Need to find: DVD-RAM drive, CARTRIDGE Compatible!!

[darkelf]

I've been trying to track down a DVD-RAM drive that accepts the discs in the CARTRIDGE format. I'm needing a drive that is very reliable (I've had several DVD-R drives and do not trust the media for sensitive, long term archiving.

I do not want a DVD-RAM drive that requires me to remove the discs from the cartridges (the popular LG and Toshiba models I've researched require this).

Panasonic has their SW-9582, LF-D521 and the new 3x capable LF-D621.

I realize that this is not an important consideration for most users familiar with CDR, DVDR, etc but it is annoying that nearly all drives I look into simply say "DVD-RAM" capable.

I had a second question that follows this:

Can anybody tell me definitively if the above cartridge-compatible DVD-RAM drives (or any other models that you are aware of) REQUIRE a dual-side 9.4GB disc to be FLIPPED in order to achieve full capacity? I would much prefer a drive that does not need this, but I'm not sure if they even exist.

Again, this is something that is only eluded to in the vast majority of documentation.

I'd appreciate any insight that could be provided.

[darkelf]

Ok, we can nix that second half of my question, as there are currently no dual-head DVD-RAM drives in production from Panasonic, Hitachi, or Toshiba. It took a few emails to the companies mentioned but eventually they all answered me back.

Panasonic seems to have been pushing the DVD-RAM standard heavily (apparently it is popular in Japan and Korea). I now humbly ask for suggestions on the drives mentioned above, or any other cartridge-compatible drives you have run across.

The LF-D621 from Panasonic seems to be the winner so far, but as it is a fairly new drive I'm not sure what to make of it.

I've looked thru the comments posted for a few of the drives I've mentioned, but I cannot discrern whether the user has specifically used the DVD-RAM cartridges (actually more than one of the respondents admitted to not having tried the -RAM functionality, even tho they had made hundreds of -R/-RW discs with the drive).

[wonderuss]

I used to have a Panasonic ldf311 drive which accepted the dvd ram discs in their caddy it was also a dvdr drive too.........but it was too damn slow at 1x so i got rid and got a pioneer (which does not support ram discs) but i wasn't that much into ram media and only wanted to burn dvdr, but the panasonic did ok as a ram drive without having to remove the discs from the caddy.

[Synergy]

Currently Panasonic is the only manufacturer still providing the cartridge compatible DVD-RAM burners, and you can find out more in the following link:

http://panasonic.jp/dvdram/english/

by downloading the LF-D521 and LF-M621 instruction manuals, although it would be difficult to find these models in the US. The SW-9571 and LF-D521 models have been phased out recently, yet the LF-M621 has not appeared in the US retail channels yet.

[handyguy]

Yeah, I have a lf d521, it takes carts or disks. It was $69 on sale after rebate about three weeks back & now should be about $99 after rebate.

[The village idiot]

I only have a D311, so not sure about the new speeds. I use -RAM all the time in the cartridges and I think they are great! Soon, if luck holds out, maybe I'll buy the newest Panasonic model and get a little more speed. The 1x kind of sucks, but it is better than nothing.

[darkelf]

thanks for the replies. I had the manuals for the 521 and the 9571 downloaded from that site. That was the only way I could confirm that those drives actually accepted cartridges (pictures are good for techs it seems). It is too bad, this fragmentation of the writable DVD market. At times I yearn for the days of 4x CDR, at least then we knew we had a decent chance of a

Handy, you mentioned picking up one of the 521 drives on the cheap, care to give any details? I'm in central Iowa and have access to BestBuy and CompUSA, but no Circuit City... Dunno if I've passed by any deals after three weeks, but figure it couldn't hurt to check. 2x RAM recording would work fine w' me at this point.

[handyguy]

Those are old deals. I believe it was buy.com so you might find it there. Also ebay.com as people try to resell.