any of u own a DVD burner?

[bizzy420]

hey guys, i was thinking about buying a dvd burner for back ups. the thing is, i do not know anyone who has one. just a few questions:

1. do u guys think its worth having a dvd burner?
2. what programs do u use to make back ups? nero? dvdX? dvdshrink?
3.will most movies fit on one disc? i really dont need extra scenes or commentary or anything like that.

the guy at the store (FRYS) said that he bought a burner, but couldnt make back ups because of copyright stuff. is this true? I DONT HAVE MUCH MONEY so all comments negative or positive are greatly appreciated. i dont wanna purchase it, then find out only a few of my movies can be backed up.

THANKS

 

[Asus]

dvdrhelp.com
Ask them

I make backups onto SVCD/CVDs.
A DVD burner would be nice though and the cost of media is going down fast. A lot of people use Nero to burn DVDs. Although there are good programs that are fast and work very easily (hit one button and it copies/burns!) but may reduce some quality in the opinion of experienced users.

 

[bizzy420]

asua when u say u make backups onto SVCD, do u mean SVCD onto a cdr? or onto a dvdr? thanks for the link. i'll check it out.

 

[Asus]

SVCD/CVDs are on CDs.

 

[Shuzer]

1. do u guys think its worth having a dvd burner?

Depends what you want to do. If you want to backup large amounts of data, or burn movies, then yes. It's absolutely worth it. Keep in mind, a DVD burner also burns CDs, reads CDs, burns DVDs and reads DVDs.

2. what programs do u use to make back ups? nero? dvdX? dvdshrink?

Nero is a good program for burning DVDs. I use it myself, DVD Shrink is a great program to compress a DVD9 (dual layered) to fit onto a DVD5 (DVD-R)

3.will most movies fit on one disc? i really dont need extra scenes or commentary or anything like that.

If you can't fit a movie onto a disc, you can use a program to read it, compress it, and reauthor it so it's ready to be burned. DVD Shrink is what I would recommend, I've used DVD Shrink on countless DVDs now, worked great every time, lets you compress an 8GB (or around there) DVD onto a standard DVD-R.

the guy at the store (FRYS) said that he bought a burner, but couldnt make back ups because of copyright stuff. is this true?

Yes and no. There are programs, such as DVD Decrypter, that decrypt the copyright lock. I haven't used any of these programs myself, but I read up on it a little bit. It's very possible, and quite easy to do if you know what program to use and how to use it.

i dont wanna purchase it, then find out only a few of my movies can be backed up.

You should be able to back up all of your movies on a single DVD-R using DVD Shrink, it does a great job compressing, like I said above.

Get the burner, you won't be disappointed, I bought an NEC drive myself, and it's worked beautifully since day 1. Only downfall is the cost of DVD-Rs, they run for a little over $1 a DVD.

I DO NOT suggest buying DVD-Rs online, I bought a 30 pack and it's not compatible with my drive. That's $30 I'm not gonna get back.


To summarize my post, get the burner, buy it online as it's much cheaper than in stores (here's the one I bought: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=ND-1300A/GEN), and buy the actual discs in a store. Hope this helps :cheers:

 

[bizzy420]

yeah i have already made a few backups (SVCD) onto a cd, but for some movies it takes quite a few cd's...i'd like to just make a backup onto one dvd disc. thx for the help man. i appreciate it. that link is very helpful.


WHOA shuzzer, thanks man, you answered my questions perfectly. that drive is like 130bux, and its burns -/+R? thx

 

[Shuzer]

Originally posted by bizzy420
WHOA shuzzer, thanks man, you answered my questions perfectly. that drive is like 130bux, and its burns -/+R? thx

hehe, no problem Yep. The drive will burn - and +, I bought a 30 pack of DVD+R, worked without any problems.

 

[bizzy420]

shuzer, what type of media was it? have you had any problems using certain media?

 

[Shuzer]

It was generic, I've had no problems other than buying generic media from a generic website.

