Which DVD Writer?

[MrBlack]

I'm looking for a replacement optical drive, since my Hitachi DVD-ROM has croaked. Since DVD+(and/or -)RW drives are pretty cheap these days I want one of them, but I've lost track of what's any good and what's just generic.

I used to favour Plextor DC-RWs but I've had one of those die on me recently, too, so my brand loyalty is shot too.

Anyone know what factors/brands make a drive stand out from the rest?

MrB.

 

[Stimpy]

m00

Cow

m00

Pioneer 106D is what I have, buy one or else the cow gets it.

Or the 107 which is out but I know nothing about that except it's quicker

 

[babs]

I went for a Liteon 4x dual format. Cant complain at all, absolute bargain.

 

[MrBlack]

It appears that my cursory search for previous posts on "DVD wirters" didn't give me anything. Can't think why.

/me reads.

 

[xane]

I too have a Liteon 4x dual format, no problems at all. Dirt cheap too.
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=57137

In fact you can get the 8x one for dirt cheap too
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=59096

 

[Gengi]

Hijack

Hello People,
Apologies first to Mr Black for an attermpted hijack of his thread. Here is my problem. My father in-law wants to copy his dvd collection and use the back ups for viewing. These would be films etc, he went to PC world and the chap there pointed him in the direction of dvd shrink, a free software programme that allows the copying. He will need a dvd-writer and obviously some burning software, the dvd shrink site and links from it seem to say nero for burning as it will go directly to the burning software from the ripping software. Is this a reasonable approach or am I barking up the wrong tree ? any help or explanations would be most welcome. What comes out burned I think he wants to be able to watch on a regular dvd player in his living room rather than on the comp, will this have a bearing on the type of burner he needs to buy, I am thinking compatability here. Never having done any of this I am at a bit of a loss.

Gengi

 

[Stimpy]

I hope it's alright to talk about this, if not feel free to delete this mods

First of you would need a program such as DVD Decrypter to take out the copyright protection, it's freeware though I think so no problem.
There are alot of programs for shrinking but the chap your father-in-law spoke to was actually right (odd for pcworld ) DVDShrink is the way to go imo - best getting the beta version it's pretty solid and works well.
Then you can use something like nero for burning to the dvd or a program such as CopyToDVD.

As for compatibility Pioneer 106D, it's what most people use so you can't go wrong with it, really any will do though, I'd recommend taking out the menus and just copying the film itself though, that will make the dvd pretty compatible with any normal dvd player.

 

[Gengi]

Thanks,
I was not aware of any copy protection :-( I kind of thought it was like videos where if you had to recorders you could transfer the tape across. Or taping LP's and CD's to casette when car cd's were not as common. This will need some futher thought then as the father in law is not terribly happy at tech stuff and decryption sounds quite involved.
Any further advice would be appreciated but I will go with Stimpys' caveat if this discussion breaks the coc please delete the posts.

Later

 

[old.user4556]

Bear in mind that a lot of standalone DVD players don't play 'copied' discs created on said players above.

Tomshardware did an article on this, i'll dig it out and post it later.

G

 

[old.user4556]

This article is a bit old:

http://www6.tomshardware.com/storage/20031027/dvd_burner-40.html

It shows discs created using + and - formats, clearly minus is the way to go but you'll need to investigate compatibility for your in-law's particular DVD player.

G

 

[Clown]

Could I jump in here? What's the best (note: easiest, less hassle) way to back-up my DVDs to hard drive using decent compression? I wanna do sort of the same thing with my movies as I've done with my CDs.

I tried some websites (doom9 and some random ones) but I don't understand what they talk 'bout.

 

[Stimpy]

I'd just use the 3 programs I mentioned above really it's pretty simple, or 2 programs if you want to use nero or something to write the dvd.
DvDShrink and DvD Decrypter are all you need they are both extremley easy to use if you just want to made a copy with decent compression.
If you're going to have to compress the hell out of a dvd to make it fit on 1 DVD you can always use something like DVDXCopy and that can split it across 2 dvd's, personally I don't bother then though because it cost's about $50 or something

You can get into stuff like creating your own menu's and chapters, removing certain parts like trailers at the start of the dvd or removing certain special features on the dvd - all of which will give you more space on the dvd and so increase the quality of the film but thats where it starts getting a little more complicated. Just stick with those 2 programs to begin with and you should have no problem.

 

[old.user4556]

Could I jump in here? What's the best (note: easiest, less hassle) way to back-up my DVDs to hard drive using decent compression? I wanna do sort of the same thing with my movies as I've done with my CDs.

I tried some websites (doom9 and some random ones) but I don't understand what they talk 'bout.

Clown, I have a mate who does exactly this. He has a dedicated 120 Gb SATA drive to store his DVDs as DivX files which retain pretty good quality and the AC3 bitstream if you have a 5.1 (or 6.1) speaker setup. I'll get the name of the program he uses from him. He sets up batch jobs to extract from the DVD and then compresses it into a single DivX - apparently it's quite a lengthy process but worth the effort - he has a single DivX of the entire LotR trilogy (the first two parts extended) without interruption.

This is part of a home theatre PC setup.

G

 

[Clown]

Lovely. Let me know when you find out. That batch thing sounds just what I need because I'm clueless

 

[old.user4556]

It's a two step process.

You need DVD Decrypter to extract the vobs from the DVD and then using AutoGK you point it to the directory the vobs reside (that you've previously extracted). With AutoGK, you can select what type of compression (divx etc) and by how much. For what you want Clown, that'll basically create a single file from ripped vobs on the hard disk.

Look here for the appropriate tools.