DVD recordable formats?

4lex · 20th May 2002, 23:38

I've noticed DVD writers (used in a general sense to cover all formats) have come down in price loads of late - what's the best format to go for for value and compatibility?

Cheers,
Alex

ulfschack · 21st May 2002, 15:17

dvd-rw and dvd+rw are the two standards competing for dominion. We don't know as of yet who's gonna win. Dvd-ram is out ... at least from a video perspective.

currently the dvd-rw people have the edge in that that the dvd+rw people haven't released any write-once-media like dvd-r (but it's in the pipe)

Both dvd-rw and dvd+rw medias suffers from incompatability issues with most stand-alones. I've seen figures of about 30% comp.

So if you can't wait to burn dvds readable in most players dvd-rw is the way to go. Personally my money's on dvd+rw, and dvd+r will soon be out. But then again I wouldn't mind having double layer burners either ... and that's probably years away still.

cheers

mpucoder · 21st May 2002, 17:40

Just to bring this a little more up-to-date: DVD+R is available now. The HP DVD200i is available in stores (CompUSA, Circuit City, and Best Buy), the media itself is a little slow to arrive, but is being manufactured.
Side note: anyone who owns an HP DVD100i - you have until June 30th to trade it in for the new drive (it will NOT ever support DVD+R)

4lex · 21st May 2002, 18:00

thanks for the info both.

ulfschack · 22nd May 2002, 09:45

Yeah, thanks for the update. You wouldn't happen to know about anything about double layered DVD-R/+R would you? Couldn't make head or tail of it myself last time I checked the internet.

cheers

mikeathome · 22nd May 2002, 10:49

Hi,

DVD+R/+RW is going to win. Microsoft has announced to officially support it in their next products. And as Microsoft ALWAYS wins (due to our stupidity, myself included) guess what will happen to everything which is supported (or not supported) by them.

Bad luck for all of us Pioneers ;-) ...

... who cares

have a nice one, mike

Doom9 · 22nd May 2002, 11:28

couple of additional points to be considered.

When it comes to the installed userbase of "private" users DVD-R/W seems to be currently ahead. Price and availability of the blanks for that format are also currently better. On the other hand, there's very few manufacturers (Pioneer essentially owns the market), drives are slower (2x speed is the maximum, DVD+R/W can do 2.4x) and only few of the large OEMs support the format. Also, from a technical point of view the DVD+R/W technology should be more compatible. While the difference doesn't seem to be too big for PC applications when it comes to standalone DVD writers DVD+R/W has a few more distinctive advantages.. it was pretty much designed with that application in mind. If you read reviews of standalone DVD recorders you'll note that often DVD-R/W based models have different modes, and only the less powerful one is compatible with standalones.
DVD+R/W has Microsoft's blessing (though what that really means nobody knows.. and Microsoft has already supported DVD-RAM

and it has more OEM support but a drawback is that they don't have the blessing of the DVD forum but personally I don't think that's too much of an issue.. I don't care much about having the official DVD logo on my writer and disc as long as they can be played in DVD-ROMs and standalone DVD players.

So, consider all that has been said above and put this into the mix: DVD burners will likely go thru the same development as CD burners have. That means that within 2 years you'll pretty much have to buy a new burner anyway or have to live with really long burning times and less features. So.. assuming that you invest in one format now.. most of the discs you're going to use are recordable, not rewriteable. And once you've written these discs it no longer matters which technology they are. So say after 2 years your investment into the burner has been amortized and you're about to get a new one. All you stand to lose if you should change the format is a couple of rewriteable blanks.. that isn't too bad imho.

trbarry · 22nd May 2002, 15:02

I have no idea which format will eventually win. But what fascinates me is the recent rapid price drop in the ratio of DVD-RW/DVD-R prices.

It used to be you would pay a premium to be able to rewrite the discs. But now it's about the same. Yesterday I ordered 45 DVD-RW's from QTCCDR.Com for less than $65, including shipping. That is really no more than the price of cheap DVD-R's.

There may be a downside there somewhere but standalone compatibility is not a priority for me, even if it was an issue to some folks.

