DVD or CD

[TAZ]

Ok, seems to be some contrast on how many people actually own a DVD drive so since this is such a popular forum, and in anticipation of probably the most popular game to be released this year, I thought I would start this Poll to settle an argument.

So here it goes..

Does your computer have a DVD, CD or both? (CDR's would be considered CD, and DVD-R's would be DVD)

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

Erm DVD drives can play CDs as far as i have seen

 

[TAZ]

Originally posted by marksmanHL2
Erm DVD drives can play CDs as far as i have seen

Yes they can marksman, but the question is, which one do you have in your computer, not the capabilites of a DVD drive

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

I get that but doesent the fact that they play both mean that the option for both in the poll is negated. I dont know you might actualy want to know who has both neway. So I will keep quiet

 

[Crptic]

I wish that hl2 would come on a dvd, if its more then 2 cds, i don't like having to switch disks during installs or while playing the game.

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

Oh and i just visited the forum where ur haveing the arguement, I support you btw. If you dont have a DVD drive the chances are the rest of the computer is not quite up to running half life 2 anywhere near something looking decent, which means most will upgrade neway, which means the extra £30 is nothing.

ahem

 

[worldspawn]

you're ****ing retarded taz. seriously.

 

[Axyon]

Originally posted by marksmanHL2
I get that but doesent the fact that they play both mean that the option for both in the poll is negated. I dont know you might actualy want to know who has both neway. So I will keep quiet

Yep. I just stupidly voted "DVD" without seeing "Both". It's an extra, useless option.

 

[Aethaecyn]

Err DVD's take longer to install? I mean I don't know that much about them honestly but most dvd drives i see on sites are crap like 16x, whilst my cd drive is 52x, based upon that resulting spin speed isn't it faster to install on cd being it takes about 4 seconds to replace a cd with another?

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

READ THE THREAD WITH THE ARGUEMENT FOR MY ALL FINISHING ARGUEMENT STATEMENT. ahem again

 

[TAZ]

Some people do have both in their computer.. So I thought it might be just a good 3rd choice .. thought of putting neither as a fourth choice, but seriously anyone with neither probably doesnt have a chance of playing HL2 and would be just voting for it foolishly

And thankyou, I don't know why anyone that has the funds for buying a game with multiple cd's wouldn't rather have one DVD to stop the hassle of swapping cd's everytime they install, and considering most games lately are 2 or more CD's it would only make sense. Consoles have DVD's to stop the disk swapping, why can't our computers? I wish I could vote more then once, because i have 3 computers capable of running HL2 and even my sons 550 mhz (which should on low settings hopefully) still has a DVD drive. My main computer has DVD and a CD-RW, my other 2 have DVD's. My daughters 486 doesn't have a DVD, but then again, I don't plan on installing HL2 on it

 

[Axyon]

Originally posted by Aethaecyn
Err DVD's take longer to install? I mean I don't know that much about them honestly but most dvd drives i see on sites are crap like 16x, whilst my cd drive is 52x, based upon that resulting spin speed isn't it faster to install on cd being it takes about 4 seconds to replace a cd with another?

DVD drives are usually 16x DVD and 48x CD. Sure, it's a little slower, but it's the fact that you get two capabilities in one that counts.

 

[Juds]

Even though DVD drives would be classed as 8x or 16x (or whatever) it doesn't mean it's CD reading capabilities are the speed. My DVD Drive, which I belive is 8x can read CDs at 32x (I can't remember the exact numbers - and im too lazy to find them). Im sure there's a decent technical explanation about the way the laser reads the different discs.

EDIT: Beaten to it, blah

 

[Aethaecyn]

rofl taz, why your daughter got a 486 dude? maybe they will dvd it for half-life 3

 

[Rabid Llama]

Originally posted by Aethaecyn
Err DVD's take longer to install? I mean I don't know that much about them honestly but most dvd drives i see on sites are crap like 16x, whilst my cd drive is 52x, based upon that resulting spin speed isn't it faster to install on cd being it takes about 4 seconds to replace a cd with another?

