booktype?

google....

in brief, every DVD has a field that tells the player what type of DVD it is - this field is called the booktype. commercially stamped DVD's have a booktype of DVD-ROM, burnable DVD's have by default a booktype that reflects the type of media, -R, +R, +R DL, etc. +R media allows the burner to specify what booktype to write - if the burner supports doing this.

--Scott

Thank you Scott.

I can't google till I get rid of the spyware that has hijacked my searches and sends me to all kinds of places I don't want to be; I'm working on it, but so far no luck.

Are there some settop players that play the various burnable DVD booktypes? Is it just hit and miss?

Yes, most set top players being made today will at least play -R and many being sold will play +R as well.

If you want to burn +R DL then getting a burner that allows you to set the booktype to DVD-ROM is going to be manditory, since +R DL is such a new media (and has a new booktype).

In general, -R media is compatible with roughly 90% of the players out there. +R is probably 80-85% and +R with a booktype of DVD-ROM approaches 100%

Sorry to hear about your spyware difficulties.

--Scott
.

The NEC burners are pretty nice the 3450a or 3550a.

Thanks, y'all.

If anyone has further suggestions as to brand and model # I'd appreciate hearing them.

I've had three Pioneer burners, a 104 (2x), a 105 (4x), and my current 107 (8x). All three have been utterly bulletproof and I've burned about a thousand DVD-R blanks on them combined since 2002.

I have no experience burning at 16x, but I have no interest in doing so; the media I use is Ritek G05 and is rated for 8x. Furthermore, burning at 16x buys you very little decrease in burn time, for example: 1x=1hr, 2x=30min, 4x=15min, 8x=8min, 16x=6min. This nonlinearity has to do with maximum disk rpms.

All the burners you can buy these days are + and - compatible, and also are dual-layer. I don't fool around with dual-layer, on the premise that dual-layer is FAR from universally compatible with all the settop DVD players out there. I also don't burn the (+) format, again on the premise that it's not quite as compatible as the (-) format. Of course, others may have different experiences.

> I've had three Pioneer burners, a 104 (2x), a 105 (4x), and my current 107 (8x). All three have been utterly bulletproof and I've burned about a thousand DVD-R blanks on them combined since 2002.

Ditto. I’ve had the Pioneer 104, 106 and my current the 110 and they have worked flawlessly for me too. I don’t even think about it anymore. I just buy the next Pioneer that comes out. Rock solid performance.

~jr

Should I be looking at dual-layer? What should I be looking for in terms of speed?

Berenberen,
Dual layer has a relatively high failure rate and is simply not yet ready for prime time. The most recent study by VSO confirms this. Some of the LG, NEC, and Pioneer drives seem to have been reliable for many people according to that study. The NEC burner they mention is what I have in my stand alone DVD duplicator, although it has since been replaced with other models.
Interestingly, there has been a change in terms of the general reliability of DVD+R vs DVD-R with DVD+R slighly edging out the DVD-R for the first time.

John

The NEC 3550a has the highest reviews at present and Tigerdirect.com has them for $49.99 less $10 rebate for a net $39.99 - full retail box (not OEM). Very good deal and a great burner.

Duncan

I see two 3550 NEC burners on tiger direct; one says "OEM dvd burner"; the other says "retail box dvd burner". Price is basically the same. What's the difference between OEM and retail box?

Haven't actually checked their site but generally OEM is the drive alone...no software, manuals, cables, etc. Retail is with all normal accesories.

I bought all the NEC drives for my DVD duplicator from XPCGEAR. Currently the price of the 3550 is $39.99. Shipping is around $7.00. No tax. Supermediastore has it for $46.55 delivered after you apply the coupon and add the shipping. Why bother with Tiger Direct's dumb $10 rebate when you can get it for less from the other two vendors with NO rebate hassle. ZipZoomFly (another great vendor) has it for $46.50 delivered with free 2nd day air.

John

I would agree - thanks for the link John.

Edit: TigerDirect's price is for the full retail box with cables and Nero Express so it would be a bit better deal but must deal with $10 rebate for the $39.99 price.

The link you provided is OEM only.

Duncan

There is a lot of good advise here. I use a Sony Firewire external and burn consistantly at 8x with not one misfire. I own two Sony DVD/CD burners. Both are IDE naturally but one was converted to a firewire interface since I have no more room on the buss for an interal DVD. I cannot actually think of a time even before DVD burners were avaialbe when I burned CD and have never had an issue with the Sony products.

I have also had good luck with media compatiblity on the Sony DRU-510a and 710 drives but have had two CD-R laser failures on one each of the drives. They will burn DVDs flawlessly but will no longer burn a CD-R of any type/shape/form.

Duncan