Recommended +R/RW DVD recorders for about $250?

[David K]

I just want to record off-air shows onto a recordable format that I can transfer to my computer and then do some further editing if need be. (I have Womble's VCRmpeg and know how to author DVDs) So as great as DVD RAM apparently is, it would not meet my needs as my computer does not have a RAM drive.

-RW is possible, but the discs are hard to find, and have low burn speeds.

So that leaves +RW and dual burn models (which tend to be expensive).

Anyone out there have any recommendations for brands or specific models?

Thanks!

[Capmaster]

Have you checked whether your DVD writer will read DVD-RAM? Many don't advertise that they read it, yet many will.

"Dual burn"? Do you mean dual layer?

DVD-RW or DVD+RW are actually faster than DVD-RAM in read/write speeds with newer drives. And where do you live that DVD-RW is hard to find? Have you tried ordering them online?

[David K]

That's interesting about DVD-RAM possibly being supported.
My DVD burner is a Sony DRX-510UL.
Problem is I do not know anyone who has DVD RAM even to test borrow.

What I meant by dual burn, was dual format burn, i.e. plus and minus formats.

I live in Northern California and -RW is very scarce at the major sources (Best Buy, Office Depot, Staples etc.) Plenty of +RW however. Also another strike against -RW for me is that it absolutely will not play in my standalone DVD player, whereas +RW will (although right now the only combination that achieves that is burning a DVD folder with Nero 6.)

[Capmaster]

That's interesting about DVD-RAM possibly being supported.
My DVD burner is a Sony DRX-510UL.
Problem is I do not know anyone who has DVD RAM even to test borrow.

What I meant by dual burn, was dual format burn, i.e. plus and minus formats.

I live in Northern California and -RW is very scarce at the major sources (Best Buy, Office Depot, Staples etc.) Plenty of +RW however. Also another strike against -RW for me is that it absolutely will not play in my standalone DVD player, whereas +RW will (although right now the only combination that achieves that is burning a DVD folder with Nero 6.)

Then DVD+RW makes more sense for you.

I found out about my Pioneer 107's compatibility with DVD-RAM strictly by accident. I bought a new Sony VAIO desktop in July that came with the Pioneer (funny they didn't use a Sony burner ). Just for shits and grins I put in a DVD-RAM I had from our Panny standalone and my previous Panny DVD-RAM/DVD-R writer. And it worked I successfully copied files that I had on the disc, opened them in my editor, etc. But I couldn't burn them.

I had read through the literature on the 107 and they made no mention of the ability to read RAM. I have also seen posts on this forum from others who have also discovered the same thing 8)

So, if you can get your hands on a DVD-RAM with files on it, give it a try Probably not worth buying the media though just to try it, because of the $5 price. Unless you feel comfortable buying a Panasonic standalone. Then at least you'll be able to try it out and if it doesn't read, you can still use the DVD-RAM to store video. But if you can't read it on your PC, it's probably not worth the bother.