Like I said, buy it in stores, I've had no problems that way. All major/minor brands of media work for my drive

 

[bizzy420]

hey shuzer, sorry to bother you, but after compressing the video, do u lose alot of picture quality? also, does nero do 1:1 dvd copies? thx again.

 

[Shuzer]

You lose very little picture quality. It looks good for the compression to quality ratio

As for 1:1 DVD copies, yes it can.

 

[bizzy420]

hey shuzzer, whats your program of choice? what do u use most? nero? dvdxcopy?

 

[peterhoang2002]

wats difference in performance between 2mb buffer and 8mb buffer. does having a bigger cache really help?

 

[bizzy420]

peter i dont know, thats why im asking for help too

 

[peterhoang2002]

yup. im in the same position as you. i got the money but not sure if the technology for dvd burners are worth my money

ok i see that you have problems with some dvd-r discs but are all cd-r discs compatible?

o yea my hard drive only has a 2mb cache if that effects anything

 

[bizzy420]

peter ok today i burnt 2 dvds. it was VERY EASY, here is the link that basically walked me thru the whole process.

http://www.polarhome.com:793/~afonic/shrink.htm

i also think it explains the differences between -r/rw and +r/rw.
the disc i used were a memorex dvd+R, and i also burned onto a dvd +rw...both of them play perfect on my apex.

 

[Shuzer]

Originally posted by bizzy420
peter ok today i burnt 2 dvds. it was VERY EASY, here is the link that basically walked me thru the whole process.

http://www.polarhome.com:793/~afonic/shrink.htm

i also think it explains the differences between -r/rw and +r/rw.
the disc i used were a memorex dvd+R, and i also burned onto a dvd +rw...both of them play perfect on my apex.

Yeah, DVD+Rs are generally more compatible. However, I didn't mean to throw too much caution into the wind when I said I had problems with some DVDs.. anyhow, referring to 2MB vs 8MB buffers, I know the 8MB buffer is better.

I believe (I could be wrong) that the buffer is the temporary storage to transfer data, the larger the buffer, the faster the data transfer (again, I could be wrong)

Anyhow, apparently you already got your DVD burner, what one did you get, bizzy? And where'd you get it (you got it awfully fast)?

And, not that it matters at this point, but I prefer Nero, I also use NTI on occasion (although mostly just for CD burning)

 

[bizzy420]

actually i purchased that nec drive that you purchased, but i didnt get it at newegg. i usually get my stuff from new egg, but avlogic had a better price. it works great man. thx for all the help shuzer.

 

[peterhoang2002]

nice. how long does it usually take to burn 1 dvd?

thanks for tellign me what bigger cache does

and bizzy, does avlogic have a website?

 

[Shuzer]

peter, http://avlogic.com/

As for time to burn a DVD, at 2.4X it takes about 25-30 minutes to burn a full DVD

 

[Asus]

Originally posted by Shuzer
Yeah, DVD+Rs are generally more compatible.

DVD+R is a non-rewritable format and it is compatible with about 86% of all DVD Players and most DVD-ROMs.
DVD-R is a non-rewriteable format and it is compatible with about 91% of all DVD Players and most DVD-ROMs.
LINK

 

[bizzy420]

well peter, it really doesnt take that long to back up a dvd. oh yeah shuzer, thats the same burner you purchased, right?

 

[Shuzer]

Originally posted by bizzy420
oh yeah shuzer, thats the same burner you purchased, right?

yep

Originally posted by Asus
DVD+R is a non-rewritable format and it is compatible with about 86% of all DVD Players and most DVD-ROMs.
DVD-R is a non-rewriteable format and it is compatible with about 91% of all DVD Players and most DVD-ROMs.

I dunno, I've been told differently.. either way, the drive I got supports both, doesn't matter to me

 

[Asus]

Yeah they both are compatible with just about all drives.
They are both about the same price for discs but it varies.
And with dual format burners, there's no big fuss.