DVD-ROM suggestions

[Charles]

As I read thru some of the information in your articles I see the need to have a DVD-ROM to make backups of DVD movies. What formats can be used to make DVD backups(VCD,DVD-R,DVD-RW)with a DVD-ROM? I currently own a Panasonic RV31 DVD player.

The question is can you suggest 2 or 3 good DVD-ROM's that can do this job? Thanks.

[Craig Tucker]

With any new DVD rom you will be able to rip the movie from a DVD, ripping from the DVD rom has nothing to do whith what the final format will be, this is down to how you encode and author the movie.

Craig

[Charles]

Ok. Does that mean any format can be used (VCD,DVD-R,DVD-RW) to rip movies. Can anyone still recommend any 2 DVD-ROM's, one in the budget category and one in the middle pricewise? Thanks.

[Craig Tucker]

Yes you can create any format, vcd,svcd,xvcd,xsvcd,divx,dvd, obviously if you want to create dvd's you are going to need a dvd burner.

Craig

[thxkid]

If buget is your main concern you can buy a CD-R Burner as low as $45 at 24x10x40, a 32x10x40 for $49 fry's had them on sale this week, get at least 12x DVD-Rom a 16X is better, I got a Pioneer drive cause they one of the best - $90, but I am sure any of the newer ones will work fine 12x run about $35 - $45 while the 16x are $39-$49. A good mid price Burner or DVD-Rom is BTC, they been around for some time now.
With a CD-R burner you can burn VCD's or SVCD's for you DVD player if it Supports it, make sure to use NERO for you burning software and most CD-R burners come with it now, Dad just got a 32x10x40 that came with full version of NERO 5.5.7.1 for $49. Cd-R's are cheap and get 3-4 CD-RW's to try your 1st attempts on. I use Fry's brand of CD-R's for VCD's and SVCD's never had one fail and just got a 50 pack for $5. Their brand of CD-RW's are good and a 5 pack is $2.99 for 4x their 10x are $7.99 for a 5 pack.

[LanceSteel]

If you are looking for a good dvd READER I would go with the pioneer dvd-500m. It's super fast and it reads all brands of cd-r media that I use and it reads dvd (single/dual layer) as well as dvd-r and dvd-rw excellently. If you plan on MAKING dvd's then I would go with the pioneer dvr-104 (or a04). It can burn dvd's up to 2x and dvd-rw's at 1x as well as cd's at 8x (I'm not sure about the cd-rw speed. It's probably 4x.) It also reads media quite well albeit a bit slower.

[Charles]

I've had a Plextor 12/10/32A since they first came out and the idea of having a DVD now is so I can make backups of DVD movies. Will any 16x DVD-ROM
do or do I need a Pioneer AO4. I looked online and boy they are $300. I guess you pay for what you get but right now I would not spend that much when the suckers may be $99 in a year or so. Any other recommendations.

[Charles]

The Panasonic RV31 DVD player I own does not play SVCD so I suppose I will be making VCD's backups unless I opt for a DVD-RW which I suppose can make backups of DVD's straight. Then again this suckers are going for $300 and above.

[LanceSteel]

I've had a Plextor 12/10/32A since they first came out and the idea of having a DVD now is so I can make backups of DVD movies. Will any 16x DVD-ROM
do or do I need a Pioneer AO4. I looked online and boy they are $300.

Any DVD-ROM will do if you want to rip a movie. Unfortunately, not all dvd-rom drives are good drives. I've had three dvd-rom drives over the past couple of years. My old pioneer slot loading dvd-rom was a piece. Then I bought an Afree drive because it was cheap and I thought "all drives are the same." That was a piece too. Like I said previously, my pioneer dvd-500m is way good (I actually did research this time on the drives before I went to purchase a new.)

As for the a04, you can get the OEM version (the 104) for $259 (with shipping included.) Personally I think mine is well worth the money. I use it all the time for data and video archiving. If you just want to rip movies and are happy with VCD or SVCD then just get a DVD-ROM. If you want to archive dvd's then get the a04/104.

