Newbie Poll Question - Pioneer A05 or Sony DRU500A

[bl2003]

I'm looking to buy my first DVD burner, deciding between the Sony and the Pioneer. Based on comments from y'all on this site, seems like both drives have good and bad points, maybe a poll will help. I just want to use the drive to create DVDs I can use on my standalone machines, whether from my old home movies or otherwise...

I don't know that I'd even use the +r/rw features on the Sony drive, any comments on this? I really don't quite understand why there are two sets of formats...

[metageek]

Actually I am also looking to chose one of these drives. The many standards available just mean that it is not clear which one will win. From that point of view the Sony drive seems to be a safer choice. Anyone out there who has tried both?

[bill_lumberg]

I would go with the sony since it does record both formats and there is no established standard yet. Finding the sony is another story. I found it for $315 but it's backordered.

[GandyMan]

Yes I have both drives. Both work well with no problems yet, I got the sony first and after hearing that the drives were going dead for no reason I got a pioneer just in case. But I have had no problems out of them. I use 4x media so I do not know about the 1x and 2x stuff, see know reason to buy a drive hoping the price of media goes down, the drive will get cheaper before the media does. Sony has a better software package, and is dual format. I only use dvd-r not the + so I do not know about how well it works, but for the future U can not go wrong with the dual format.

[bl2003]

I would go with the sony since it does record both formats and there is no established standard yet. Finding the sony is another story. I found it for $315 but it's backordered.

Thanks for your reply; I actually have a Sony on order right now, supposedly it'll be here the 29th...

[Doggiedaddy]

I know you didn't ask about HP.
Don't throw rocks at me, I have 2 HP 200i +R/RW and love them!! Compatible with everything I own (6 stand alones and a PS2) and never a problem. I just picked up one of those almost give away Office max Cendyne / Pioneer DVR 105 and I can't get the darn thing to work as I would like, it works but no packet writing, and some disc errors. I have read numerous posts here that there is a firmware upgrade to 1.2.** but Pioneer or Cendyne don't seem to think so, ONLY FOR A04/104 from what I can tell. I know this is off subject but there it is.
PS if any one knows the straight scoop on a firmware for the A-05/DVR-105 and where to get it I would like to know, post here or reach me through my site
http://www.dvd9to5.com


DVD made easy, as possible.
Strength and Honor

[donpedro]

I have Sony and I use +RW for testing since it is faster then standard -RW. My final burn is -R.

[mpb]

I'm looking to buy my first DVD burner, deciding between the Sony and the Pioneer. Based on comments from y'all on this site, seems like both drives have good and bad points, maybe a poll will help. I just want to use the drive to create DVDs I can use on my standalone machines, whether from my old home movies or otherwise...

I don't know that I'd even use the +r/rw features on the Sony drive, any comments on this? I really don't quite understand why there are two sets of formats...

It kinda depends on what you want the burner for.

For mainly burning DVD movies - there's no question. Pioneer 105. The thing is a rock, and DVD-R is the way to go, 4x media for well under two bucks (esbuy.com) and slower media for as low as 60 cents (various), and as long as you have the 12/24 firmware or later (flashable), it will burn all of this with nary a stutter. That, and at $250 the price is right. Burning speed, quality, and reliability - if video is your cup of tea, Pioneer has built you a drive you'll love.

For data-heavy purposes, again no question. Sony DRU500. You still can burn DVD-R for your movies, but you gain the flexibility of the DVD+RW format, which is optimized for incremental backups, incremental archiving, you know, data stuff where you're actively using the drive as a backup device. The + is also expected to work as-is (without further augmentation) in the future Microsoft data-writing standard for DVD drives, as they start to phase in as the removable media drive standard, whereas DVD-RW will need firmware upgrades and/or software support in the OS no matter what. The + features don't help much for collecting DVD movies, that's when DVD-R is better (price vs function).

Good luck, whichever way you pick!!

[vinchi007]

I've been waiting for sony for about good 2 months and I'm disapointed that no place has them. That's why I got myself pioneer 105. It's great and didn't have any problems at all.
The only one thing I'm angry about is that it doesn't support cheap media. But I heard that the new firware fixes that whole a little bit and you could use some cheap media

I'm getting the TDK for $3 / piece and it's pretty cheap and the best media out there

I think that Pioneer will be a great choice for your needs and more

[marisag427]

I have the sony and the reason is I mostly use it to burn videos of my son to send to his grandparents. Their dvd players currently play dvd-r, but if they needed to buy another one, I want to make sure I am compatible with all formats. Since the rest of my family is not technical at all, it would be a nightmare to ask them to get a dvd player that plays a specific format.

[bl2003]

I know you didn't ask about HP.
Don't throw rocks at me, I have 2 HP 200i +R/RW and love them!! Compatible with everything I own (6 stand alones and a PS2) and never a problem. I just picked up one of those almost give away Office max Cendyne / Pioneer DVR 105 and I can't get the darn thing to work as I would like, it works but no packet writing, and some disc errors. I have read numerous posts here that there is a firmware upgrade to 1.2.** but Pioneer or Cendyne don't seem to think so, ONLY FOR A04/104 from what I can tell. I know this is off subject but there it is.
PS if any one knows the straight scoop on a firmware for the A-05/DVR-105 and where to get it I would like to know, post here or reach me through my site
http://www.dvd9to5.com

No, I'm not considering an HP drive, but thanks for your input. I actually work for an HP dealer and I find their CDRW/DVD drives to be sub-par. If Plextor came out with a DVD-R/RW drive, that I might consider.

To answer your question about firmware, a search on Google and a couple of clicks yielded this link to the 1.21 A05/105 firmware, dated 12/24/02 (scroll down a little):

http://wwwbsc.pioneer.co.jp/product-e/ibs/device_e/dev00001r_e.html


[edit]
Just saw your other post on the firmware, but there you go anyway.
[/edit]