Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: External DVD Burners

This is topic External DVD Burners in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-22-2003, 05:43 PM:

I'm seriously considering buying a new DVD burner to use with my 3 year Dell PC, and then perhaps use with a new computer I'll buy in a few months. This seems like the sensible route to go since most computer brands (such as Dell) only install internal DVD+RW drives that are not as compatible as something with both "+RW" and "-RW" compatibility. The OEM drives seem to suck much ass. I figure it would be good to save that money and just hook an external DVD-/+RW drive up to a new machine instead.

Sony and Plextor have new 8X external models now hitting the market. However, I'm leaning more toward the Pioneer DVR-S606. It is based on their AO6 model, which has been a proven winner. Sony even uses a Pioneer DVD writer as their "reference model" for testing. I guess that should say something on the side of Pioneer. The Pioneer drive comes with a decent software bundle and the drive case features 1 USB 2.0 and 2 Firewire ports (one of which can be used for Firewire device pass-through daisy chaining).

I was wondering if many others in this forum have had much experience with external DVD burners. Also, does the computer's CPU performance and amount of RAM make any kind of impact on the drive's performance? My old PC has a 1GHz PIII CPU and 512MB of PC133 SDRAM.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-22-2003, 07:01 PM:

Your computer should easily be able to accomodate a Pioneer (recommended) DVD burner, provided it has a firewire output. I don't really trust firewire hard drives, but they usually work OK and DVD burners don't require the speed that hard drives do, so I would feel pretty comfortable getting an external firewire DVD burner.

But you also need authoring software, unless you just want to store data on the disc. Adobe Encore is one of the few programs that is worth a shit, but it only runs on XP. Have fun!

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 11-22-2003, 07:30 PM:

A friend of mine's go an external DVD burner that is firewire driven. He seems happy with it and hasn't had any troubles that he's told me about. He brought it over and we monkeyed with it on my computer. It was pretty plug and play. I was actually surprised it work as easily as it did. I believe it's an HP, but I can't remember for sure

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-22-2003, 07:39 PM:

Pioneer burners rock. Sony still won't allow PS2 developers to burn test DVDs on any other drive, and "gold master" candidates can only be burned on a very specific Pioneer drive (I forget which right now). We're using an old 400MHz system to burn DVDs on a Pioneer drive and it works fine as long as you aren't running anything else at the same time.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-23-2003, 01:57 AM:

It sucks ass Adobe Encore only runs on WinXP Home and WinXP Pro. It would have made more sense to extend compatibility to Windows2000, particularly since the new Adobe CS suite of applications requires either Win2000 or WinXP. Some PC makers still opt to install Windows2000, citing certain advantages in stability and security it has over WinXP Professional. Our newest studio PC in our sign company has Windows 2000 installed instead of WindowsXP.

Oh well, I'm not too awful worried. I already have Premiere and After Effects (along with a slew of other registered Adobe programs). That and the combination of the software bundle in the Pioneer drive should be enough for some basic DVD creation. Certainly it would not be as good as having Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro. But alas, I'm dealing with PC stuff and just extending the life of an aging machine.

Another thing that sucks ass in relation to Adobe's DVD creation stuff is no DD 5.1 capability. Adobe Audition can create 5.1 audio mixes, but apparently does no Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding. Adobe Encore can create Dolby Digital audio, but only in 1.0 and 2.0 form. You have to use another application if you want to create and encode DD 5.1 audio mixes. Here's a clue, Adobe: Apple already offers this with DVD Studio Pro --and they cut the price of DVD Studio Pro in half, basically the same amount you guys ask for Encore. Get the DD 5.1 encoding included or be prepared to discontinue your DVD authoring app, assholes.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-23-2003, 04:22 AM:

Adobe is usually two or three steps behind Apple in the video world. Premeire vs Final Cut Pro. Encore vs DVD Studio Pro. I still have not upgraded to DVD Studio Pro 2 yet, as DVDSP 1 kicks plenty o' ass for me, and I don't see how version 2 could enhance things at all. They do have "templates" for people who don't like getting down to the nitty gritty of programming every little button, scripting and whatnot like I do. Kind of like I write websites using a text editor and avoid crap like Dreamweaver or GoLive.

Too bad the DVD format itself does not allow you to play a continuous audio file during layer menus.

Posted by Ron Lacheur (Member # 1126) on 11-23-2003, 04:51 AM:

I'm waiting for them to bring out burners that are dual-layer compatible. Something tells me I shouldn't hold my breath for to long...

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-23-2003, 12:39 PM:

What method do the big disc replication outfits do for dual layer DVD-9 production? Do they replicate individual DVD-5 layers and have them bonded into the dual layer disc? It would seem like that would be necessar if they follow any model resembling the glass/stamper method used for regular CD mass replication.

Perhaps there might be some way how disc makers can create dual layer burners and dual layer media. But I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for it to happen any time soon.