52X CD-ROM drives have been known to shatter CDs, though ;(
I'll stick with my much safer 40X.

Oh, and I actually DO have both -- a DVD drive AND a CD-RW drive (and about three older CD drives in the cabinet )

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

i thought there were two lassers lol, whatever!.

btw, i have a very nice habit of ending arguements.

 

[TAZ]

Originally posted by worldspawn
you're ****ing retarded taz. seriously.

Takes a grown man to use such big words on a gaming forum... proves my point that not all people should own computers also

 

[3DDuL]

Aethaecyn, the DVD's 1x speed is much faster than the CD's.
The DVD's 1x speed = 1385 kB/s and the CD's is something like 150kb/s.

 

[Aethaecyn]

Originally posted by Rabid Llama
52X CD-ROM drives have been known to shatter CDs, though ;(
I'll stick with my much safer 40X.

Haha yea, I accidently put a music cd on top of morrowind in their once and closed it, didnt look to see if anything was in it, WHIIIR SCHHCCCH CRAAACK is the noise it made, was hilarious..

 

[Aethaecyn]

Originally posted by 3DDuL
Aethaecyn, the DVD's 1x speed is much faster than the CD's.
The DVD's 1x speed = 1385 kB/s and the CD's is something like 150kb/s.

Oh, cuz i've never wanted a dvd drive cuz i saw the like 16 x and thought that was lame, rofl.. guess I know now

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

hahaha, thats hillarius. I am gona tell one of my friends to do that with couple of AOL CDs rofl

 

[Aethaecyn]

Originally posted by marksmanHL2
hahaha, thats hillarius. I am gona tell one of my friends to do that with couple of AOL CDs rofl

Everyone go here, http://www.powerlabs.org/cdexplode.htm, He is spinning cd's with a dremel tool to the equivelent of 175x, watch the movie its awsome

 

[TAZ]

I just want to clarify something.. I hold no grudges to these guys who ridicule the idea of having HL2 Special Edition released in DVD format and have lowered to name calling. I just wanted to state that considering that the popular media is becoming more widely accepted in the gaming community, mostly in consoles right now, and because of their capabilites of holding mass information, would only make logical sense for the PC gaming market to accept it also. No, disk swapping during install isn't that time consuming, but having to wait by your computer to install 3 or more cd's instead of going to making a sandwich without having to worry about it would just be so much better. Not having to store 2 gigs of game data on your HD (not too big of a deal for most) so you could do a minimal install so you have more space for more games makes sense also. I personally would rather see PC games with huge installs on a DVD so I don't have to fumble with those retarded multi-cd cases they come out with that break so easily. I am just one man with an opinion, I am not retarded, because a retard wouldn't ramble on so much about this subject.. or would he? Hmmm... well, I know this.. I am retarded for getting so involved over such a tiny issue.

 

[Tommmo]

I think manufacturers should embrace DVD technology now, CDs are on their way out in terms of data storage levels. The drives are extremely cheap now and come with nearly all new computers, so I wouldn't have thought that software companies would be limiting their audience too much. Atari (or the company now operating under its name) chose to release Enter The Matrix for PC on something like 5 or 6 CD discs...now thats just ridiculous, do it with DVD.

- Tommmo

 

[Radeon]

I would like to see it on a DVD, hate to change discs all the time.

 

[Axyon]

Originally posted by Radeon
I would like to see it on a DVD, hate to change discs all the time.

I'm going to bet that the other disks are required for the installation, and one is needed to run the game.

 

[FiShEh]

Originally posted by Aethaecyn
Err DVD's take longer to install? I mean I don't know that much about them honestly but most dvd drives i see on sites are crap like 16x, whilst my cd drive is 52x, based upon that resulting spin speed isn't it faster to install on cd being it takes about 4 seconds to replace a cd with another?

DVD Drives are fast or faster than most CD drives the 16x refers to the playback of the DVD

Edit - coff already been said :dozey:

 

[method04]

Atari (or the company now operating under its name) chose to release Enter The Matrix for PC on something like 5 or 6 CD discs...now thats just ridiculous, do it with DVD.

