Gonna get the DVD..but which one?

marceggers wrote on 5/20/2002, 9:47 PM

Okay, I'm convinced that the only way that I'm gonna store my digital camcorder footage on something other than a digital tape is to put them on DVD. I give up trying top put them on VCD because the quality is horrific. Now that I've turned that corner I need to know which DVD format to use. Also, what would be a recommended model of DVD burner to purchase? I'm a father of four and saving/sharing these precious videos is as important as finding a good DVD burner that a family man can afford. Thank for your usual sage-like advice!

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 5/21/2002, 6:59 AM

Most people in these forums recommend the Pioneer A03 and A04.

the_ripper wrote on 5/21/2002, 2:09 PM

Have you tried SVCD's yet? I have played some in my new pioneer dv-440 and the quality is beautiful. I am not sure how they were made yet, thats my current objective. So far I have seen Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings to name a few. I guess the trick is to have an "easy to follow" recipe to make this type of quality with minimal steps. the_ripper

Simmer wrote on 5/21/2002, 3:40 PM

This is a plaguing problem still in the DVD world.
Of all the formats available, the ones that seem to be gaining the most
acceptance are:
DVD-R and DVD+RW (notice the - and +. They are totally different formats).

Which format you choose depends on how you want to use it.
If you want to show your DVDs on a home DVD Player you will need to make sure
that both your burner and player accept the same format.

In my research so far I've noticed that many DVD players coming out today support
DVD-R only (some DVD-RAM oddly enough). I've seen none yet that support DVD+RW but
that may change since I've heard that both Dell and IBM (if I can remember correctly) are putting there bucks behind DVD+RW.

If you choose DVD-R (a good one is the Panasonic DVD-R/DVD-RAM device).
If you choose DVD+RW then as mentioned above (Pioneer) is a good choice.

-Mike

BillyBoy wrote on 5/21/2002, 6:16 PM

Here's a few web sites that go into some detail about the new DVD+RW +R formats and which companies support it so far:

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/index.html

http://www10.giscafe.com/goto.php?http://www.dvdrw.com/

and a fourm to ask questions:

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/cgi/ikonboard/forums.cgi?forum=2

cheekers wrote on 5/24/2002, 5:29 PM

I'd like to echo the post that recommends the Pioneer A03 and A04. I bought the Pioneer 104 (the A04 bare with a really basic software package for about $350) after first trying out an HP DVD100i DVD+RW piece of junk.

HP's spin on their DVD100i and the +RW format was that it would be compatible with "most" newer DVD players. Well after trying out the burner, I could not make the disc readable in 5 out of 5 DVD devices in my home including a DVD-ROM in a newer HP laptop. It was a fast drive though, I'll give it that.

The Pioneer drive is decent, has never failed me during a write operation and I can play my videos on any of my DVD players.

BillyBoy wrote on 5/24/2002, 9:38 PM

Here's some tidbits on DVD +RW +R drives

HP screwed up big time on their 100i model, promising to have a firmware upgrade that would burn to DVD +R also. It didn't, couldn't and won't. For $100 more if your bought a 100i, you can get a 200i model (what I have) which works great.

Meanwhile Philips a few month back also came up with a model that said right on the box that it would do +R. It can't either. However, they will give owners a free upgrade to their newest model when it comes out, suppose to be next month for the states.