Burning DVD's

RWatts wrote on 7/26/2003, 4:15 PM

I need advice on upgrading software and hardware so I can burn DVD's. Here is what I have been using to make short (40 min) movies on VHS tapes from miniDV:
Dell Dimension 8200, Windows XP Home Edition
2.0 Ghz P4 Processor
512 meg P800 RDRAM
80 gig 7200 rpm Maxtor system drive
SoundBlaster Pro16 sound card
GeoForce3 64megTi200 graphics card
24x/10x/40x CD-RW Drive with Roxio easy CD Creator
16X Variable DVD-Rom Drive
DVI Mojave and Dazzle break-out box
VideoWave 4
VideoFactory 2.0c
Canon ZR30MC Videocamera with dv, S-video and analog cables, Smartmedia cards

I guess I need to upgrade my CD Craetor to DVD level, is Roxio the best bet?
And then I need a DVD burner that I can install myself.
Any advice is welcome.
Many thanks,
Reg

Comments

JohnnyRoy wrote on 7/28/2003, 6:31 PM

I would wait on the software and get the DVD burner first since most come with software. I have a Pioneer DVR-A03 for over a year and its been working great. The latest Pioneer A06 burns both DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW and comes with an impressive suite of software. The Pioneer A05 can be gotten for as little as $199 now that the A06 is out. Shop around.

~jr

RWatts wrote on 7/29/2003, 10:56 AM

Thanks JR, I never thought about the bundled software. Did you install the Pioneer yourself? Any problems? It ooks like I've got a spare bay, or I could always remove the DVD Rom drive.
Thanks again,
Reg

JohnnyRoy wrote on 7/29/2003, 1:52 PM

> Did you install the Pioneer yourself? Any problems?

Yes, I installed it as the master on my secondary IDE channel and had no problems. I just replaced my CD-RW drive. It was suggested that a burner be the master and not the slave and since my CD-RW was already a master device, I just unplugged the CD-RW and plugged in the DVD-RW.

> I could always remove the DVD Rom drive

Here is something to consider. Since the DVD Burner also burns CD-R/RW, you might wan to keep the DVD ROM drive in and replace your CD-RW drive. This way you can do a straight DVD to DVD copy without using your hard drive. This will come in handy when a family member wants a copy of a DVD you made. Just a thought.

~jr

pete_h wrote on 7/29/2003, 6:17 PM

JR, You wrote....

"This way you can do a straight DVD to DVD copy without using your hard drive. This will come in handy when a family member wants a copy of a DVD you made. Just a thought."

How are you doing this.... my method has been to "save to a folder" and then burn the folder using NERO.

If I could, I would rather burn directly from the DVD (my home movies, NOT commercial DVD's

JohnnyRoy wrote on 7/29/2003, 6:46 PM

My Pioneer A03 came with Prassi PrimoDVD 2.0, which has a disk-to-disc copy option. I don’t have Nero but I’m sure it has something similar. Perhaps in the Wizard mode? I looked on the Nero web site and saw a “DVD Copy on-the-fly” option. Perhaps that is how you do it. Even if it has a copy a CD option, you might try using a DVD and see if it copies it. After all, its just copying all the data from one to the other so the format shouldn’t matter.

~jr

RWatts wrote on 7/29/2003, 7:33 PM

JR
Thanks again, good thoughts!
Reg