I agree that DVD should be used, but just to clear things up Enter the Matrix was only 4 cd Discs. Still a little too much though.

 

[Tommmo]

Thanks for the correction...heard it online a while ago - maybe message boards aren't 100 percent reliable!

 

[coolUK007]

1 speed DVD is equal to 4 Speed CD...... its faster.

I personally would like my game to come on a DVD..

 

[Kleptomaniac]

I only got a CD, no point in having a DVD in my computer, as I really prefer watching DVD movies on the big screen TV instead of the 17 inch monitor
Currently DVD's are useless anyway, unless you don't have a portable DVD. It's not like there are too many games using DVD anyway.

 

[RoyalEF]

I answered BOTH since I have a DVD & a CDRW. ALso early DVD drives were incapable of reading CD-R, CD-RWs so you had a period of time when you might want both.


Also, as the rotational speeds of CD drives increased they increased the level of heat CDs were subjected to. The heating/cooling can cause cracks and fractures, especially on the inner ring. Over time you may find that when the CD starts spin it suddenly explodes shattering into pieces inside the unit. I started hearing about this between 32x-40x Cds speeds.

I just spoke with a woman this week who has a Microsoft Office CD from her job explode in a brand new PC. SHe thought the manufacturer did something wrong and sold her a defective PC.

It is just chance that the CD you are using is cracked or stressed. I do recall a children's game (a broderbund title I think) that seemed to have a high occurence of shattering. Probably a manfacturing issue at the CD plant.

 

[Reaper978]

lol when I saw you guys going "wtf! 16x only! LAME!" I just burst out laughing. I am so tired of seeing people who know nothing about the comp.

 

[Mountain Man]

I don't have a DVD-ROM drive simply because I have had no compelling reason to purchase one.

 

[Mountain Man]

Originally posted by marksmanHL2
If you dont have a DVD drive the chances are the rest of the computer is not quite up to running half life 2...

This is a false assumption. I custom build my systems so my hardware is up to date. I have opted to not purchase a DVD-ROM drive simply because I don't see any reason to.

As for not having to swap CD's during installation, is that really such a big deal? I mean, you do it once during the installation process and never have to think about it again as you just use the play disk from that point on. And if you're having to reinstall your software to point that swapping CD's becomes a genuine inconvenience then you've some serious problems unrelated to the game shipping on multiple CD's!

 

[3DDuL]

Originally posted by coolUK007
1 speed DVD is equal to 4 Speed CD...... its faster.

I personally would like my game to come on a DVD..

Wrong =P

The DVD's 1x speed = 1385 kB/s and the CD's is 150kb/s.
4 * 150kb/s=600kb/s
The DVD's 1x speed is more like 9 times faster than the cd's....
:dozey:

 

[Punzz]

i mean who doesn't have a DVD drive? if not then buy one for like 30 pound ($50)

 

[Juds]

I would just like to say, it's about time we saw progression to the newer DVD Media, I remember 'back in the day' I used to swap about 5 or 6 diskettes around, I know it's not quite at that stage for CDs yet, but it would be nice for a high profile game like HL2 to set the standards to push newer hardware.

I must say though, it would be a tad dangerous from Valve/Sierra's point of view to take away a substantial percentage of its customer base.

 

[adio2001]

They should have a seperate release on DVD for those who want it. But that's not going to happen , I don't think games will be going to DVD media anytime soon. But when it does it will be a needed change.

 

[Kleptomaniac]

Originally posted by Punzz
i mean who doesn't have a DVD drive? if not then buy one for like 30 pound ($50)

Did you not read my post?
There is absolutely NO use for a DVD drive at the moment, *if you have a portable DVD player*. What am I going to do with it? I wouldn't pay 10$ for a DVD drive right now, not until more games will start coming out that support the media. I actually really hope games will start coming out on DVD's soon (getting sick of playing 4-5 CD games), but until that happens, getting a DVD drive is just a waste of money.