Choosing 1st DVD burner - trouble picking

[Mitchua]

I'm looking at a few directories of TV show Xvid DVDrips (which I'm backing
up from DVD's I own of course) on my hard-drive that are 8GB+ each. I
think I'm getting a sore arm from loading CDRs all day to burn these
directories. It might be time for me to take the plunge and get a DVD
burner. I've read around a bit and everyone seems to like the lowcost
LiteOn drives. I have a couple of questions I hope you can help me with:

1) Is 8x really $20 better than 4x?
2) Since I'm backing up Xvids that wouldn't play with a standard DVD player,
do I need to get a +/- drive for compliance?
3) I will be buying a DVD player in the future that will play Xvid, divx,
etc. as well as standard DVDs (when they are available). Is it safe to
assume that it will play +/- if its advanced enough to do the other stuff?
4) Will I actually save money buying a cheap DVD burner & blank media over
buying enough CDs to burn all this stuff, or is it purely a convenience
thing?
5) Will + or - DVD's I burn be playable in my 4 year old DVD ROM?

Having answered those, I was wondering if you could give me your opinion on
a few options I found (up here in Canada). These are in Canadian dollars:

LITEON DVD+R/RW 4X4X12 CDRW 40X24X40 IDE RETAIL BOX W/ X-COPY EXPRESS
($99.98 + tax + shipping) from ncix.com

BenQ DVD Burner / 4x4x12x DVD+RW / 16x10x32x CD-RW / Nero Express / White
Box ($73.97 after rebate + tax + shipping) from Tiger Direct

LG GSA-4081B 8x+/4x- DVD Writer ($113 + tax) from pcvillagecanada.com


If you're still reading by here, THANK YOU. I'd really appreciate hearing
you opinion. Also, in case it matter, I run a Linux machine so whatever I
get must be Linux compatible. I'm sure the LG and LiteON drives are fine.
BenQ is probably too.

Thanks a lot,
Mitchua

 

[John]

I'm looking at a few directories of TV show Xvid DVDrips (which I'm backing
up from DVD's I own of course) on my hard-drive that are 8GB+ each. I
think I'm getting a sore arm from loading CDRs all day to burn these
directories. It might be time for me to take the plunge and get a DVD
burner. I've read around a bit and everyone seems to like the lowcost
LiteOn drives. I have a couple of questions I hope you can help me with:

Two best deals are probably the Liteon and NEC 8x drives. I cant
remember where you live but in the US they are around $80-90 at
NEWegg.com last time I looked. There are intermittent sales of reboxed
NECs and more often LITEONS in some leftover cendyne stock (bankrupt)
and Pac Digital (which is on my backlist for stiffing me on a rebate)
and other names frequently on sale at Circuit City and Compusa
sometimes as low as $69 after rebate but its a hassle if you end up
with a Benq and have to return it. May even incur a 15% restockingfee.

1) Is 8x really $20 better than 4x?

Many times its way less than on sale so its not really a choice. I
havent seen 8x media on sale yet but some are using some 8x capable 4x
media and with DVDs it makes a big difference in time between 2x to 4x
to 8x. Im using a lot of 1x media that can can be burned at 2x. At 2x
it takes about 16-20 min . If it was cut to 7-12 min thats a huge
savings in time especially when you run into the thankfully rare dud
burn. Just think twice that to get one decent burn if one fails !

Sure the really interminable time taken is between 2x vs 4x but
cutting it down further from the 8-12 min range to 4-6 min I take it -
is nothing to sneeze at when 8x media becomes more common place for a
measly $10-20.

2) Since I'm backing up Xvids that wouldn't play with a standard DVD player,
do I need to get a +/- drive for compliance?

Once again - its nuts to get a single format drive nowadays though
frankly ally the various model players Ive ever had or used (6 in all
from a Pioneer , Apex, Toshiba, Lennox to a Sony) have all played
either type. Since compatibility and media prices have both become
very small issues - its not that big of a deal either way BUT - once
again the price of the 8x dual drives in the US are so low now - they
are the common low priced drive. There isnt much difference in price
between it and a 2x , 4x or single format unless you find one of the
big clearance sales where they blow out old stock for $20-30. Actually
its getting harder to find a single format drive though not impossible
yet.

3) I will be buying a DVD player in the future that will play Xvid, divx,
etc. as well as standard DVDs (when they are available). Is it safe to
assume that it will play +/- if its advanced enough to do the other stuff?

Sure. I havent actually found a player yet out of all the people I
know who own DVD players that couldnt play both types though there
must be a few around somewhere since thats what old surverys used to
claim that around 10-20 % couldnt. I think its more of an issue too
for older players.

