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Thinking of joining the 21st century
Looking to buy my first DVD player soon - thought I might as well go for a DVD recorder to connect to my NTSC telly
Anyone got one to recommend and what are the pros / cons
Looking to buy my first DVD player soon - thought I might as well go for a DVD recorder to connect to my NTSC telly
Anyone got one to recommend and what are the pros / cons
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Tóm wrote:
> http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/product.php?
> product_id=745&session=4b4591289f731a4c675f0990c247d81c
>
> I ordered one of those. Under £100 for a 4X -R writer. Can't be
> bad...
Yeah its an good for the money. Cheapest I have seen for that model is around £120 so a good deal.
I am getting http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/product.php? product=BUR1023&main=&session=4b (space) 4591289f731a4c675f0990c247d81c
I paid a few quid less than the price on that site. Personally I wanted the Sony one as it offers both DVD +R and -R. Also has 8mb Cache when the Pioneer has only 2mb. Also CD writer is 24x instead of 16x. At the moment I have a 16x CD writer so I have now got a faster CD writer as well as a decent DVD writer.
Good buy though Tom for the Pioneer cheapest i've seen that drive.
> http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/product.php?
> product_id=745&session=4b4591289f731a4c675f0990c247d81c
>
> I ordered one of those. Under £100 for a 4X -R writer. Can't be
> bad...
Yeah its an good for the money. Cheapest I have seen for that model is around £120 so a good deal.
I am getting http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/product.php? product=BUR1023&main=&session=4b (space) 4591289f731a4c675f0990c247d81c
I paid a few quid less than the price on that site. Personally I wanted the Sony one as it offers both DVD +R and -R. Also has 8mb Cache when the Pioneer has only 2mb. Also CD writer is 24x instead of 16x. At the moment I have a 16x CD writer so I have now got a faster CD writer as well as a decent DVD writer.
Good buy though Tom for the Pioneer cheapest i've seen that drive.
Tom?
Tóm wrote:
> http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/product.php?
> product_id=745&session=4b4591289f731a4c675f0990c247d81c
>
> I ordered one of those. Under £100 for a 4X -R writer. Can't be
> bad...
Woooo! I was looking to order one of those earlier today from CDR-By-Mail - they have it at £159.
Is this a modded version or something? Only it says "Cooling fan removed" in the description.
And why the hell didn't this site come out when I searched for blank media a few weeks ago?! Their prices are pretty fantastic!
> http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/product.php?
> product_id=745&session=4b4591289f731a4c675f0990c247d81c
>
> I ordered one of those. Under £100 for a 4X -R writer. Can't be
> bad...
Woooo! I was looking to order one of those earlier today from CDR-By-Mail - they have it at £159.
Is this a modded version or something? Only it says "Cooling fan removed" in the description.
And why the hell didn't this site come out when I searched for blank media a few weeks ago?! Their prices are pretty fantastic!
http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/product.php? product_id=745&session=4b4591289f731a4c675f0990c247d81c
I ordered one of those. Under £100 for a 4X -R writer. Can't be bad...
Standalone VCR-type DVD recorder are way overpriced at the moment. I wouldn't bother with those...
I ordered one of those. Under £100 for a 4X -R writer. Can't be bad...
Standalone VCR-type DVD recorder are way overpriced at the moment. I wouldn't bother with those...
WòókieeMøn§†€® wrote:
> adrian wrote:
> Hopefully they will work on my recorder and play in my DVD player.
> Thought I would
> get +RWs as there my driver writes them faster than -RW
>
> Not a problem if you're backing up your own movies (which of course
> you ARE, because we don't condone piracy here...), but if you should
> ever lend these backups to a friend, +R/+RW media is compatible with
> fewer players than -R/-RW media.
>
> Just thought I'd mention it - but you probably already know! :-)
Yeah I know that :-). What I was saying was that I hope these disks actually work in both my recorder and my DVD player. Put one of the blank disks into my normal DVD drive and it acted all funny saying there was no disk. Building the PC tommorow so by tommorow night or Sunday I will know whether there ok. I got the Fast And The Furious on Region 1 and I think that actually fits onto 1 disk so I will have to try that out first.
> adrian wrote:
> Hopefully they will work on my recorder and play in my DVD player.
