DVD-writer - how to choose (ver 2)
Hi.
It's my first time to buy a DVD writer.

1) What do I need to know/notice when choosing a good DVD writer?
(eg what aspects/specifications do I need to focus on)


2) I know there're 5 DVD format all together (ie DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM).
In fact, what's the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW?
And does anyone think DVD-RAM is useful?
Should I try to find a DVD-write which can read all DVD formats?


3)
Maybe it's a stupid question.
a) But is it true all DVD-writers can read CD and VCD (Video CD)?
(ver2) *NEW* And is it true all DVD-writers support at least DVD+/-R, and DVD+/-RW?


4)
Which brand or model will you suggest me buying?
And why?

I would like the DVD-writer:
- stable (or longer warranty period)
- can read most discs correctly (and even lower-quality discs)
PS: I don't know, but some DVD-players (stand-alone, not for computers) have problems reading some discs while the discs is not corrupt or naytihng similar and can be read by others.
- writing speed doesn't need to be too high (since I repfer to write discs at lower speed)
- the noise factor is unimportant (unless it is too loud)


Info about my computer:
- my motherboard is A7N8X-X, only support up to 2*UDMA 133
- I have 2 HDDs and 1 CD-RW currently. I think the DVD-writer will replace the CD-RW.
- I don't use any firmware
- I use my DVD writers mainly for reading videos/audios, burning DVDs for videos/audios, and for file storage & data backups.


[ver 2] *NEW*
5) Dual/double layer writing tech
I've heard about double-layer writables.
What is it? What does it do?
What benefits does it provide?
How expensive will a DVD writers be if I wish to have such technology?
Can a normal DVD player (standalone, not computer) read this DVD written by this tech?

[ver 2] *NEW*
6) Region-code
As to region-code, I have a DVD-reader on my mobile computer.
It's strange that I can set the region codes for 4 times only. I can never change it afterward (even if I reformat my computer).
So if there's any way that I can eliminate the DVD-region trouble, or have a DVD writer which can read/write all DVDs with any region codes. It would be perfect.


Thanks for your help. :D

Do we have a budget to work with?

I heard good things about NEC. Plextor has a drive with an SATA interface if you need that. LiteOn makes good products for bargain prices. Sony is also supposed to be good.

I think they are all made by 2 or 3 primary manufactureres and just add their own modifications, so they are not very different from one another.

Regarding #3, all can read CDs, but VCDs can be problematic depending on how they were made.

wrote on May 12^th, 2005 at 10:06am:

Regarding #3, all can read CDs, but VCDs can be problematic depending on how they were made.

For example?
Would you mind giving me some examples and explain a bit?

ralph wrote on May 12^th, 2005 at 9:57am:

Do we have a budget to work with?

Not really.
It depends on the market.
And also it depends on whether it is worth spending extra. And how better it is.

Temporarily, I may accept sometihng between low-end nd mid-end. But if the quality difference between them is small or negligible. I may choose for low-end.



Quote:

I heard good things about NEC. Plextor has a drive with an SATA interface if you need that. LiteOn makes good products for bargain prices. Sony is also supposed to be good. I think they are all made by 2 or 3 primary manufactureres and just add their own modifications, so they are not very different from one another.

As as Plextor and SATA, my motherboard doesn't have SATA. So I cannot use SATA DVD drive, right?

Quote:

"... As as Plextor and SATA, my motherboard doesn't have SATA. So I cannot use SATA DVD drive, right?" ^-^ Wai_Wai ^o^

CLICK HERE to check out a combo PCI-to-SATA/IDE Host Adapter Card (no RAID capability) with both an external and an internal SATA port, PLUS an internal IDE/ATA port.  The internal SATA port can be used for either an internally mounted DVD burner or an additional internal SATA NCQ HDD, while the external SATA port can serve double-duty supporting a SATA DVD burner mounted externally in addition to an external HDD enclosure communicating via SATA (most external enclosure kits employing SATA communication harbor SATA HDDs, but at least one such kit has an IDE/ATA-to-SATA converter so as to mount an IDE/ATA HDD inside).