4) Will I actually save money buying a cheap DVD burner & blank media over
buying enough CDs to burn all this stuff, or is it purely a convenience
thing?

Hard to say since in the US once again there are still FREE after
rebate cheapo CDR media deals. If you are paying anywhere near retail
prices or even half off - probably yes. But thats actually a smaller
point. The DVD burners and media is cheap enough now that the pure
HASSLE and STORAGE of CDRs makes it more than worth it alone !
Hey im CHEAP and I think its defintely worth it. I always get the free
CDR deals I still think it worth it.

Look at even the GAMEs now ! Far cry , Unreal tourn , silent hill -
they are multi disk CDR format now! What a freaking hassle. THey also
come on one DVD.

Either way a year or so from now itll probably be superceded by the
dual layer DVD burner that can store twice as much on one side.

5) Will + or - DVD's I burn be playable in my 4 year old DVD ROM?

Probably but the older it is , the more iffy itll probably be. The old
CD players - a lot of them had problems playing CDRs period and some
like the old Toshiba and Sonys and other mainstream drives had a weird
thing where they could play CDRWs but not CDRs. Now they pretty much
all can play CDRs.

Having answered those, I was wondering if you could give me your opinion on
a few options I found (up here in Canada). These are in Canadian dollars:

LITEON DVD+R/RW 4X4X12 CDRW 40X24X40 IDE RETAIL BOX W/ X-COPY EXPRESS
($99.98 + tax + shipping) from ncix.com

BenQ DVD Burner / 4x4x12x DVD+RW / 16x10x32x CD-RW / Nero Express / White
Box ($73.97 after rebate + tax + shipping) from Tiger Direct

LG GSA-4081B 8x+/4x- DVD Writer ($113 + tax) from pcvillagecanada.com

Some people have said you can hack /reflash the firmware of a liteon
4x to make it an 8x. Havent kept up with it . It might be certain
models.

I would check out Liteon 8x and NEc 2500 to see it if its on sale
anywhere and ask around if Office max and CC are having any sales this
week on possible reboxed versions. They often have the two drives for
close to the 4x prices.

I cant remember - whats the exchange rate now? Wasnt it kind of close
now to the dollar? If it is and there arent stiff tariffs NEWegg has
it for close to that price probably though shipping maybe a killer.

The LG - LG just doesnt seem as popular as the other drives but theres
always a few posters who chime in a claim its fine.

Not crazy about Benq - they are thought of as a mass produced cheapo
substitute which many try to avoid that reboxers often use for their
rebate sales. People here tend to look for Liteon and NECs in the
boxes and try to avoid Benq and other more generic type makers. That
said Ive ended up with a few benq and other generic CD burners Free
after rebate deals and they worked fine - but yes I also got and still
prefer Liteons instead for CD burners and DVD burners.

My current dvd burner is a NEC 4x which works great.

 

[Toshi1873]

I'm looking at a few directories of TV show Xvid DVDrips (which I'm backing
up from DVD's I own of course) on my hard-drive that are 8GB+ each. I
think I'm getting a sore arm from loading CDRs all day to burn these
directories. It might be time for me to take the plunge and get a DVD
burner. I've read around a bit and everyone seems to like the lowcost
LiteOn drives. I have a couple of questions I hope you can help me with:

1) Is 8x really $20 better than 4x?

What's your time worth? (Other questions include
availability of media, whether your system can even feed
data fast enough to burn at 8x...)

2) Since I'm backing up Xvids that wouldn't play with a standard DVD player,
do I need to get a +/- drive for compliance?

Don't buy a single-format writer. Dual-format writers
are cheap enough and a good way to future-proof.

3) I will be buying a DVD player in the future that will play Xvid, divx,
etc. as well as standard DVDs (when they are available). Is it safe to
assume that it will play +/- if its advanced enough to do the other stuff?

Probably... most newer players are more forgiving about
what media they'll read, but as always, YMMV.

4) Will I actually save money buying a cheap DVD burner & blank media over
buying enough CDs to burn all this stuff, or is it purely a convenience
thing?

Keeping track of 6x to 7x less discs is a big bonus.
(Picture the amount of space taken up by 700 CDs vs 100
DVDs.) Soon as I got mine, I consolidated a large
collection of CD-Rs. Packed the old CD-Rs into empty
cake-boxes, smacked a label on the outside and stuck
them deep in the back of a closet.

Sadly, you're going to find that a 4.7GB DVD just isn't
as big as you'd want it to be. (Bluray 25GB discs can't
get here soon enough in my book.)