The Panasonic RV31 DVD player I own does not play SVCD so I suppose I will be making VCD's backups unless I opt for a DVD-RW which I suppose can make backups of DVD's straight. Then again this suckers are going for $300 and above.

Since you can't do SVCD then I would recommend you get the dvd writer. VCD quality to me is crappy. I know some people swear by it but I just don't like it. Anyway your player plays dvd-r/-rw/+r/+rw so it looks like any of the dvd writers out there will be ok.

[Charles]

Thanks, do you have a link for the Ao4 OEM for $259?

[Charles]

By "ripping" you mean playing a movie or backing up a movie? I suppose you mean with the DVD-ROM I can backup DVD using VCD's format and with the A04 I can actually backup DVD to DVD?

[Craig Tucker]

Ripping means stripping the vob files off of a DVD so they can then be encoded and burned to whatever format you like. Playing means "playing".

If you want to create VCD you only need a DVD rom, and a CD burner.

If you want to create DVD you need a DVD burner.

Please read the how to guides, it is all explained.

Craig

[LanceSteel]

Thanks, do you have a link for the Ao4 OEM for $259?

Check out these guys:

http://www.hypermicro.com

The drive is $249 and shipping is usually $10. I wouldn't buy any dvd-r's from these guys though. They recently switched to princo generics which are crap media.

[Charles]

Thanks, I heard a guy on another forum say to not buy any DVD-R, DVD-RW drives like the Pioneer A04 yet because they are slower than "+" and also because in a couple of months a new generation drives will come out supporting lots more features like CLV or something like that. I guess that will also drive prices down as well. Can you comment?

So the A04 is a drive that can make backups of DVD to DVD.

[LanceSteel]

Thanks, I heard a guy on another forum say to not buy any DVD-R, DVD-RW drives like the Pioneer A04 yet because they are slower than "+" and also because in a couple of months a new generation drives will come out supporting lots more features like CLV or something like that. I guess that will also drive prices down as well. Can you comment?

So the A04 is a drive that can make backups of DVD to DVD.

He's right. The dvd+r/+rw drives burn at 2.4x speed whereas the dvd-r/-rw drives burn at 2x (if the media is 2x certified.) Otherwise you have to burn at 1x. At 1x a full dvd takes like 56 minutes at 2x it takes 27 or so. If you burn at 2.4x versus 2x you save something like 3 or 4 minutes. The dvd-r disks are cheaper than the dvd+r disk and the same goes for -rw vs. +rw. I personally don't mind the burning time but for some people thats an issue.

The current drives support CLV (Constant Linear Velocity). I think the new drives (or the dvd+r drives that are out) support CAV (Constant Angular Velocity.) Standalone dvd players support CLV so CAV is no big deal (for video.)

Yes, you can make direct dvd backups with the A04 but that is if the disk is a single layer dvd. If the disk is dual layer some convertion is needed. Check out the guides for dual -> single layer convertion here:

www.doom9.org

They totally walk you through everything you would have to do.

[Charles]

So the"-" vs. "+" is all about speed, time?

This person was also talking not to fondly of Pioneer A04 as a quality product and also the fact that it is a combined CD-RW and DVD-RW. Do you personally rather have these 2 products sold separately?

Any major differences in terms of buying OEM vs. Retail when buying the A04 from an online vendor, different warranties.

To tell you the truth I am considering the A04 because I've seen the quality of VCD on my DVD player and I think I rather backup on DVD-R format. Will it be just like a regular DVD? How can I tell if a DVD has single or dual layer. Can I still rip it if it has dual layer with the A04? Thanks.

[Charles]

Are there any differenced between the A04 and the 104?

[sterno]

Any major differences in terms of buying OEM vs. Retail when buying the A04 from an online vendor, different warranties.

Retail comes with a full box/manual/cables/screws/software set. OEM drives have plain packaging and often do not include cables, mounting screws, or software. Ask the vendor or read the description carefully to find out what a given OEM kit does and does not include.