- Tom

ulfschack · 22nd May 2002, 15:05

Typo? Or did the rw's really cost one and a half buck a piece!?

sandman666 · 25th May 2002, 00:39

Well Dudes....this kinda reminds me of the old days when there was a war going on between VHS and BETAMAX for the lead in the market,sadly the better format lost(beta)and vhs became the norm,only this time i think IMHO that the better format will be hear to stay(DVD+R/RW),it has to much going for it in every way to loose,the drives are far superior to DVD-R/RW and the features on these new machines are superb....im new to dvd and i for one am going for the new SONY DRU120A DVD+R/RW,and placing all my chips on the DVD+R/RW format to win....>YA PAYS YA MONEY AND TAKES A CHANCE<

LATERZ DUDEZ.

trbarry · 25th May 2002, 05:00

Quote:

Typo? Or did the rw's really cost one and a half buck a piece!?

Usually I would check www.pricewatch.com and select media/other. But in this case I ended up at
www.qtccdr.com

- Tom

b0b0b0b · 28th May 2002, 04:09

Thanks for this discussion. I just bought a HP DVD+RW 200i because of it.

tyee · 29th May 2002, 22:36

Quote:

Originally posted by mpucoder
Just to bring this a little more up-to-date: DVD+R is available now. The HP DVD200i is available in stores (CompUSA, Circuit City, and Best Buy), the media itself is a little slow to arrive, but is being manufactured.
Side note: anyone who owns an HP DVD100i - you have until June 30th to trade it in for the new drive (it will NOT ever support DVD+R)

Do I contact HP directly or will any HP reseller take my HP100i?

tyee

b0b0b0b · 31st May 2002, 18:09

For those of you stuck with older DVD100i drives that can't use DVD+R media, HP offers an upgrade program (Web site): Send in your old drive plus $99 by June 30, 2002 (in the U.S.), and you'll get a new DVD200i drive complete with software.

http://www.hp.com/cposupport/informa.../lpg41420.html

tyee · 4th June 2002, 20:20

Geez, just ordered my 200i yesterday and got it this morning. Overnight delivery eh? Great Service eh?

tyee eh!

20th May 2002, 23:38	#1 \| Link
4lex Registered User Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 36	DVD recordable formats? I've noticed DVD writers (used in a general sense to cover all formats) have come down in price loads of late - what's the best format to go for for value and compatibility? Cheers, Alex

22nd May 2002, 11:28	#7 \| Link
Doom9 clueless n00b Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: somewhere over the rainbow Posts: 10,579	couple of additional points to be considered. When it comes to the installed userbase of "private" users DVD-R/W seems to be currently ahead. Price and availability of the blanks for that format are also currently better. On the other hand, there's very few manufacturers (Pioneer essentially owns the market), drives are slower (2x speed is the maximum, DVD+R/W can do 2.4x) and only few of the large OEMs support the format. Also, from a technical point of view the DVD+R/W technology should be more compatible. While the difference doesn't seem to be too big for PC applications when it comes to standalone DVD writers DVD+R/W has a few more distinctive advantages.. it was pretty much designed with that application in mind. If you read reviews of standalone DVD recorders you'll note that often DVD-R/W based models have different modes, and only the less powerful one is compatible with standalones. DVD+R/W has Microsoft's blessing (though what that really means nobody knows.. and Microsoft has already supported DVD-RAM and it has more OEM support but a drawback is that they don't have the blessing of the DVD forum but personally I don't think that's too much of an issue.. I don't care much about having the official DVD logo on my writer and disc as long as they can be played in DVD-ROMs and standalone DVD players. So, consider all that has been said above and put this into the mix: DVD burners will likely go thru the same development as CD burners have. That means that within 2 years you'll pretty much have to buy a new burner anyway or have to live with really long burning times and less features. So.. assuming that you invest in one format now.. most of the discs you're going to use are recordable, not rewriteable. And once you've written these discs it no longer matters which technology they are. So say after 2 years your investment into the burner has been amortized and you're about to get a new one. All you stand to lose if you should change the format is a couple of rewriteable blanks.. that isn't too bad imho. __________________ For the web's most comprehensive collection of DVD backup guides go to www.doom9.org

