Which Burner to buy?

[Jeff Mirage]

Hi I`m new to whole this DVD burning..

Which burner should I buy, here I think on the DVD-R / DVD+r, DVD-RW / DVD+RW option.
Which type is best and what are the difference between them?

[Oriphus]

Pioneer DVR105 or 106, nothing else :-)

[jmet]

I just bought a Sony DVD RW DRU-510A at Best Buy. Have to say I love it, have had no problems at all burning anything!

[DonBerg]

I bought a new OptoRite DVD+-RW drive for $159 last week. So far so good with various media I have tested using Nero6 software for burning. I have verified it with 4X DVD+R, 2.4X DVD+RW and 1x DVD-RW and -R, all have worked perfectly. The OptoRite reads DVD +- R and RW media at 4x whereas the Sony drives only read at 2x, so its a great bargain at about 1/2 the price of the Sony and faster too!

[nostradamus99]

Oriphus,

Have u used the program "DVD X Copy" with the Pioneer DVR105 or 106?

I'm looking at buying one of these puppies and want to know if the software works with this burner...

Thanks...

[Oriphus]

Yes, I have used DVD X Copy with the pioneer DVR105. You can alsways check out comatibility on the official DVD X Copy forum at the following address, though at $99 DVD Shrink does me fine ;-)

http://dvdxcopy.afterdawn.com

[nostradamus99]

Ok thanks,

I like DVD X Copy because it can make REAL 1:1 copies without sound and image quality loss.

I'm not familiar with DVD-Shrink...can this proggy do the same?

Thanks
- - - - - - -

[jmet]

I like DVD X Copy because it can make REAL 1:1 copies without sound and image quality loss

To the best of my knowledge, and im pretty sure im right. It WILL not make "REAL 1:1 copies" unless it is a DVD-5 with just 1 layer. Most DVD's are DVD-9 or high, meaning they are doublesided with 2 layers holding alot more than blank DVD recordable disc. ( like 7 or up to 13 Gigs). So unless the DVD you are copying is a DVD-5 a.k.a. 1 layer DVD, there is no way DVD X can cram all the data on to a blank DVD recordable disc. There are only 2 ways that I know of and those are: DVD X Copy can make an identical copy , but you would have to use 2 blank DVD Recordables. or somehow get your hands on those "DVD-9 a.k.a. 2 layer recordable disc which they do not sell to the public. Although you may not notice any sound or image quality loss, there is some.

DVD Shrink is by far the best program ive used for DVD backup purposes. and I have used DVD X Copy. I am pretty much on all the time and would be more than happy to show you around DVD Shrink.

[nostradamus99]

Hi jmet,

I read a lot of posts on the DVD X Copy forum and it seems that DVD X Copy CAN make a 1:1 transfer of a dvd but as you said you will need 2 or more Blank DVD-/+r discs. I never said it would use only one blank dvd. :D

With DVD X Copy you dont have the option to write everything to to only one DVD. You have to specify what you want to keep or not and it will burn it accross multiple DVD's without compression.

With DVD X Copy XPRESS you have the option to cram everything on 1 dvd but then the program uses (a lot of) compression.
take a look at :
http://www.dvdxcopy.com/support/faq/faqsupport.asp?Function=Question&ID=1263&CatID=9999

About DVDShrink:
Does DVDShrink also compress the audio ??? I don't mind losing a little quality with image but audio (in my opinion) should always remain untouched...

And also: which burners does DVDShrink support..

Thanks jmet

[jmet]

I apologize, I worded that wrong. You are correct you never said you were using just 1 disc for a 1:1 copy.

As far as DVD Shrink goes, no it does not affect the audio at all. Now, you have the option of which audio track you want. (Ex. Dolby Digital 5.1, 2.0, etc) What I do personally on mine is Shrink the menus and speacial features down to still pictures and get rid of the extra audio they have, and directors commentarys, etc. While leaving the main movie just like it is on the DVD when able, or very very slight compression. (Like 5%, which is not noticable)

There is actually 2 modes in DVD Shrink. Full Disk Mode and Re-Author Mode.

Full disk allows you to copy the entire disk with compression if needed. (As most of the time it is, considering its not a layer 1 DVD-5)

Re-Author mode allows you to keep only what you want on the DVD. You have the ability to remove the special features, menus, etc. therefore greatly reduecing the size of the target DVD.

[nostradamus99]

Is there a list out there of burners that DVDShrink supports?

[Oriphus]

It supports yours, thats for sure! ;-)

[oldguy]

Did you mention that DVD Shrink is FREE?

[Oriphus]

It sure is :D

[empiror22]

I have the dru 500ax (300+back ups) , which is fine and 510ax is a little better. the tdk 440n dual format is also very nice. as far as going DVD Shrink is the best to use. made back up of lotr two towers at 58% using DVD Shrink 3b5 and came very good with very little distorion.

[Oriphus]

i got lotr tt at 64% - get rid of the credits

[TheMonkeyBoyz]

I just purchased a Pioneer DVR-A06U drive and am learning how to use it.

I did this mainly because I wanted to add a THIRD Western Digital 120 gig SE drive to my system and I needed to buy some kind of Combo drive to meet the 4 IDE device limit that is standard (without adding another IDE controller via PCI, that is).

So, instead of just getting a CD-RW with DVD-ROM reading support, I caved in and bought the whole thing.

I have found that for copying DVD's that will fit on one DVD disk (DVD-5 - single layer) DVD Decrypter 3.1.6.0 works great. As long as the content is less than 4.37 gig, it seems to do a perfect 1:1 copy.

But for the DVD-9 types - the dual layered disks - it will not work. So, I discovered DVD Shrink. 2.3 would not work on my machine, but the 3.0 Beta 5 does.

I have been using Full Disk, and so far it seems pretty cool. I pretty much turn all the menus to STILL, deselect the other languages, deselect all but the standard STEREO sound channel ( I only watch 'em on normal TV's ) and that way I try to maximize the video quality.

I have been experimenting with different settings and using DVD-RW or DVD+RW disks to "test" how they play and work, then when I get it finalized, I plan to burn it to like a DVD+R or DVD-R. I use my Nero 5.5 with the guide at http://www.dvdshrink.info/nero-video.php, and that seems to work nicely.

Well, perhaps that is a ramble - but I'm trying to learn what up. I think I made a good choice on the drive, and I'm grateful to be able to find the software around that does the job.

So, questions remain - is there any reason NOT to use FULL DISK? I like the DVD's to remain fully functional - I just like to make backups in case kids or others scratch things up pretty horribly.

Thanks for any helpful comments. :)