Need new computer. Please help.

Sami

If you are watching a lot of backups then ditch the DVD player and build a HTPC. I have two and I sold my Denon DVD-player which I didn't need anymore.

You can buy nice HT cases too that will match your other AV equipment. Mine are rack mountable.

gmorris

Originally posted by Sami
If you are watching a lot of backups then ditch the DVD player and build a HTPC. I have two and I sold my Denon DVD-player which I didn't need anymore.

You can buy nice HT cases too that will match your other AV equipment. Mine are rack mountable.

I will probable do that soon, but I'm getting married in August, and I need all the money I have for that fiasco. I'm hoping I can fix this problem for <$400, whether that means new computer or upgrades.

I will stop at the store tonight and pick up some new DVD-R's. That would be great if that were the problem, although I don't think it is. I've used discs from 3 different spindles (all the same brand/ model) and had problems on all discs.

PolkThug

Originally posted by gmorris
Another question. I just talked with a guy at a local shop. He said he usually uses AMD processors over Pentium. Is this OK? Should I only consider a Pentium, or is an AMD allright if the price is lower?

The local guy is wise. You'll get better bang for buck with AMD. Most of my friends that build gaming PC's use AMD.

audiobliss

AMD will be fine. Then new AMD 64 processors give ya great bang for the buck. They're (in most cases) faster and in all cases cheaper than Pentium 4 processors. The only reason I suggested you go with a P4 is because they seem to do better with graphics intensive programs in tests, while AMD is better for gaming and such.

I didn't catch that the problem is playing the DVDs after you've burned them. If you've tried playing them in three different DVD players, I'd say the problem has to be the disc. I'd try different media like you said, as it is the cheapest thing to change. If that's no the problem, I must admit I have no idea what esle it could be.

Like I said earlier, I'd go over to the forum on www.motherboards.org and see if they can't help you figure out what's going on.

bobman1235

Originally posted by gmorris
Another question. I just talked with a guy at a local shop. He said he usually uses AMD processors over Pentium. Is this OK? Should I only consider a Pentium, or is an AMD allright if the price is lower?

AMDs are usually much cheaper, and have actually BETTER numbers than the pentiums for most benchmarks. If you can use em, use em.

gmorris

Alright, I'm going to go get some new DVD-R's tonight. Some of you recommeded DVD-R brands in the original th'd., but lets try it again. What brand do you have succes with?

I'm looking at a Best Buy flyer right now, they have a 50 Pack of Sony for $23, good price. I think I'll only get the smallest pack, because if they still don't work, oh well.

Sami

Originally posted by audiobliss
They're (in most cases) faster and in all cases cheaper than Pentium 4 processors.

Nope, not all. I got a killer deal on a P4 3.4GHz 550 and it beat the snot out of 3200+ Athlon64 in every test I ran. And it was much cheaper than the AMD. The most impressive difference was in fact on DVD ripping. But on most cases the AMD offers better performance for the money and I will continue to use them rather than P4's (if I don't get the same kind of deal like on this one).

audiobliss

Ok, I did make universal statements when I really shouldn't have. You obviously got a deal on that P4 and so it was cheaper; however, you compared it with a 3200+; you should have compared it to a 3400+. I would almost expect a P4 3.4GHz to beat an AMD 64 3200+.

Sami

Originally posted by audiobliss
Ok, I did make universal statements when I really shouldn't have. You obviously got a deal on that P4 and so it was cheaper; however, you compared it with a 3200+; you should have compared it to a 3400+. I would almost expect a P4 3.4GHz to beat an AMD 64 3200+.

That was the other computer I had built, actually two 3200+'s. The other 939 and the other 754. I probably should have tried them overclocked to 3400+ but I'm not a big fan of overclocking. Anyway, it wasn't even a close competition so a 3400+ on the mix wouldn't have made the results turn other way.

P4 3.4 550 with motherboard was $200, the 754 $230 and the 939 was around $300. The 754 and 939 were very close to each other on benchmarks and on DVD ripping, despite the 754 being with single channel memory while the 939 was dual channel.

billbillw

I've copied hundreds of DVD's with various setups. The only time I had problems was when I first started and I was trying to use use stream processing and stuff to only rip the files that I needed. Eventually, I learned that it is best to rip all the files in FILE mode. Let the other software do its job and shrink/eliminate stuff it doesn't need. I had problems with DVD2ONE, switched to ReCode and haven't had a single problem.

Have you visited www.doom9.org ?
That site has more info than you will ever need when it comes to making backups of DVDs.

I think you could use more memory, but your machine should be able to make copies, but just not very fast.

You won't regret buying an AMD if you choose that route. Better performance value for the money.

PolkThug

The Eternal Struggle.

Sami

Originally posted by PolkThug
The Eternal Struggle.

It's great for us consumers. I wish Cyrix was still around. Or are they? VIA?

jcaut

http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm

You'll probably have to use the Nero Info tool to find out which discs you've actually been using.

Fujifilm branded discs seem to stand a good chance of being high quality.