25th May 2002, 00:39	#10 \| Link
sandman666 RIPP DAT MOFO Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 21	There Can Be Only 1. Well Dudes....this kinda reminds me of the old days when there was a war going on between VHS and BETAMAX for the lead in the market,sadly the better format lost(beta)and vhs became the norm,only this time i think IMHO that the better format will be hear to stay(DVD+R/RW),it has to much going for it in every way to loose,the drives are far superior to DVD-R/RW and the features on these new machines are superb....im new to dvd and i for one am going for the new SONY DRU120A DVD+R/RW,and placing all my chips on the DVD+R/RW format to win....>YA PAYS YA MONEY AND TAKES A CHANCE< LATERZ DUDEZ.

21st May 2002, 15:17	#2 \| Link
ulfschack Registered User Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Sweden Posts: 418	dvd-rw and dvd+rw are the two standards competing for dominion. We don't know as of yet who's gonna win. Dvd-ram is out ... at least from a video perspective. currently the dvd-rw people have the edge in that that the dvd+rw people haven't released any write-once-media like dvd-r (but it's in the pipe) Both dvd-rw and dvd+rw medias suffers from incompatability issues with most stand-alones. I've seen figures of about 30% comp. So if you can't wait to burn dvds readable in most players dvd-rw is the way to go. Personally my money's on dvd+rw, and dvd+r will soon be out. But then again I wouldn't mind having double layer burners either ... and that's probably years away still. cheers

21st May 2002, 17:40	#3 \| Link
mpucoder Moderator Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 3,530	Just to bring this a little more up-to-date: DVD+R is available now. The HP DVD200i is available in stores (CompUSA, Circuit City, and Best Buy), the media itself is a little slow to arrive, but is being manufactured. Side note: anyone who owns an HP DVD100i - you have until June 30th to trade it in for the new drive (it will NOT ever support DVD+R)

21st May 2002, 18:00	#4 \| Link
4lex Registered User Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 36	thanks for the info both.

22nd May 2002, 09:45	#5 \| Link
ulfschack Registered User Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Sweden Posts: 418	Yeah, thanks for the update. You wouldn't happen to know about anything about double layered DVD-R/+R would you? Couldn't make head or tail of it myself last time I checked the internet. cheers

22nd May 2002, 10:49	#6 \| Link
mikeathome Registered User Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 425	Hi, DVD+R/+RW is going to win. Microsoft has announced to officially support it in their next products. And as Microsoft ALWAYS wins (due to our stupidity, myself included) guess what will happen to everything which is supported (or not supported) by them. Bad luck for all of us Pioneers ;-) ... ... who cares have a nice one, mike

22nd May 2002, 15:02	#8 \| Link
trbarry Registered User Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Gainesville FL USA Posts: 2,092	I have no idea which format will eventually win. But what fascinates me is the recent rapid price drop in the ratio of DVD-RW/DVD-R prices. It used to be you would pay a premium to be able to rewrite the discs. But now it's about the same. Yesterday I ordered 45 DVD-RW's from QTCCDR.Com for less than $65, including shipping. That is really no more than the price of cheap DVD-R's. There may be a downside there somewhere but standalone compatibility is not a priority for me, even if it was an issue to some folks. - Tom

22nd May 2002, 15:05	#9 \| Link
ulfschack Registered User Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Sweden Posts: 418	Typo? Or did the rw's really cost one and a half buck a piece!?

28th May 2002, 04:09	#12 \| Link
b0b0b0b Registered User Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 261	Thanks for this discussion. I just bought a HP DVD+RW 200i because of it.

31st May 2002, 18:09	#14 \| Link
b0b0b0b Registered User Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 261	For those of you stuck with older DVD100i drives that can't use DVD+R media, HP offers an upgrade program (Web site): Send in your old drive plus $99 by June 30, 2002 (in the U.S.), and you'll get a new DVD200i drive complete with software. http://www.hp.com/cposupport/informa.../lpg41420.html

4th June 2002, 20:20	#15 \| Link
tyee Registered User Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 416	Geez, just ordered my 200i yesterday and got it this morning. Overnight delivery eh? Great Service eh? tyee eh!