 

[John]

I'm looking at a few directories of TV show Xvid DVDrips (which I'm backing
up from DVD's I own of course) on my hard-drive that are 8GB+ each. I
think I'm getting a sore arm from loading CDRs all day to burn these
directories. It might be time for me to take the plunge and get a DVD
burner. I've read around a bit and everyone seems to like the lowcost
LiteOn drives. I have a couple of questions I hope you can help me with:

Heres more accurate figures for burning a full disk.

59:54 1x

29:52 2x

15:04 4x


8x is for DVD+R last time I looked.

 

[Bob Adkins]

LITEON DVD+R/RW 4X4X12 CDRW 40X24X40 IDE RETAIL BOX W/ X-COPY EXPRESS
($99.98 + tax + shipping) from ncix.com

Nice. So nice that Sony re-badges it and sells it as their own. I like mine
so far.

Try www.newegg.com . prices are lower there.

BenQ DVD Burner / 4x4x12x DVD+RW / 16x10x32x CD-RW / Nero Express / White
Box ($73.97 after rebate + tax + shipping) from Tiger Direct

Not sure, but I bet either LiteOn or Sanyo. If it has the "HD-Burn"
technology, it's definitely a Sanyo. If it's an inch shorter than other
burners, it's LiteOn.

LG GSA-4081B 8x+/4x- DVD Writer ($113 + tax) from pcvillagecanada.com

No experience on this one. Check the reviews on Newegg.

If you're still reading by here, THANK YOU. I'd really appreciate hearing
you opinion. Also, in case it matter, I run a Linux machine so whatever I
get must be Linux compatible. I'm sure the LG and LiteON drives are fine.
BenQ is probably too.

Good luck on Linux. You may luck out, but may have to wait for driver
support.

Bob

Remove "kins" from address to reply.

 

[Mitchua]

Thanks Bob, John and Toshi for your insight. I took your advice and went
for the 8X LG 4081B. I'm having some trouble finding media that will burn
at 8/4x with it but I think I'm on the right track. Thanks again for your
help.

--Mitchua

 

[Good Man]

I'm looking at a few directories of TV show Xvid DVDrips (which I'm
backing up from DVD's I own of course) on my hard-drive that are 8GB+
each. I think I'm getting a sore arm from loading CDRs all day to
burn these directories. It might be time for me to take the plunge
and get a DVD burner. I've read around a bit and everyone seems to
like the lowcost LiteOn drives. I have a couple of questions I hope
you can help me with:

1) Is 8x really $20 better than 4x?

that's up to you... but for $20, having a burner that writes twice as
fast seems worth it to me.

2) Since I'm backing up Xvids that wouldn't play with a standard DVD
player, do I need to get a +/- drive for compliance?

well, +/- gives you the widest amount of options so its always a good
thing.

3) I will be buying a DVD player in the future that will play Xvid,
divx, etc. as well as standard DVDs (when they are available). Is it
safe to assume that it will play +/- if its advanced enough to do the
other stuff?

yes... you can do some research at the time too... but plenty of DVD
players effortlessly boot both +/-/ and +RW/-RW discs nowadays

4) Will I actually save money buying a cheap DVD burner &
blank media over buying enough CDs to burn all this stuff, or is it
purely a convenience thing?

its mostly convenience... it depends. were you filling up 7 ZIP disks
at a time before you splurged for a CD burner? being able to back-up
most (if not all) of my important files/system files on one disc in one
step is a great, great thing.... and DVD -R/+R/-RW/+RW discs are getting
cheaper by the week.

5) Will + or - DVD's I burn be playable in my 4 year old DVD ROM?

you'd have to check the specs - but they'll play in the burner.

Having answered those, I was wondering if you could give me your
opinion on a few options I found (up here in Canada). These are in
Canadian dollars:

im guessing $100 is your price point?

personally i like the NEC burner that's on TigerDirect - NEC ND-2500A
DVD Burner / 8x4x12x DVD±RW / 32x16x40x CD-RW / Dual Format / Nero
Software / OEM for $132.99... thats a damn steal for what is a fast CD
burner too. otherwise the I/O magic drive seems okay, but its slower.
don't you think in three months you'd look back and say "damn, i should
have paid that $30 extra so i can burn full discs in 9 minutes instead
of 18."

If you're still reading by here, THANK YOU. I'd really appreciate
hearing you opinion. Also, in case it matter, I run a Linux machine
so whatever I get must be Linux compatible. I'm sure the LG and
LiteON drives are fine. BenQ is probably too.

i also think the NEC player is compatible, but you might want to do some
research. im pretty sure the NEC player is rebranded by various other
"manufacturers" and sold for more money.

