DVD Burner

MaC03

Hey guys, looking to add a DVD burner to my PC, but unfortunately this is something I know nothing about. Hoping I could ask a few questions to those of you who would know.

-First off, any suggestions on brand or model for an internal or external DVD writer?

-How much do you lose in picture and audio quality, if any? Is it resonable to expect it to be the same? For example if I were to just rip the audio and video I needed and not all the extras, would you notice any difference in comparison to the original DVD?

-What is the difference between dual and single layered? How does this effect the quality?

Thanks,
Mark

Shizelbs

Manganese Carbonate,

Get a double layer, dual format RW burner. I have a Pioneer which I like very much. NEC makes a good one too. I recommend Newegg.com for your purchases.

No loss in audio quality. Loss in PQ depends on the length of the movie and if you retain the menus and extras. I find its generally not noticeable. Depends though.

Most all DVDs are released on double layer discs. That means its essentially one disc stacked on top of another to provide twice as much data capacity. It doesn't effect the quality other than that you can store more data on one.

As of now, however, blank double layer DVDs are prohibitively expensive.

pjdami

Check out Plextor too. Many consider it to be the "Mercedes" of burners.

Sami

If the movie is too long to fit into one disc, divide it into two. DVD Shrink does that for you easily. You could compress it but I wouldn't recommend doing it if the compression % is very high.

TonyPTX

Get a Plextor and don't look back!!!! I have over 6 Plextor CD/DVD drives....some of which were put into retirement only because newer models w/faster speeds had come out.

As for the single vs. dual layer...it's how much storage space can fit on the DVD....single layer DVD's are limited to 4.7GB. Dual layered DVD's are double that or ~ 9GB...there would be NO need for compression on a dual layer DVD. Problem is that they're so damn expensive...a 3pack will set you back about $30.

Tony

MaC03

Thanks for all the quick replies.

Ok, so the layers thing is all about space. And it just refers to the disk itself and whether or not the burner is capable to burn dual? Which would mean that the dual or single has nothing to do with quality directly, just that you wouldn't have to compress with a dual layered disc?

"Loss in PQ depends on the length of the movie and if you retain the menus and extras. I find its generally not noticeable. Depends though."

Is this because you'd have to compress it to make it fit? Or does length itself just have an effect. I'm assuming by taking out the menus and extras, it just leaves more room for the film.

If you would, give me an idea of how much space it would take to burn a normal 2hr movie. Can you fit that in 4.7GB without compressing? I'm assuming you rip the audio and video to different files. Is there any difference between DTS and DD in size? What if you want to have them both on the disk, how much would that add?

Thanks again,
Mark

Sami

Get a dual layer burner anyway, you might have use for it in the near future when disc prices go down.

Around 90 minutes is what I found is the usual movie length to 4.3GB that the single layer disc holds. BUT it does depend on the movie. You have to remember that they are already compressed in the original. Older movies generally fit into smaller space. For example the directors cut Blade Runner, which is a loooong movie, fits into single disc without compression.

DTS is higher quality track than DD and requires more space. If there is a DTS track on the disc I always leave it there and cut DD. Even if there is space for both. Why? The end of the disc is prone to burn errors and this might lead to problems in playback. For backup copies, always cut out the extra soundtracks, menus and extras. I want my movie to start when I insert it into the player. If I want to play the extra (which I rarely do unless it is based on real story), I watch it from the original disc.

MaC03

Thanks Sami,

Yea, I definately want to get the dual layer. I'm looking at the Plextor PX-716UF. I want to get the external so I can move it around if need be.

Good tip on the DD, I would definately do the same. I never listen to DD when DTS is available anyway.

MaC03

What is the difference between DVD+R and DVD-R? Also is it better to get the 8x discs or are the 4x just as good, but not as fast in recording?

What brand of DVD R's do you guys use? Verbatim, Ridata, Velocity, Memorex, TDK? Should I stay away from any of these, or just get the best deal?

Also, back when I did alot of cd burning, the RW's wouldn't play in a lot of players. Is this a problem with DVD's? What's the downside to the RW's?

TonyPTX

Originally posted by MaC03
What is the difference between DVD+R and DVD-R? Also is it better to get the 8x discs or are the 4x just as good, but not as fast in recording?

What brand of DVD R's do you guys use? Verbatim, Ridata, Velocity, Memorex, TDK? Should I stay away from any of these, or just get the best deal?

Also, back when I did alot of cd burning, the RW's wouldn't play in a lot of players. Is this a problem with DVD's? What's the downside to the RW's?

The difference between DVD+R and DVD-R is just part of the format war....different companys (Sony, HP, etc) were hyping either the DVD+R or the DVD-R and the industry never really "settled" on one format because they had their eye down the road for things like Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. So most hardware companies started releasing the dual format DVD+R/DVD-R drives. Generally, DVD+R is a bit more compatible with things like home DVD players. The difference with the speed of the media just lets you know how fast you can reliably burn content on that media. No sense buying 8x media if your burner only supports 4x speeds. Generally, media speed won't affect price very much.

As for brand names, I'd tell you to stay away from the "bargin" packs....case in point I bought a 50-pack of CompUSA DVD+R's for $20 thinking it was a deal. When I use them though, I get one good burn out of 3 disks. I don't have that problem when I use the good stuff like TDK, Fuji, Memorex or my personal favorite, Verbatim.

I can't give you much guidance on RW media....I was never a big fan of it and never had much luck w/ it either (CD-RW that is). Don't think I ever used a DVD+RW disc ever...

OH and good call picking out the Plextor PX-716UF...I'm running the PX-716A myself.

Tony

Sami

Originally posted by TonyPTX
Generally, DVD+R is a bit more compatible with things like home DVD players.

It's the opposite actually.

Originally posted by TonyPTX
As for brand names, I'd tell you to stay away from the "bargin" packs....case in point I bought a 50-pack of CompUSA DVD+R's for $20 thinking it was a deal.

It depends. Some of the cheapos are actually very good discs. I never buy the overpriced brand names but I will stay away from CompUSA discs. One of my friends works for them and got me a free spindle, the first ones worked so-so, the rest are recognized by all the burners as DVD-ROM's, not recordable discs.

MaC03

Verbatim was always my favorite as well when burning CD's so I'm sticking with them, for the first round anyway. I ordered a 25 pack of the DVD+R's.

Will the software that comes with it be enough to do the job? I'm assuming I'll need some other type of software to rip the info correctly? What's a good one to use? I've heard good things about Nero, but does it just replace the burning software that comes with the drive, or can it do the whole process from A-Z?

Thanks again for your input,

Mark

Sami

www.dvdshrink.org
www.dvddecrypter.com

All you need for DVD burning. Use Nero to burn other stuff.

Sami

It won't work to my knowledge. Your player needs to know what to do with those files. A DVD player doesn't know what to do with WAV-files on DVD disc.