PolkThug

Originally posted by Sami
It's great for us consumers. I wish Cyrix was still around. Or are they? VIA?

I googled Cyrix and got Via for the #1 hit, perhaps they are the same.

Sami

Originally posted by PolkThug
I googled Cyrix and got Via for the #1 hit, perhaps they are the same.

Looks like VIA bought out Cyrix from National Semiconductor.

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/C/Cyrix.html

audiobliss

Originally posted by Sami
P4 3.4 550 with motherboard was $200

Wow. I wish I could find deals like that!!

Sami

Originally posted by audiobliss
Wow. I wish I could find deals like that!!

I know and this was 6 months ago IIRC.

audiobliss

Originally posted by Sami
IIRC.

?? ??

Sami

Originally posted by audiobliss
?? ??

If I Remember Correctly.

audiobliss

Ahh, cool. Gotcha.

gmorris

Alright, who can guess what happened last night?

I went to Office Max, picked up a 10 pack of Memorex 8X DVD-R's, went home & backed up "Lemony Snickett's Series....", burned at 4X speed using Nero.

Popped the backup DVD into the player, and 23 minutes later, skip, pop, pixel pixel pixel, skip...... you get the picture. If anyone knows a curse word filthier than the "F" word, that is what I wanted to scream at that point.

So, I popped out the disc, put it into my old Sharp DVD player (see th'd. linked in original post), and watched the rest of the movie without issue.

Now, some of you may be thinking my DVD player is bad, because the Sharp will play the disc, but I beleive this NOT to be the case because I've had errors occur on the Sharp DVD player also, just not as often.

At this point, I'm not ready to give up. I think the next logical solution is to replace the DVD burner in the computer. It is an AOPEN model. I can replace the DVD burner for alot less than getting a new computer. I figured if I get the new burner, and it doesn't fix the problem, I can always take it back. Then that pretty much points to the computer.

audiobliss

Sounds like a good plan to me.

billbillw

I doubt that its the burner. Burners usually work or they don't work. More likely its your lack of RAM or something in the software settings. Also make sure you have the minimal amount of programs running in the background during the process.

Go through the Doom 9 tutorials and make sure you are doing everything exactly like they say. After that, get some RAM for that thing. 512 minimum, 1GB is better.

Sami

It probably is the burner, some are better than others.

bobman1235

Originally posted by gmorris
If anyone knows a curse word filthier than the "F" word, that is what I wanted to scream at that point.

The c-word works well for me in extreme situations. Rhymes with punt. Just make sure your grandmother isn't around or anything .

I think the next logical solution is to replace the DVD burner in the computer. It is an AOPEN model. I can replace the DVD burner for alot less than getting a new computer. I figured if I get the new burner, and it doesn't fix the problem, I can always take it back. Then that pretty much points to the computer.

Check your warranty info. You may be able to at least get a replacement - maybe you got a bum drive. Espeically where it worked for a while - it sounds like it just died. Save yourself some cake.

billbillw

Originally posted by Sami
It probably is the burner, some are better than others.

Yes some are better, but they all work as advertised. To consistently make bad burns makes me think that something is wrong elsewhere.

Greg,

Have you ever tried to watch the ripped/compressed files with your software DVD player? If there are issues in the files prior to burning, you will know that its not the burner.

Also, when ripping, I recommend using DVD Decryptor ever time in FILE mode. Do the compressing step separately.

Sami

Originally posted by billbillw
Yes some are better, but they all work as advertised. To consistently make bad burns makes me think that something is wrong elsewhere.

Some do not make good copies, that's a fact. I have built quite a few computers and I stay away from cheap no-brand burners from now on. None that I bought made good copies, they all had the same problem as gmorris, or worse.

jcaut

Not all drives work well with all media. I think it's your drive being somewhat incompatible with the media you're using. Since you're using Nero, it's pretty easy to use some of the built-in tools to see how may errors there are on your discs. If you read down that page that I linked to above, it tells how.

There's a very good chance Memorex discs are CMC magnetics--- one of the worst brands by most accounts. Of course, it could just be the burner too. Here's a reasonable one:


http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152035

Sami

Originally posted by jcaut
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152035

I have one of those and it might be just this one drive but it's rather noisy. I also have this and in my experience it has worked much better (mostly faster) than the NEC: http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827130036

The other is black and the other is beige, pick your colour.

billbillw

Greg,
Please tell us exactly what model Aopen burner you are using. I want to look into this. If it is the DRW8800, then it should make perfectly good burns, unless it is defective.

I disagree with Sami, I've built more than a dozen computers and burnt more than 100 dvds and 1000s of CDs.
I've used everything from the top quality Verbatim media to the cheapest GQ stuff from Fry's, and everything in between. For the most part, I've had 100% success after a short learning curve in the beginning.

Most of the "no name" burners are just re-badged from one of 3 or 4 major manufacturers and are of the same quality. All of the burners out there should do their job correctly 99% of the time, unless they are defective.

Greg would be better off spending money on more RAM 1st, if that doesn't solve the problem, he will still have a more stable/faster computer to work with in the future.