DVD Burner

[xSlyPandax]

Hi All,

Another big question for you all...

Im buying or possibly being bought a DVD burner for my birthday on the 23rd to finally move on from CD's

BUT, i dont really know what im looking for. Ive froogled and ebayed for DVD burners (they have to be black unfortunatley, i have a Dell Dimension and im obsessed with stuff looking good). What speeds on different mediums are good? I dont know where to start its so confusing when you want to buy something you know nothing about and i dont want to make a balls - up of it by buying something highly insufficient and getting ripped off.

So any advice/tips/help you can give me is greatly appreciated,

From Ken

[PC-GUY]

Best drive for the money hands down is Benq.
Best signal layer media (+or-) by far is TY.
Best Dual Layer Media Verbatim.
Good luck.

[xSlyPandax]

so... im kerfuffled. Whats the differrence between signal (or was that meant to be single?) layer media and dual layer media?

[The-poacher]

Single 4.7 GB
Dual layer 9GB (approx) (has two layers to burn onto) (like commercial DVD's but they are pressed not burnt) <> means U can get a full DVD with menus & directors comments etc on media without compressing

[xSlyPandax]

Right, so dual layer media is best? Also more expensive im guessing. What speed is average?

[LTR12101B]

Dual layer is far from "BEST" - you would use it ONLY when it is essential to get 9GB on a single disk, such as backing up a double layer original without using recompression.

I have an 11 CD clipart set, I could try to assemble a DVD of that on a double layer, but I'll divide it to 2 singles instead.

Writing speeds on double layer are considerably slower - I belive the media is still only rated "2.4X", though many drives are capable of writing it at 4X.

For your main media, good quality 8x or 16x is the way to go, unless in an all-fired hurry, I wouldn't other paying extra for 16x - many drives can take the better 8x media up to 12x with acceptable results and a total time not much longer than 16x - a law of diminishing returns.

TY media (so long as it's genuine TY or a genuine rebrand - there's a lot of "fake TY" around) is excellent. The keyword often used on forums is MIJ - (Made In Japan) - if it is, then it's usually TY. MIT (Made In Taiwan) is usually greeted with a groan.

You can get lucky with cheaper media, but it tends to blow hot and cold... RITEK seems to be a name synonymous with both good and bad media, with the best grade of the old G04 in a drive that liked it, being great, and the worst grade being unusable, Their G05 (8x, often derated to 4x) has been less than spectacular, with lifespan problems already showing up.

And of course, time to mention the E-net group... Datawrite, DataSafe, Ridisc, Bulkpaq - on one forum, they love to hate them.
It cannot be denied that they are BUDGET media, not premium grade, and some versions are pretty poor in some drives. However, the Yellow classic DVD-R 8x (CMC MAG AE1 code) works pretty well in NEC and Pioneer, and probably no better or worse than any other CMC coded media - CMC has a checquered reputation as well, having been responsible for some truly awful CD-R media.

TY (Taiyo Yuden) have so far had an exemplary record, but it seems they too may be heading downward, with their "value line" not really matching previous high standards.

It's still the brand to go for, if you want the best chance for a long lasting burn - if the burn is a "working copy" and can be replaced, it's not so critical, but anything that has to be saved, should be burned seceral times on different media, stored cool, dry and dark, and verified occasionally.

If you put away a box of photos and scans on recorded media, I'd be more confident of finding the paper photos in usable condition after 10 years.

[VIPER_1069]

Best drive for the money hands down is Benq.
Best signal layer media (+or-) by far is TY.
Best Dual Layer Media Verbatim.
Good luck.

sly lives in the same town as me and its pretty hard pushed to get TY here ... the popular brand here is RITEK G05 which is a good brand in itself i use em all the time and never have any bother at all

[PC-GUY]

sly lives in the same town as me and its pretty hard pushed to get TY here ... the popular brand here is RITEK G05 which is a good brand in itself i use em all the time and never have any bother at all

VIPER have you scaned any of your Ritek DVDs after 6 months of age? Cause I hear that Ritek G05 has a short life after they have been burned.

[VIPER_1069]

VIPER have you scaned any of your Ritek DVDs after 6 months of age? Cause I hear that Ritek G05 has a short life after they have been burned.

they read and write fine and some are upto almost a year old now

never give me any bother at all mate

[PC-GUY]

they read and write fine and some are upto almost a year old now

never give me any bother at all mate

But have you scanned them at any time?
I ask cause I seen PF & PI errors multiply over time and you can still read the disc.