DVD Burner question

[AggieDave 6]

I posted in Video, but not many are answering, so I thought I'd post here.

Whats the best standalone DVD burner out there?

We're (the DZ) are wanting to purchase a DVD burner to give tandem students the option of buying a DVD for a slightly higher cost...

So far, I've been looking at the Philips DVDR80, and there's a variant of that model with a 80gig Hard Drive, so I was looking at that as well.

What are yall's thoughts?

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

I think you should find someone to write you the code to make a regular CD writer burn your DVD's like we did.

[adamT 0]

huh? there are hardware differences, different lasers.

[MattM 0]

That can't be done, DVD uses a smaller wavelength of laser to make smaller pits in tracks that are closer together. The DVD laser must also focus more tightly and at a different level.

Matt

[adamT 0]

Probably making a vcd not a dvd.

[LouDiamond 1]

Dave, there are a few other variables you need to include to give you a better answer. I am assuming you plan on hooking this unit up to a editing/mixing board? What type of outputs does it currently have? Another consideration is what type of inputs does the DVD burner have.

Another ball of wax is the whole +/- issue. Some people have had problems with the + burnt DVDs playing in home DVD players, some say the -(dash) is the way to go and still others say the +RW is the most compatible. Things to think about and a reson to pick a burner that allows you to choose +/-

Off the top of my head, the phillips 985 is a stand alone workhorse as is the Panasonic DMR-E20.
The model you mentioned is the latest and greatest for the next 6 months and may have the benifit of the internal HD but you have to look at how you plan on editing the video and exporting it to the DVD burner. Are you editing it and saving to DV tape and then importing that into the DVD burner or are you trying to edit on the fly as you burn much like many VHS editors are set up? I've got a site you can read that covers editors and DVD burners if your interested CLICK ME

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[MattM 0]

Exactly

Here is a FAQ on DVDs. http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html

Matt

[PhreePhly 0]

Actually, It can be. You're not really making a DVD, but instead a SVCD that plays on most DVD players. Given the length of a typical tandem video, this works great and CD-R media is much cheaper that DVD-R media.

[lummy 4]

Quote

Actually, It can be. You're not really making a DVD, but instead a SVCD that plays on most DVD players. Given the length of a typical tandem video, this works great and CD-R media is much cheaper that DVD-R media.

VERY good point.

IIRC, to make a VCD, you only need to convert the file to MPEG2. Most CD burning software will burn a VCD

I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. eat sushi, get smoochieTTK#1

[TitaniumLegs 8]

If you're charging much extra, you should do it right and author it properly, like on a computer. Even better, throw in some bonus material like a spiel on the AFF program and some fun jumps at your DZ. It's free advertizing. Even better: they're paying for it. Once you set it up, the same extras go on every DVD for zero extra effort.

(>o|-<

If you don't believe me, ask me.

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Quote

Quote

Actually, It can be. You're not really making a DVD, but instead a SVCD that plays on most DVD players. Given the length of a typical tandem video, this works great and CD-R media is much cheaper that DVD-R media.

VERY good point.

IIRC, to make a VCD, you only need to convert the file to MPEG2. Most CD burning software will burn a VCD

This must be what went on in the situation I first mentioned. Matt, I am talking about the thing Josh the packer wrote to make that copy for me......Whatever it is, it was copied off a DVD, made on a CD burner, and plays in my DVD player as a DVD. Do you follow me?

Chuck

[kallend 2,131]

Quote

Quote

Actually, It can be. You're not really making a DVD, but instead a SVCD that plays on most DVD players. Given the length of a typical tandem video, this works great and CD-R media is much cheaper that DVD-R media.

VERY good point.

IIRC, to make a VCD, you only need to convert the file to MPEG2. Most CD burning software will burn a VCD

I was under the impression that VCD had lower resolution than DVD. (Not stating this as a fact, just something I think I read a while back).

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[lummy 4]

I made a few a while back.. Well, I converted a DIVX of questionable legitimacy (read a video that was made by someone holding a video camera in a movie theatre) to VCD and the quality was abysmal.. But the ole addage of Garbage in, garbage out.

I'm Not expert either, but if the video went thru mimal conversions (camera to computer and converted to MPEG), I would think the quality would be more than good enough to sell

I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. eat sushi, get smoochieTTK#1

[gary350 0]

Good, current article from PC magazine:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1321971,00.asp

[PhreePhly 0]

Note that I said SVCD, which is actually mpeg 2, same as a dvd.

edit: spelling

[PhreePhly 0]

Yet the article failed to point out some technical aspects, which show dvd+r to be the better format for video.

see [/url]http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Articles/Specific.asp?ArticleHeadline=SuperVCD%20Format&Series=0

and

[url]

http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/113

(sorry, need to make clicky, but am too drunk to get it right)