Dracoro

is this a good device? I can get it for £60.

Can all dvd writers read/write region 1 as well as 2 etc.?

Anything else I need to look out for? software?

Iain Young

Looks a bit expensive to me, and it's a somewhat unknown brand. You can get an 8x dual format writer for the same price...

e.g. the NEC ND2500a. 59.98 (including vat)....

http://www.blankdiscshop.co.uk/acata...Section__.html
Iain

Dracoro

Thanks. the NEC does look better.

What about software for burning DVD's? Is multi region an issue?

Which is better format -R or +R? Will both play on normal DVD players?

Sub97

I bought the NEC one about a month ago - fantastic if you ask me. Burnt about 20 DVDr's now - all worked fine.

I've been advised to get ritek04's - they're supposed to be very good dics.

Let me know if you want more info mate.

Steve

Sub97

Software - I use Nero for burning everything I do - does everything perfectly.

-R and +R will both play in a DVD player, it just reflects which sort of drive they will work in in a PC - some are either -RW or +RW.

If you use DVD shrink to "backup" your existing DVD's it will take all the region checking out of the DVD anyway.

Jen_M

I have a Pioneer does all formats.

Sub97 - I use Nero as well do you every get error messages from InCD when logging off in Windows XP?

Jen

Iain Young

I use Roxio Easy CD/DVD creator, and it also works flawlessly

Sub97

Jen - nope. Which version are you using, a fairly recent one? Ive got 6.3.0.0 and its fine with me.

The only problem Ive had was opening mpegs or avi before deciding to burn them, and then the verification fails because windows still has a lock on the file, even though I closed it. I tend to do a reboot now before I burn things, just to be safe. And it hasnt happened since

Iain Young

Not entirely true. Some old standalone dvd players will not read the dvd+r format (I know because my old sony player wouldn't). Any machines made in the last couple of years or so should be fine with both formats though....

Iain

Jen_M

Sub97 6.0 think I will download latest updates and see what happens.

Jen

Sub97

Cheers Iain I didnt know that. I thought the only time it was a problem was writing - i.e. a - will only write to - discs and vice versa, didnt realise there were drives that just read one type too.

Iain Young

Yep. In fact there are some players out there that won't read either format (dvd-r or dvd+r).

I think though that dvd-r is supposed to be compatible with about 98% of players, and dvd+r about 95% (or something like that), so you're probably pretty safe with whatever format you choose

Dracoro

So do all/most of these writers read multi region DVDs?

When they 'write', do they write them as region x,y,z etc? or as region free?

Iain Young

Every dvd (video) I've ever written has been region free. Never tried burning a region specific disc (not seen the point)Iain

Scooby Dooby Blue

For a dvd-rw drive, i can't see past the Pioneer 10x range.
The 107 is available for £70 and the 106 cheaper still!
Both drives support +/- formats, the only difference in the two being the writing speeds.
The 107 supports 8x dvd burning and 24x cd burning.
The 106 supports 4x dvd burning and 16x cd burning.

If you're not too fussed about writing flat-out at 8x, i'd recommend the 106 as it's tried and tested as a bulletproof machine.
The 107 is still in it's infancy and as yet, there's no official firmware available to support 8x dvd-r writing.

As far as disk selection goes, Ritek GO4 prices have fallen to an all time low where a disk is roughly 50p now.
DVD-r is (as mentioned above), more compatible in standalone dvd players.
DVD+r is more compatible in PS2/X-Box consoles

If it's primarily data you're looking to back-up, there's no need to pay the extra for Ritek media. A budget disk would be fine (available from about 25p each)

For burning software, Record Now Max is an outstanding package.
Try downloading the evaluation version from the Orlogix website.

Happy burning...


Paul