I've "heard" DVDs burned with those new drives won't be compatible with most DVD players....Is that true?
;)

Ooops. I meant to include this link in the original message. Guess I am losing my touch. :-)

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?&scriteria=AA28650

JBJones

Spot wrote:

I think there is a decimal missing there.

Nope.

NEC for $119
Sony for $150 - $200
Iomega for $250
Mad Dog for $80

I can't vouch for all of these companies (that "Sony" one looks pretty dubious to me...), but so far there's not one much over $250.

Rob

Drives are out there. Just read a review on a Liteon dual layer drive that got pretty good reviews.

The problem is the media. Verbatim offers a package with one dual layer disc and an assortment of 1-4x Rs and a couple of RWs. Other than that, i couldn't find any others.

Anybody else with any luck???

Galen

Some dual-layer disks are out there, but they are running about $10-20. There are other problems at the moment:

--it will take about 45 minutes to burn a dual-layer disk, even at the current maximum speed of 2.4x, since I've read that both layers have to be burned completely;

--single-layer disks are getting even faster, with 12x disks and burners now available (complete burn in 6 minutes);

--single-layer disks are rapidly decreasing in cost. I just saw that my beloved Ritek G04 disks are now down to $.50 each, including shipping.

For me, it's obvious that I won't be going to dual-layer for the next year.

Yeah, I am surprised that they came off this cheap. When I last talked to the Pioneer rep at Expo, he said they'd be in the 750 range. Dang! I'm shocked. Maybe with Blu Ray coming...it's scaring the manufacturers in to dumping?
that's cheap! Almost cheap enough to experiment with, except media is expensive, and no replication house will accept them for a while. Too early still.

Yeh, at newegg.com you can pick up the NEC DL for around $90 shipped. I have the previous model of this burner and have burned around 100 discs with absolutely no errors yet (knock on wood). I will be purchasing this DL burner very soon. As was stated, the media is not readily available yet and pretty expensive. I have heard that it will be readily available later this year (probably around xmas time). But for $90, this burner does the same as one that is not DL, burns DVD-R, and DVD+R at 8x...why would you not spend the extra $10-20 to get the DL option for the future?

B

Probably because the next gen DL drives will be better and cheaper. I'm in no hurry to ditch my ageing Pioneer 106. And personally, I won't be needing a DL until well into next year. So I can wait.

Peace,
Adam.

Even if they're still a bit dodgy for DVD production, nice backup medium, although they'll need to get the rpice of media down first.
From what I've heard the reason the rpice is so low is the rapid jump in the technology, 16x it seems is very close at hand.
Same source says that'll be the end of it, they cannot push the technology any faster. Main driver isn't PC burners, it's set top burners. You might think well they mostly only burn at 1x but what the manufacturers want is faster finalisation times.

Sure the drives are cheap, but the media I've heard is at about $22 a disc right now if you can find it. And the compatability so far has been absolutely terrible with these things. I'd wait at least another 6 months before even investing in this technology, there are still a LOT of bugs left to be worked out.

It appears that the dual layer discs are the +R format. Are they all that way or is it that the -

R just hasn't hit the market yet.

It appears that the dual layer DVD writers are the +R format. Are they all that way or is it that the -

R just hasn't hit the market yet.

I believe it cannot be done with -R technology nor can 16x. Could be wrong but the stories I'm hearing is that -R has reached the end of its life.
Not that I'm that excited by 16x or even 8x, long term readability will be a huge issue as the write speed is pushed up as the only way to this is to make the dye layer thinner.

Bob.

There should be nothing shocking about seeing these drives so cheap. They're essentially a software update, with minimal mechanical adjustments, getting the laser refocused to the additional layer and it's done.

Meritline sells Verbatim DL discs in a multi-pack. Something like 10 for $150 or so. Ouch.

From what I read there's nothing wrong with the -R format. The committee is just taking its time approving a fully compatible standard.

There is a new Burner King in town--the Pioneer 108. It has the ability to burn a +R dual layer disk at 4X, so an entire disk can be done in 23 minutes (both layers have to be completely burned, regardless of how much data is actually put on the disk). They say it will be available in the next month for around $200. The review is here.

Still, as for me, I'm waiting for (a) very high settop compatibility and (b) much lower media prices. I just ordered my latest batch of Ritek G04s (4X) for--ready?--$39.60/100 including shipping.

"From what I read there's nothing wrong with the -R format. The committee is just taking its time approving a fully compatible standard."

Another reason I still prefer -R over +R, I'd rather wait a little longer and make sure something works instead of putting something out on the market that obviously isn't ready.

The Pioneer 109 is $102 at: www.newegg.com

All I see on the site is 107 and 108...no 109

My appologies, it is the 108 that i was referring to. It's a typo.

Steve