DVD Ripping Speed & Software

[ZippyUK]

I am currently in the process of moving from PC to Mac, I am using a G4 400Mhz AGP to test the mac feel before I buy a new one.

1. In the current Dual 1.25GHz macs what sort of speed does the combo drive rip DVDs?

2. Also could I use a program such as DVD Decrypter in Virtual PC to rip DVDs? - as I have not really seen a good mac equivelant

3. Could I use my PC DVD writer (Sony DRU-500A) in a firewire enclosure on a mac? - or am I best getting a superdrive model.

Thanks

Neil

[galactica]

I am currently in the process of moving from PC to Mac, I am using a G4 400Mhz AGP to test the mac feel before I buy a new one.

Be careful making assumptions on the G4 400. Conversion times for dvd to dvd will be close to 2 hours using dvd2one, where as on the dual machines it can be around 30 min for full dvd copy (see below)

1. In the current Dual 1.25GHz macs what sort of speed does the combo drive rip DVDs?

About 10 to 15 min for dvd back up (thats doing a direct copy to the HD) There are other programs depending on how you want to rip it. Full back up would be a dvd copy to the HD using DVDBackup.
[/quote]

2. Also could I use a program such as DVD Decrypter in Virtual PC to rip DVDs? - as I have not really seen a good mac equivelant

You could, but what a waste of time! If you are going to switch to a mac, make sure you switch The dvd backup using DVDbackup decrypts and rips at the same time.

3. Could I use my PC DVD writer (Sony DRU-500A) in a firewire enclosure on a mac? - or am I best getting a superdrive model.

Looking at the specs on your drive, it may (or may not work) Puting it in the firewire enclosure will help, simply because if its internal, althought it will connect and powerup, the drive tray is most likely too wide for the front of the MDD's. PC drives have a fraction of an inch more in width making it not eject. Thus, the enclosre will help that. Per an apple helper i know, hooking up a PC dvdrw to you mac may cause the machine not to boot at all - meaning the firmware of the drive is incompatible with the OS in general. If hooking the drive up and booting is allowed, then the drive MAY work, but may not. Typically if it will work, TOAST TITANIUM will recognize the drive and you can then use it. Other times it may require a specific setting (the CS needs to be set) before it will be recognized. The only way is to try it.

I am speaking from experience, had a buddy loan me a HP dvd200i and eventually i gave up because it just wouldnt work (wasnt seen even thought it booted.)

best of luck

Thanks

Neil

no problem.

keep in mind thats just Ripping. Using the wonderfully new program DVD2ONE you then need to convert this dvd back up so that it comes down to 4.7 gigs. A direct movie copy takes about 10 to 15 min. Disk copy (all menus and extras) takes about 30 min.

These are the speeds of the Dual 1.25 G4

enjoy

[tgpo]

The last movie I did was a Disk Copy and it took 1hr 5min on my 450. Still better than the speeds I use to have for VCD.

[moegreen]

I am currently in the process of moving from PC to Mac, I am using a G4 400Mhz AGP to test the mac feel before I buy a new one.

1. In the current Dual 1.25GHz macs what sort of speed does the combo drive rip DVDs?

2. Also could I use a program such as DVD Decrypter in Virtual PC to rip DVDs? - as I have not really seen a good mac equivelant

3. Could I use my PC DVD writer (Sony DRU-500A) in a firewire enclosure on a mac? - or am I best getting a superdrive model.

Thanks

Neil

I picked up a 16x DVD-ROM drive and put in an external FireWire enclosure. If you get one of the new Macs, you can put it in the second 5.25 bay. This speeds up ripping considerably. I can do a full DVD rip in about 15-20 minutes, depending on DVD. (DP 800). Most of the ripping software aren't so much processor dependent as drive dependent. I probably use 25% of one CPU during ripping. The SuperDrive is notoriously slow at ripping.

DVD2ONE runs between 20-35 minutes to compress a DVD, depending on the DVD.

You may be able to use your Sony drive. The question is probably if Toast will suport it. Look around Roxio's site for that info.

[Rayz]

moegreen,

Can you provide a bit more info on the firewire DVD-ROM in the enclosure?

I have a flat panel iMac/800Mhz/Superdrive (Hitachi)/768 RAM and I am finding that DVDBackup is taking 1 1/2 hours to rip and DVD2one takes an hour to process.

Is an external firewire DVD-ROM something I want to consider and will DVDBackup be able to rip with it?

If yes, what drive do you have/suggest. Look forward to hearing from you onthis one.

Ray

[moegreen]

moegreen,

Can you provide a bit more info on the firewire DVD-ROM in the enclosure?

I have a flat panel iMac/800Mhz/Superdrive (Hitachi)/768 RAM and I am finding that DVDBackup is taking 1 1/2 hours to rip and DVD2one takes an hour to process.

Is an external firewire DVD-ROM something I want to consider and will DVDBackup be able to rip with it?

If yes, what drive do you have/suggest. Look forward to hearing from you onthis one.

Ray

Check out www.pcmicrostore.com. A friend recently bought a setup there. They have an OEM Panasonic 16x drive pulled from iMacs in stock for $20. That's the cheapest I've seen a 16x drive. They bought an external 5.25 case (oxford911) there too for about $40, again, the cheapest I've seen. The setup seems to working fine for about $70 shipped.

The SuperDrive is very slow at ripping. I forgot what it's speed is, but I thought they were 6x. I think there might more to the SuperDrive speeds than just the specs.

[galactica]

Superdrive specs
writes dvd-r at 4x
Reads dvd at 8x
writes cd-r at 16x
writes cd-rw at 8x
reads cd at 32x

Combodrive specs
Reads dvd at 12x
writes cd-r at 32x
writes cd-rw at 10x
reads cd at 32x

Notice the slower dvd read speed for the superdrive!. Thats why it takes so much longer to rip a dvd from the super drives. (also note now almost everything else is slower than the combo drive??)
For that reason I had apple install both! because having only just the one superdrive will limit your read speeds and cd-r burning speeds.

For those who are stuck with only 1 drive and its a superdrive, purchase an external firewire combodrive (or if you are content with burning speeds and just want to increase your dvd ripping, purchase an external firewire dvd-rom (ensureing its faster than 8x dvd read)

[moegreen]

Superdrive specs
writes dvd-r at 4x
Reads dvd at 8x
writes cd-r at 16x
writes cd-rw at 8x
reads cd at 32x

Combodrive specs
Reads dvd at 12x
writes cd-r at 32x
writes cd-rw at 10x
reads cd at 32x

I'm way too lazy to look it up, but I thought the 2x SuperDrives were at 6x DVD-ROM, which means it's even slower if you don't have the new Pioneer drive.

[galactica]

Correct!
These are the latest 4x superdirve and combo drive specs. The older models are at DVD read of 6x. it depends on when you got your mac (if it came with a superdrive) or what specs your drive has when you purchased the superdirve on your own.

Either way the point is made that dvd read speeds on the superdrive are way lower than that of the combo drive, thus the reason for the decreased backup time when reading from the superdrive.

[BernieR]

from Roxio.com



Firewire:

Toast 5.1 or later and Jam 5 or later should support all Firewire drives that follow the MMC (Multi-Media Command set) standard.

Check with the drive documentation, packaging or manufacturer's web site to verify MMC compliance.

Please apply all Mac OS updates (available from Apple's web site) before installing Toast or Jam to ensure compatibility.



YMMV,

Bernie

[galactica]

Not sure how that applies to the DVD ripping speed, but yes, its all important information and all true