> Thought I would
> get +RWs as there my driver writes them faster than -RW
>
> Not a problem if you're backing up your own movies (which of course
> you ARE, because we don't condone piracy here...), but if you should
> ever lend these backups to a friend, +R/+RW media is compatible with
> fewer players than -R/-RW media.
>
> Just thought I'd mention it - but you probably already know! :-)
Yeah I know that :-). What I was saying was that I hope these disks actually work in both my recorder and my DVD player. Put one of the blank disks into my normal DVD drive and it acted all funny saying there was no disk. Building the PC tommorow so by tommorow night or Sunday I will know whether there ok. I got the Fast And The Furious on Region 1 and I think that actually fits onto 1 disk so I will have to try that out first.
adrian wrote:
> Hopefully they will work on my recorder and play in my DVD player. Thought I would
> get +RWs as there my driver writes them faster than -RW
Not a problem if you're backing up your own movies (which of course you ARE, because we don't condone piracy here...), but if you should ever lend these backups to a friend, +R/+RW media is compatible with fewer players than -R/-RW media.
Just thought I'd mention it - but you probably already know! :-)
> Hopefully they will work on my recorder and play in my DVD player. Thought I would
> get +RWs as there my driver writes them faster than -RW
Not a problem if you're backing up your own movies (which of course you ARE, because we don't condone piracy here...), but if you should ever lend these backups to a friend, +R/+RW media is compatible with fewer players than -R/-RW media.
Just thought I'd mention it - but you probably already know! :-)
WòókieeMøn§†€® wrote:
> The two formats are not compatible, so you can't use 'minus media' on
> a 'plus' drive.
>
> HOWEVER! The latest Sony DVD recorder drives for PC support both
> formats, so you can use whichever media you like.
Yep and I got one for my new PC. When ordering my Motherboard and Mouse from one place I saw 10 DVD+RWs for £16.76. Hopefully they will work on my recorder and play in my DVD player. Thought I would get +RWs as there my driver writes them faster than -RW and also can convert a movie and stick it on disc with out actually wasting a disc if the film is crap.
> The two formats are not compatible, so you can't use 'minus media' on
> a 'plus' drive.
>
> HOWEVER! The latest Sony DVD recorder drives for PC support both
> formats, so you can use whichever media you like.
Yep and I got one for my new PC. When ordering my Motherboard and Mouse from one place I saw 10 DVD+RWs for £16.76. Hopefully they will work on my recorder and play in my DVD player. Thought I would get +RWs as there my driver writes them faster than -RW and also can convert a movie and stick it on disc with out actually wasting a disc if the film is crap.
pb wrote:
> Also, the blank DVD's are half the size of most movies, giving you 1
> to 2 hours of top quality recording time, then it's downhill, quality
> wise, from there. It's a bit like Long Play on a video, but because
> of the quality difference of DVD this is far more noticable.
With the right software, you can copy a DVD (movie only) at 100% of the original quality, by removing all menus, extras and unnecessary audio and subtitles. What you create is basically a 'flat' disc - you insert it, it plays the film, then stops.
I recently did xXx - movie only, no extras - at full quality onto a single DVD-R. That's just under 2 hours long, and the copy is identical quality to the original, and still has the 5.1 audio.
It all depends on the quality/compression of the original. I also did Rollerball, which is a slightly shorter film, but required a little compression (about 14%) to fit on one DVD-R. When you're actually watching it, it's hardly different from the original - the only time you notice any real difference is when you pause it.
Something like Lord of the Rings would be poinless - at 3 hours, you'd need so much compression it would be unwatchable. But then, there is software that will let you split a film over two discs, if yu don't mind that.
Check out http://www.dvdrhelp.com/forum/userguides/141024.php
I recommend DVDShrink, DVD Decrypter and Pinnacle InstantCopy.
Also, pay attention to the type of drive you buy. As has been mentioned, there are two types of media - 'minus media' (DVD-R and DVD-RW) and 'plus media' (DVD+R and DVD+RW).
The two formats are not compatible, so you can't use 'minus media' on a 'plus' drive.
HOWEVER! The latest Sony DVD recorder drives for PC support both formats, so you can use whichever media you like.
There's also DVD-RAM, but steer clear of that - lower capacity, and not suitable for movies.
