Just be needin some basic info...

[huntster]

Howdy...sorry if I make anyone ill with my questions, but I'm just getting started in this. I've tried to answer as many questions as I can sifting thru faqs and other posts. But here's what remains....

I gather that you cannot do a direct copy of a DVD. So I could not stick a DVD in the drive and then a blank in the burner and mash COPY. Am I correct?

If I was correct in the aforementioned question, is full quality and content retained in ripping and re-encoding and burning onto the DVD-R? Will I still have my Dolby Digital and/or DTS with ripped and re-encoded DVD once on DVD-R?

Am I a blithering idiot?

Seems to me, a popular DVD burner is the Pioneer A04 or 104. I'm assuming this is the best. If not, are there better choices, or choices with other features that I might like?

What do you look for in the purchase of a DVD burner?

Thanks and sorry if I may have missed the answers to these questions elsewhere.

Hunt

[KingJohn]

I gather that you cannot do a direct copy of a DVD. So I could not stick a DVD in the drive and then a blank in the burner and mash COPY. Am I correct?

Not quite, you have to deal with Macrovision, ripping the disk and removing the protection, then authoring the files to another DVD is relatively simple with the right tools.

If I was correct in the aforementioned question, is full quality and content retained in ripping and re-encoding and burning onto the DVD-R? Will I still have my Dolby Digital and/or DTS with ripped and re-encoded DVD once on DVD-R?

Almost as good, sometimes better if the original had annoying subtitles

Seems to me, a popular DVD burner is the Pioneer A04 or 104. I'm assuming this is the best. If not, are there better choices, or choices with other features that I might like?

Never assume anything !, it may be the cheapest, that's why people buy it Only you can decide which to buy

What do you look for in the purchase of a DVD burner?

The one that can do EVERYTHING DVD DVDRW make coffee etc
AND one that makes DVD's that your DVD player will play

If it has more buttons and lights, its got to be good

[ya_jai]

Let me add something here but I don't own any DVD writer, thou. So I might be wrong.

How about Dual layer which alot of new DVD Movies use. A lot of DVDs that I ripped are file sizes all together more than 4.7GB. So can dvd writer handle dual layer disc?

[therick]

no. dual layer discs are pressed, not burned. search the forum.