[glb]El Pescador[/glb]

I would get dual-layer. They weren't out yet when I got my DVD. It ups the disc storage capacity from 4.7 to 8.5 GB.

There are ways to get around the region code limitations http://www.google.com/search?q=dvd+region+code+hack

El_Pescador wrote on May 12^th, 2005 at 1:53pm:

CLICK HERE to check out a combo PCI-to-SATA/IDE Host Adapter Card (no RAID capability) with both an external and an internal SATA port, PLUS an internal IDE/ATA port.  The internal SATA port can be used for either an internally mounted DVD burner or an additional internal SATA NCQ HDD, while the external SATA port can serve double-duty supporting a SATA DVD burner mounted externally in addition to an external HDD enclosure communicating via SATA (most external enclosure kits employing SATA communication harbor SATA HDDs, but at least one such kit has an IDE/ATA-to-SATA converter so as to mount an IDE/ATA HDD inside). [glb]El Pescador[/glb]

Just a hesitation.

Is it worthwhile to spend extra money on a controller card for SATA? How good SATA is in comparison with UDMA?

Quote:

"... Is it worthwhile to spend extra money on a controller card for SATA? How good SATA is in comparison with UDMA?" ^-^ Wai_Wai ^o^

CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE to gain a perspective on SATA versus IDE/ATA/UDMA.  I might add that I purchased a Dell Dimension 8400 earlier this year as a gift for my youngest daughter, and it had a single IDE/ATA port on the motherboard serving two optical drives on the same ribbon cable while it had four SATA ports.  The only HDD onboard was a Seagate 160GB SATA.

BTW, even if you have a SATA port on your systemboard, you will still pay nearly half the delivered price of the PCI-to-SATA adapter for a SATA pass-through adapter shipped from most outlets.

[glb]El Pescador[/glb]

Nice link. Very informative.

El_Pescador wrote on May 12^th, 2005 at 8:45pm:

CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE to gain a perspective on SATA versus IDE/ATA/UDMA.  I might add that I purchased a Dell Dimension 8400 earlier this year as a gift for my youngest daughter, and it had a single IDE/ATA port on the motherboard serving two optical drives on the same ribbon cable while it had four SATA ports.  The only HDD onboard was a Seagate 160GB SATA. BTW, even if you have a SATA port on your systemboard, you will still pay nearly half the delivered price of the PCI-to-SATA adapter for a SATA pass-through adapter shipped from most outlets. [glb]El Pescador[/glb]

I know its technicl difference (1 is up to 150MB/s, one is 133/MB). But does it realy bring extra/observable difference to my computer?

After readng this post, it seems SATA is not really worth the money:


Quote:

UDMA, SATA, SCSI ~~ Doesn't really matter much *at this time*. (Except for overall configuration considerations regarding multiple drives per controller.) Contrary to popular belief SATA or SCSI drives are not any faster than UDMA.. Since about 1998/1999(~ish) the interface transfer rate means little *at the drive*. A HDD's transfer rate bottle neck is in the *mechanicals* of the drive and not in the *interface*. In otherwords... It doesn't matter if the pipe a move a 1000 gallons a minute if ~~ ~~ the valve can only let 10 gallons a minute in or out of it. ~~~~ The "Numbers" to look at for drives are the Head/Disk transfer rate. ~~~ Note: Maxtor and Western Digital no longer even provide this information in their spec sheets. Do you think maybe they DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW that the interface transfer rate is useless information??? ~~~~ Want a real comparison???? ................. Sustained (or Average) Head to Disc Xfer rates for different interfaces of Seagate drives: UDMA100 7200RPM ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ 58 MB/s 160GB, 8MB Cache ST3160023A SATA 7200RPM ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ 58 MB/s 160GB,8MB Cache ST3160023AS Ultra320 SCSI 10,000RPM ~~ ~~~ ~~~ 59.5 MB/s 146GB, 8MB Cache ST3146707LC FiberChannel 10,000RPM ~ ~ ~~~ ~~~ 59.5 MB/s 146GB, 8MB Cache ST3146707FC ~~~~ PCBONEZ

Although SATA is going to replace PATa in future, I am not supposed to upgrade my computer at this stage. First I need to buy 1 controller. Second it seems the extra bandwidth cannot boost up my DVD drives much.