When it comes to buying blank discs, prices are high at the moment because there's a worldwide shortage of blank DVD media. Try http://www.cdr-by-mail.co.uk or http://www.blankdiscshop.co.uk
(Sorry SR, but your prices are way OTT!)
> Also, the blank DVD's are half the size of most movies, giving you 1
> to 2 hours of top quality recording time, then it's downhill, quality
> wise, from there. It's a bit like Long Play on a video, but because
> of the quality difference of DVD this is far more noticable.
With the right software, you can copy a DVD (movie only) at 100% of the original quality, by removing all menus, extras and unnecessary audio and subtitles. What you create is basically a 'flat' disc - you insert it, it plays the film, then stops.
I recently did xXx - movie only, no extras - at full quality onto a single DVD-R. That's just under 2 hours long, and the copy is identical quality to the original, and still has the 5.1 audio.
It all depends on the quality/compression of the original. I also did Rollerball, which is a slightly shorter film, but required a little compression (about 14%) to fit on one DVD-R. When you're actually watching it, it's hardly different from the original - the only time you notice any real difference is when you pause it.
Something like Lord of the Rings would be poinless - at 3 hours, you'd need so much compression it would be unwatchable. But then, there is software that will let you split a film over two discs, if yu don't mind that.
Check out http://www.dvdrhelp.com/forum/userguides/141024.php
I recommend DVDShrink, DVD Decrypter and Pinnacle InstantCopy.
Also, pay attention to the type of drive you buy. As has been mentioned, there are two types of media - 'minus media' (DVD-R and DVD-RW) and 'plus media' (DVD+R and DVD+RW).
The two formats are not compatible, so you can't use 'minus media' on a 'plus' drive.
HOWEVER! The latest Sony DVD recorder drives for PC support both formats, so you can use whichever media you like.
There's also DVD-RAM, but steer clear of that - lower capacity, and not suitable for movies.
When it comes to buying blank discs, prices are high at the moment because there's a worldwide shortage of blank DVD media. Try http://www.cdr-by-mail.co.uk or http://www.blankdiscshop.co.uk
(Sorry SR, but your prices are way OTT!)
It's still all about compatibility. One make will work with your DVD player and not with your mate's DVD player, another will let you watch and record at the same time, but won't play on anything else.
Also, the blank DVD's are half the size of most movies, giving you 1 to 2 hours of top quality recording time, then it's downhill, quality wise, from there. It's a bit like Long Play on a video, but because of the quality difference of DVD this is far more noticable.
If, however, you just want to record and keep digital TV programmes, I recommend the DVD-ROM players, which let you watch the beginning of the programme while still recording the end, they also record on DVD-R discs.
Also, the blank DVD's are half the size of most movies, giving you 1 to 2 hours of top quality recording time, then it's downhill, quality wise, from there. It's a bit like Long Play on a video, but because of the quality difference of DVD this is far more noticable.
If, however, you just want to record and keep digital TV programmes, I recommend the DVD-ROM players, which let you watch the beginning of the programme while still recording the end, they also record on DVD-R discs.
Noms wrote:
> Thinking of joining the 21st century
> Looking to buy my first DVD player soon - thought I might as well go
> for a DVD recorder to connect to my NTSC telly
> Anyone got one to recommend and what are the pros / cons
Well if you have Sky the picture quality is amazing so nothing will be lost. If your recording crappy analogue TV then the picture is going to be crap. So if your going to be recording off Sky all the time then you can keep good quality. Discs are still on the expensive side. Internet orders may be cheaper but brand names can still be £2 a disc. Also you got to make sure that you get the right media for the drive. Some are +R when others use -R.
> Thinking of joining the 21st century
> Looking to buy my first DVD player soon - thought I might as well go
> for a DVD recorder to connect to my NTSC telly
> Anyone got one to recommend and what are the pros / cons
Well if you have Sky the picture quality is amazing so nothing will be lost. If your recording crappy analogue TV then the picture is going to be crap. So if your going to be recording off Sky all the time then you can keep good quality. Discs are still on the expensive side. Internet orders may be cheaper but brand names can still be £2 a disc. Also you got to make sure that you get the right media for the drive. Some are +R when others use -R.
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