Will it be just like a regular DVD? How can I tell if a DVD has single or dual layer. Can I still rip it if it has dual layer with the A04?

A DVD-R can be like a regular DVD if you put in a lot of time, buy some very expensive software, etc. Since you probably won't do those things, it'll be more like a VCD/SVCD with a better picture. Almost all current DVDs are dual-layer. You can read dual-layer discs just fine, but you'll have to reencode them to a lower bitrate or resolution for DVD-R.

Are there any differenced between the A04 and the 104?

One is the part number for the OEM kit, the other for the retail box.

[LanceSteel]

So the"-" vs. "+" is all about speed, time?
This person was also talking not to fondly of Pioneer A04 as a quality product and also the fact that it is a combined CD-RW and DVD-RW. Do you personally rather have these 2 products sold separately?

Personally I don't see the benefit or disadvantage of having a +R vs. a -R writer. I think the guy you were talking to has a bias toward -R/-RW. All of the current +R/+RW drive that are out there record CD-R/-RW too so I don't know what he is complaining about. I would rather have it all-in-one rather than having two writers (but thats just my preference.)

Any major differences in terms of buying OEM vs. Retail when buying the A04 from an online vendor, different warranties.

Yes the warranties are different. I've heard and read on the pioneer webpage that the 104 (OEM version of the A04) comes with no warranty. The A04 comes with some sort of pioneer warranty. However you may get some sort of warranty from the seller depending on who you buy the 104 from. The company that I linked you to before is excellent about taking back bad or faulty merchandise. I would email whoever you plan on buying one from and see what kind of warranty they offer.

To tell you the truth I am considering the A04 because I've seen the quality of VCD on my DVD player and I think I rather backup on DVD-R format. Will it be just like a regular DVD? How can I tell if a DVD has single or dual layer. Can I still rip it if it has dual layer with the A04? Thanks.

Sterno isn't totally correct in saying that you need expensive software to backup dvd's. If you are taking avi captures and making dvd's then yes you may need expensive software to make a studio quality dvd. What I understand is that you want to do dvd rips. All you need to do that is some freeware progs like dvddecryptor, rempeg2, dvd2avi and ifoedit. To encode/reencode I would use Tmpeg (free 30 trial or $50 for the full version) and a dvd burning program such as Nero (which is $50 or so which is part of the package you get from hypermicrosystems if you order the drive from them.)

Are there any differenced between the A04 and the 104?

Same drive but the 104 has no pioneer printing on the front of the drive.

Like I said before, look at the doom9.org guides on dvd ripping and that will give you an idea of what you would need to do to do dvd back-ups.

[Charles]

Will the DVD backups using the software you are talking about make quality DVD pictures or more like VCD? Thanks a bunch.

[LanceSteel]

Will the DVD backups using the software you are talking about make quality DVD pictures or more like VCD? Thanks a bunch.

Just as good or very very very close to as good as dvd.

[Charles]

Description
Price
Stock


LITE-ON LTD-163 16X DVD ROM Drive - Retail48X CD-ROM Access all format DVD-ROM/R/RW ,CD-ROM/R/RW title & disc Model#: LTD-163 Special FedEx Saver Shipping $1.00
- Product Link -See It! (image count 3 ) -Price Alert (N82E16827131101)
(avg rating out of 75 voters)

$38.00



What do you think about this DVD-ROM?

[LanceSteel]

LITE-ON LTD-163 16X DVD ROM Drive - Retail48X CD-ROM Access all format DVD-ROM/R/RW ,CD-ROM/R/RW title & disc Model#: LTD-163 Special FedEx Saver Shipping $1.00
- Product Link -See It! (image count 3 ) -Price Alert (N82E16827131101)
(avg rating out of 75 voters)

$38.00

What do you think about this DVD-ROM?

I don't know anything about that drive. It seems a bit cheap.

[IonNuke]

Liteon DVD-ROM compared to my Pioneer DVD-116 it runs par or slightly faster sometimes.

LiteOn products are really good in quality. I kid you not.