I will leave this upgrade after a few years :P

Read this:
From http://www.tomshardware.com/storage/20030204/serial_ata-17.html

Quote:

...our feelings are mixed. In this exhaustive test of the first Serial ATA drive to be released onto the market, we were unable to discover any performance advantage over a comparable model with an UltraATA/100 interface. At present, our view is: Serial ATA is superior, but not faster than current parallel ATA solutions. It only makes sense to switch to Serial ATA if you feel that the problem-free cabling is worth it, or if you are upgrading a system and want to buy a drive that is as future-proof as possible. We will only recommend a complete PC with Serial ATA when the controller is included in the chipset - something we don't expect to see until the summer at the earliest. Otherwise our recommendation is to wait and see.

Look at the date. That article is more than two years old. Ancient history in the world of computers.

Amish. wrote on May 13^th, 2005 at 12:15pm:

Look at the date. That article is more than two years old. Ancient history in the world of computers.

Thanks for your mention.
So how about PATA now? Does it really give our computers a good boost, or is it just an illusion?

I've never thot about DVD burners in terms of 'performance'. Rather, I think the chosing is found in the *faetures*. I mean, all burners with the same with same features are going to preform similarly to each other.

Also to consider is that DVDs are still evolving. Unlike CD burners, which have now reached maturity, DVD are headed toward the dual-layer, dual-sided format (17-GB capacity, I think).

And features will cost you. If you want a dual-layer burner, it will cost more than a single-layer burner. In the end, the decison is yours .. as to which features you want and are willing to pay for.

For me, I would get a dual-layer burner, and the faster one possible, so as to future-proof myself as best as possible. But others might get a cheapo single-layer and wait until dual-layer burners drop in price. Prices usually drop on the previous models when the next stage (features) is released.

The core parts of the burner are all made by the same group of companies, so you aren't going to find many differences between various brands.

I've never been much for adapters. Many work fine, but I try to avoid them whenever possible.

I've always liked Plextor for optical drives. But they can be pricey. NEC is a very popular brand.

^-^ Wai_Wai ^o^  -

Think this through - your next PC likely will be configured like my daughter's new Dell Dimension 8400, i.e., it has only a single IDE/ATA port on the motherboard which can serve either two optical drives on the same ribbon cable or one optical plus an IDE/ATA HDD.  To enjoy two optical drives while bringing along an inexpensive legacy IDE/ATA HDD to serve in a SECONDARY role to the PRIMARY SATA HDD, the combo PCI-to-SATA/IDE Host Adapter Card (no RAID capability) with both an external and an internal SATA port, PLUS the internal IDE/ATA port, will prove quite handy.

Moreover, despite the multiple SATA ports on the systemboard, you will still need a SATA pass-though cable to serve any sort of external SATA device and the one-meter limitation on SATA cable length will curtail the mobility of said device as the length of the pass-through cable has to be factored in. Therefore, the combo card could conceivably have utility on your future PC after all.  To be quite blunt, everything I am purchasing nowadays to fit a PC must promise utility with likely systemboard configurations of the next generation.

[glb]El Pescador[/glb]

^-^ Wai_Wai ^o^  -

CLICK HERE to view a really 'off-beat' - but fascinating - implementation of SATA technology.

[glb]El Pescador[/glb]

hi, i would recommend liteon dual layer dual format dvd writers, cheaper than sony and a lot of sony dvd writers are liteon, just rebadged ,  dont opt  for  sata yet they have to many quirks, with any brand of optical drive , not to mention their motherboard probs.
And media without a doubt i only use ritek, taio yuden is very good media too, but too many are fakes , yes faked blank discs, there are a variety of disc inspectors which report on the actual media manufacturers. And i might add that currently only 80 % of dvd roms in pc's can read a multisession dvd, but all dvd writers can , if you are using xp, or older versions of windows you will need nero multimounting software (*its messy and erratic ) hope this helps, and if you are making photo cd's for your home dvd player, you can use cdrw discs almost all home dvd players will accept cdrw discs some times you may have to select pbc to on, on home dvd player have fun.