, and
maybe camcorder video.

Thanks in advance.
 
Hopefully someone can help me here. I am looking into purchasing a dvd
recorder for my PC. I know very little about them and was wondering if
someone could direct me to a site that explains the different options.
For example, what dual format is, what +/- means in the descriptions etc.

I am not looking to spend a lot of money on the DVD recorder, yet I will
spend extra for technology that will last me a bit. I will predominantly be
using it for storage and backup purposes of files, copying old tapes, and
maybe camcorder video.
Click to expand...

Most recorders today support both + and - formats. A good bet in a
solid recorders are the NEC 2500A (8x, $70) or 2510A (8x dual layer,
$85) from www.newegg.com. They have a reputation for being very good
burners and so-so readers. I've had good luck with mine so far. The
Lite-on models also get good reviews, and my Lite-on reader is
excellent at reading marginal disks.
 
Most recorders today support both + and - formats. A good bet in a
Click to expand...

But for data backup, DVD-RAM is probably the best bet. (Is treated as
a removable SCSI disk by the system, has defect management, etc.)
 
I found out recently that NEC, Sony, Pioneer and few others are made by someone
else beside the Japanese brand names.
 
I'd take a look at the reviews at www.cdrinfo.com and look at the PI/PO
error charts of the Plextor 12x burner & Pioneer A05 burner (both
excellent burners with low PI/PO scores) vs. the others.

You can go dirt-cheap, eg. the $49 IO/Magic 8x burner at Staples this
week. But the BTC/Optorite that's in the box sure won't burn as
reliably as the above two, and if you're doing archival work, well.....
you may just lose some bits here and there.

Similarly, after you buy a burner, look at the charts to pick a
compatible media with low PI/PO rates -- otherwise, the disc will come
out with lots of errors and possible problems after a burn.
 
Roger said:
But for data backup, DVD-RAM is probably the best bet. (Is treated as
a removable SCSI disk by the system, has defect management, etc.)
Click to expand...



Hello, Roger:

Correct, on all counts. DVD-RAM's 100,000 rewrite cycle, blows away the
"competition," also.


Cordially,
John Turco <[email protected]>
 
Maryjoe said:
I found out recently that NEC, Sony, Pioneer and few others are made by someone
else beside the Japanese brand names.
Click to expand...


Hello,

Don't keep us in suspense, any longer, please. Cite the real
manufacturer(s) of those particular drives.

Cordially,
John Turco <[email protected]>


PS: I'm fairly certain that Panasonic (a.k.a., Matsushita) makes its own
hardware.

 
Sorry, the seller in Price Watch did not say who made them, but it did say, it
is not made in Japan.
 
Correct, on all counts. DVD-RAM's 100,000 rewrite cycle, blows away the
"competition," also.
Click to expand...

It's my current favorite for backup in situations where the 4.7 Gig
capacity is sufficient. Beats the heck out of mag tape. It's just
unfortunate that most of the so-called "all format" DVD burners don't
support DVD-RAM.
 
Maryjoe said:
Sorry, the seller in Price Watch did not say who made them, but it did
say, it is not made in Japan.
Click to expand...

Uh, "not made in Japan" and "not made by the company whose label is on the
front" are not synonymous. Japanese labor costs have gone through the roof
of late and the Japanese have been building plants in cheaper labor markets
just like American companies have been doing for a long time.
 
Maryjoe said:
Sorry, the seller in Price Watch did not say who made them, but it did say, it
is not made in Japan.
Click to expand...


Hello,

Nowadays, relatively little merchandise is "made in Japan" -- even by
the Japanese, themselves! Except for the "high end" stuff, assembly
operations have been largely "farmed out," typically to factories in a
few Asian and Pacific nations.

Nevertheless, the Japanese companies are still responsible for designing
and engineering, the products which bear their names. Hence, the "NEC,
Sony, Pioneer" devices, that you mentioned, are considered "Japanese,"
whether they were created in countries other than Japan.

By the way, Panasonic seems to bucking this trend, to some extent. For
instance(s), my SW-9571 (internal IDE DVD-R/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM writer) and
DMR-E50P (stand-alone DVD-R/DVD-RAM video recorder), were both built in
Japan, during 2003.


Cordially,
 
Roger said:
It's my current favorite for backup in situations where the 4.7 Gig
capacity is sufficient. Beats the heck out of mag tape. It's just
unfortunate that most of the so-called "all format" DVD burners don't
support DVD-RAM.
Click to expand...


Hello, Roger:

Sad, but true. Panasonic is DVD-RAM's primary supporter, and yet,
doesn't back DVD+R/DVD+RW.


Cordially,
John Turco <[email protected]>
 
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