Got myself Pioneer DVR-A05 DVD burner

[hansmas]

I also have a new DRU500 - works OK. No coasters so far. I have even tried really cheap media, about 1.50 USD for DVD-R. Works fine as well...

[yamawho]

Originally posted by hansmas
I also have a new DRU500 - works OK. No coasters so far. I have even tried really cheap media, about 1.50 USD for DVD-R. Works fine as well...

What kind of dvd's are you making and what programs are you using.

[hansmas]

Both + and - and both R and RW:s.
I have used both the RecordNow that comes with the burner and Nero. For backuping video DVD:s I use DVDXCopy.
DVD media: Maxell, Verbatim, Sony, eproformance (those are the cheap ones - surprisingly works it seems, have only made abt 5 of them yet), Mmore, Ricoh.
Ive only had the DRU500 for a short while, but it has been in heavy use...
The burner is primarily used for making video productions, and for material being sent of to the printers, but of course also backups and video copying for home use.

[yamawho]

Sony's are not in stores here ... still on backorder.

I don't want to struggle like I did back in 1995 with cd burners.

I will wait. You seem to have gotten many different types of media, that another problem here ... nothing but Princo and Verbatim 1x media available.

[hansmas]

Originally posted by yamawho
Sony's are not in stores here ... still on backorder.

I don't want to struggle like I did back in 1995 with cd burners.

I will wait. You seem to have gotten many different types of media, that another problem here ... nothing but Princo and Verbatim 1x media available.

There is noone in Sweden thats got them in stock either, backorder everywhere. I waited for mine some weeks after ordering, still noone that had them in stock. But my local "whiz" dealer managed to dig two of them up, one for himself and one for me. One of my friends managed to get hold of one as well, he is the IT-manager for a big company here, and he is also very pleased with his burner.
Im surprised that you do not seem to have media over there though. Here there are masses of different brands.

[tbowie]

Is the Sony DRU500A still everyone's first choice? If only Sony could keep up with demand. Looks like a nice piece of hardware. Is there any chance for a standard anytime soon?

[hansmas]

Originally posted by tbowie
Is the Sony DRU500A still everyone's first choice? If only Sony could keep up with demand. Looks like a nice piece of hardware. Is there any chance for a standard anytime soon?

There is a NEC, the ND-1300, coming as well that can do both + and -
That will be a little bit less money as well. But what I´ve seen that wont be in the shops until march. And the demand for that will probably also be high...
IMHO we will be waiting very long for a standard (+ or -) - I seriously doubt we will ever get there.

[S.SubZero]

I have the DVR-104 and it does a pretty decent job. The problem is the media I think. The Princos are notoriously cheap. I got some Princo DVD-RW's for a cheap price, and yeah, they are what I paid for. 1X, unreliable.. Some discs seem to burn fine but have errors, some can't read the directories after burning.. So I tried some Fujifilm DVD-R's that are 2X and they burn perfectly. But the Fuji's aren't cheap, each disc is alot more than the comparable 6 or 7 CD's it's supposed to replace. I only have these cuz a friend got them for me for Christmas. I think a box of 10 was like $60! That makes the 50 pack of Princos for $75 look like a bargain, and those are RW.

I can only speak from archival experience. I don't make videos, I just back up data. AVI's, MPG's, other stuff. I archived a bunch of my old PSX games on DVD-RW's and I play them on my PSX emulator. It's very handy for this.

[yamawho]

There doesn't seem to be a point to rush out and buy anything right now. If one waits for media to become available then buy. This way there is no media shortage and you get the burner for less money, since more models will be out.

[hansmas]

Well - it really in the end depends on if you absolutely need the DVD-burner or not. I could not manage without one since I have to burn DVD:s...

[yamawho]

Originally posted by hansmas
Well - it really in the end depends on if you absolutely need the DVD-burner or not. I could not manage without one since I have to burn DVD:s...

I know what you mean.
My original idea was to get a firewire 80 gig hdd from Maxtor but the only models available are usb2.

[hansmas]

Originally posted by yamawho
I know what you mean.
My original idea was to get a firewire 80 gig hdd from Maxtor but the only models available are usb2.

The 120 GB ( MAXTOR 5000DV 120GB) and upwards has firewire as well.

[Vric]

Too bad the 150$ off not by Pioneer.. I would but it at 424$ here :
http://www.pccanada.com/inventory.asp?cat=cdrom

whit taxe, it's cheaper there

The trick is wait for the Mail-in rabate expire, then go to futureshop and ask for the better price.. you will have it for 406$ + only TPS

anyway you got a better price for an open box

[Howard Stern_abx]

My company just gave me the new HP 300I that does -R -RW +R +RW 4x write 2.4 RW.
Its an awsome drive for 299.99 if you have to pay for it. I was given the 200I a couple of weeks ago but had some problems so they upgraded me to the new model. You can burn movies to it if you know how to, check out www.VCDHELP.com. I have backed up my son's movies without any problems using the info from this website. One last thought the new standard and better one is the +R and +RW. -R and -RW is an older standard. Every movie I have burned plays in every home DVD player I tried them in.

[hansmas]

The only difference you will notice between - and + is that - DVD is cheaper. I buy media for 1:50 atm...
But I can still not understand why someone should buy a DVD burner that can only burn one of the formats when you can get one for almost the same price that can do both...

And the easiest way IMHO to make movie copies is to start DVDXCopy. More or less just one klick and everything is done. Not one single coaster so far...