What brand of DVDs to buy?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lois G.
  • Start date Start date
L

Lois G.

New computer, lots of ambition. Besides other things, I eventually hope to
burn my home videos to DVDs.

I gave it a quick try - saving to my hard drive - but unfortunately didn't
capture any sound. I found a tutorial for my video camera, but haven't had a
chance to check it out yet.

I've learned that I need the proper software and am deciding which one to
buy.

Now how about the kind of DVDs to buy:

What's the difference between 1 and 2-sided?
Are all brands pretty much the same?
Why should I buy (or avoid) rewritable disks?

If this subject has been discussed prviously, I apologize.

Lois
 
The first problem is to determine which DVDs are compatible with your DVD
drive. This not only includes the different types, it may also be Mfr
dependent.

For first use and general experimentation, I usually buy a limited number of
a type and mfr, until I know that they work with my drives.

Price is a very large consideration. I generally buy name brand disks when
they are on sale.
Half price or less seems to be fairly common.
 
Discs are either single or dual layer, not double sided, well not for
consumers. Ritek GO4 dyes are very good and try to buy mastering dvd's for
quality.
 
DS discs are available, but as Graham says, they do not generally sell them
at, say, WalMart. http://www.meritline.com/dvd-r-blank-media-94.html\

Lois - Welcome to the DVD world. First, check out this website,
www.videohelp.com. It will be a little intimidating at first, but it is
your friend. It talks about player compatibility, media compatibility, and
set top compatibility as reported by your peers. There are many 'how-to'
guides also.

As Chuck noted, media supports depends on your burner and even the firmware
level of that burner. Some burners also only support specific formats. For
example, dual layer disc can be only burned with some of the latest burners
and a firmware update is not an option. Also, some older burners will not
work with some of the newer media (4X+) and potentially could even be
damaged without a firmware update. I use the commercial vendor I listed in
the link above. One of the things they do is include players and firmware
levels required to support the media. I find that a benefit, but I might
also be able to find that information at videohelp.

If you have an older burner, know that burner prices have dropped. A
barebones Pioneer 108 or NEC 3500A is less than $70. Fry's had a deal with
a mail-in rebate on a Pioneer A08 (like the 108, but includes software and
an additional siliencing design) for $99.

Don't confuse Authoring with what Graham referred to as 'mastering'.
Authoring disc are a different format entirely. Unless you bought a very
expensive Authoring drive, you would use General format disc.

I use Ritek Ridata G05 Hub Printable DVD-R discs for my DVDs. I also have a
small stock of general 8x DVD+R printable discs that I use where some set
top players do not support -R format (generally more than 3 years old).
Then, I use a technique called bitsetting to change the booktype of the +R
disc to DVD-ROM to fool the player. That has worked on all but one player
(a Panasonic - the customer is an early adopter and seems to have version 1
of everything). If I were to switch, I would probably but Taiyo Yuden
media, which are generally considered the best media available, currently.
 
George,
Hi mate, I buy Ritek GO4 master DVD's, which are their highest quality ones,
but I see the point in confusion between mastering and authoring discs ;)

Graham
 
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