 

[Sugarite]

I'm looking at a few directories of TV show Xvid DVDrips (which I'm
backing

up from DVD's I own of course) on my hard-drive that are 8GB+ each. I
think I'm getting a sore arm from loading CDRs all day to burn these
directories. It might be time for me to take the plunge and get a DVD
burner. I've read around a bit and everyone seems to like the lowcost
LiteOn drives. I have a couple of questions I hope you can help me with:

1) Is 8x really $20 better than 4x?

Once 8x media becomes affordable in about 6 months, yes.

2) Since I'm backing up Xvids that wouldn't play with a standard DVD player,
do I need to get a +/- drive for compliance?

+/- matters very little. It is easy for products to support both formats,
so neither is going the way of beta. DVD players are getting better and
cheaper, so plan on getting a new one every year or so as new formats are
introduced.

3) I will be buying a DVD player in the future that will play Xvid, divx,
etc. as well as standard DVDs (when they are available). Is it safe to
assume that it will play +/- if its advanced enough to do the other stuff?
Yes.

4) Will I actually save money buying a cheap DVD burner & blank media over
buying enough CDs to burn all this stuff, or is it purely a convenience
thing?

CD-R's are about 40 cents each in spindles of 50 or more. DVD-R's are about
$1.12 each in spindles, and each holds over 6 times as much data as a CD-R,
and large files don't have to be segmented. You save money and get more
convenience.

5) Will + or - DVD's I burn be playable in my 4 year old DVD ROM?

There might be a compatibility issue, but who cares? The burner can read
them. A DVD-ROM is a waste of a drive bay anyway. Combo drives (read all
DVD's and burn/read CD's) are down to under $70...

Having answered those, I was wondering if you could give me your opinion on
a few options I found (up here in Canada).

For all comparisons of DVD-R related hardware and media, including DVD playe
rs, consult the searchable databases of user reviews at
http://www.dvdrhelp.com

 

[Nate Edel]

1) Is 8x really $20 better than 4x?

8x disks are still relatively hard to find, but it's ~8-10 minutes per disk
rather than ~15-20 for 4x. How much is your time worth, and if it's worth
$20, is it still worth it if it'll take a while for 8x +R disks to be
commonly available and as cheap as 4X

2) Since I'm backing up Xvids that wouldn't play with a standard DVD player,
do I need to get a +/- drive for compliance?

I'd still go with a +/- drive; it means you can buy whatever kind of disk is
available on sale, and if one format becomes dominant, you're still insured
of having a useable writer.

3) I will be buying a DVD player in the future that will play Xvid, divx,
etc. as well as standard DVDs (when they are available). Is it safe to
assume that it will play +/- if its advanced enough to do the other stuff?

Probably, especially with the write-once; my 1999-vintage Panasonic DVD player
plays both DVD-R and DVD+R discs (and neither -RW nor +RW).

4) Will I actually save money buying a cheap DVD burner & blank media over
buying enough CDs to burn all this stuff, or is it purely a convenience
thing?

DVDs: $1-3 each.
CDs: 10-25c each.

Capacity of a DVD: ~6-7X that of a CD. So cost is overlapping at the high
end of CDs and low end of DVDs, but mainly it's convenience -- and the fact
that for some things, splitting onto multiple CDs isn't merely inconvenient
but impractical.

5) Will + or - DVD's I burn be playable in my 4 year old DVD ROM?

-R and +R, yes, -RW and +RW no. That's true for my 4-5 year old desktop
DVD-ROMs (both an 8x BTC and a 6x Creative) and also true for my much more
recent Dell 8x laptop drives (from late 2002).

LITEON DVD+R/RW 4X4X12 CDRW 40X24X40 IDE RETAIL BOX W/ X-COPY EXPRESS
($99.98 + tax + shipping) from ncix.com

Personally, I'd want a combo drive. Oh, and X-Copy Express is junk;
DVD-Shrink is 10x better, even aside from it being free.

BenQ DVD Burner / 4x4x12x DVD+RW / 16x10x32x CD-RW / Nero Express / White
Box ($73.97 after rebate + tax + shipping) from Tiger Direct

Ditto. Though Nero is a class product, and probably the best option for
writing data disks.

LG GSA-4081B 8x+/4x- DVD Writer ($113 + tax) from pcvillagecanada.com

That would be my call, of the three you mentioned.

If you're still reading by here, THANK YOU. I'd really appreciate hearing
you opinion. Also, in case it matter, I run a Linux machine so whatever I
get must be Linux compatible. I'm sure the LG and LiteON drives are fine.
BenQ is probably too.

Any standard IDE drive will be at least somewhat Linux compatible; in
general, the whitebox (not sure of the make) -R we get at work have worked
better for me with linux than my Sony (DRU-500A) combo +R/-R drive has, but
support has improved a LOT in the last year.