Anyway, I'm not really worried about it anyway. I have no desire whatsoever in making copies of DVD movies, which is the only purpose I see in having a dual layer capable DVD burner. As much time as it takes to make the copy and adding in the cost of the blank DVD-R media, you might as well just go rent the damned movie and watch it honestly. With what my time is worth, it is cheaper for me to just buy a copy at the store.

Posted by Ron Lacheur (Member # 1126) on 11-23-2003, 02:38 PM:

I'm not sure on the technical aspects of dual-layer dvds. But I'm with you on buying dvds. I like the special features and commentaries too much. [Smile]

Posted by Jean-Michel Grin (Member # 1360) on 11-23-2003, 03:25 PM:

Just a question:

What mean the terms +RW and -RW

I want to buy next year a DVD writer for my Mac, and I'm wondering witch could be the most affordable.

Thanks for Your replies.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-23-2003, 03:59 PM:

The DVD+RW and DVD-RW standards are terms to signify different formats of writing data to recordable DVD media. My understanding is the "-R/-RW" format is more friendly to consumer DVD players. Pioneer makes the DVD-RW drive that is the basis for the Apple Superdrive in new Macs. For some odd reason most OEM computer makers like Dell install the "+R/+RW" variety. I guess DVD+RW drives are cheaper.

The Pioneer DVR-S606 drive I'm considering buying is a "universal" DVD writer in that it supports both "+" and "-" DVD recording formats.

DVD-RAM is yet another DVD recordable format with even less compatibility to standalone DVD players than the +R and -R drives. Matshushita Electronics (through their Toshiba and Panasonic brands) seem to be the only proponents of DVD-RAM. The disc writing format is a "phase change" process which works similar to their old CD-RW "PD" drives that seemed to go nowhere. DVD-RAM is generally a product to be avoided.

Aside from the Pioneer external DVD drive the only other runner up in my consideration is Plextor's new 8X external DVD writer. I've read the 8X development doesn't give as much a speed increase on writing time over 4X as its term implies. Perhaps you'll save a couple minutes at best. The Pioneer DVR-S606 has better CD-RW write times than the new Plextor drive. And then you have to figure the DV-A06 drive in the case is a dependable high quality unit.

One knock against the Pioneer DVR-S606 (and the new 8X Plextor as well) is there is no Mac oriented version of it. They only seem to be shipping boxes with PC software bundles. I have read the Pioneer and Plextor drives are both plug and play capable for the Mac. But you have to have all your own DVD writing software (like Toast or Apples professional stuff).

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 11-23-2003, 04:27 PM:

I've heard they're working on dual-layer DVD+R, but it will require a new drive to record on them, and right now it sounds like a lot of regular players won't play them. I don't think they've gotten it to work with re-writable dual-layer blanks yet either.
I have a DVDR985 recorder (mostly to archive my old Beta and VHS TV recordings) and for the most part it has been pretty good, but it has been a bit annoying having to use 2 discs for things the run just a little over 2 hours. I'd like to at least use 2-sided blanks but I haven't been able to find any!

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 11-23-2003, 05:21 PM:

quote:
I've read the 8X development doesn't give as much a speed increase on writing time

How so? The number is based on the amount of data the drive is capable of putting out. (1x DVD = 1380KB/s) The biggest factor in write speed will be the speed at which the media can "receive" data. You cannot reliably burn 8x speed to a disc rated for 4x. (Is there even 8x DVD media yet?) Most drives will quickly analyze the media and determine the individual disc's speed capacity.

quote:
But you have to have all your own DVD writing software

Most of the bundled crap is exactly that. Crap.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-23-2003, 07:18 PM:

I always write my DVDs at 1x as it is. Writing at 2x seems to increase the chance of playback glitches in certain DVD players. Writing at 1x avoids this, unless the DVD player is really crappy. Hell, when writing to a DVD-RW I don't even let it write the lead-out track. Right as it starts to I eject the disc and my Pioneer player plays it fine. My friend's JVC takes a little while to recognize the disc when I do that, but it eventually does. On DVD-R's I always let it finish. Also, I'm not really in that much of a damned hurry. Unless I am writing to RW, and then who cares? I have a TDK DVD-RW disc and have written over it well over a 100 times so far and it keeps chugging along perfectly. TDK makes great blank DVD-Rs and DVD-RW's. Maxell is suposedly the best there is, however, but they ain't the cheapest.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-23-2003, 07:59 PM:

It was my understanding that +R has better compatibility characteristics than -R. And until recently, +R drives and media were more expensive than -R. I think they're about equal now.

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 11-24-2003, 07:45 AM:

Jesse,

There is a software upgrade available from Philips for the DVD985 that will give you 2 additional speeds, (2 1/2 & 3 1/2 hour). If you call the support number printed in the owners manual, they will send you a CD-ROM for free. You just place it in the machine, and it updates the internal software.

/Mitchell