Topic: Another cheap DVD-RW

[Simon]

These just seem to get cheaper all the time, although, this one is only DVD-R/RW, whereas some of them also have DVD+R/RW.  I have to admit, I don't really know the difference, so if someone could enlighten a prospective buyer, and also give an opinion of the Asus, it would be appreciated!  

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/SpecPage.html?ASU-DVDMB

[Adept]

Still not quite cheap enough When they get down to £50 then I'll have one

Asus stuff is generally very good. I haven't used one of their drives though  

[Simon]

Still not quite cheap enough When they get down to £50 then I'll have one

Tight git!!  

I put an Asus motherboard in the last PC I built, and will probably use the same in the next one.  It was more the fact that it is only DVD-R/RW that I thought might be a disadvantage.

[Adept]

Tight git!!

Since getting my 4x4 the PC budget has got a bit constrained

[Dack]

These just seem to get cheaper all the time, although, this one is only DVD-R/RW, whereas some of them also have DVD+R/RW.  I have to admit, I don't really know the difference, so if someone could enlighten a prospective buyer, and also give an opinion of the Asus, it would be appreciated!  

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/SpecPage.html?ASU-DVDMB

The differences in +/- pretty much come down to who you believe

DVD- (which prefers to be called dash and not minus ) is the approved standard of the DVD consortium (along with DVD-RAM). It comes in two flavours -R and -RW. Which, much like CDR, stand for recordable and rewritable. Just think of them as CDR.

DVD+ well Philips decided that it was taking too long to get a DVD standard for recordable formats and came out with their own. The standard allowed for faster writing (2.4x instead of the 1x and 2x of the -R group) and, according to Philips, was more compatible with home DVD players. Once again the +R is a write once format while the +RW is rewritable.

Due to there being more recorders that used the - format the discs tended to be cheaper while + carried a premium. Compatability wise they are pretty much the same (although a lot of the cheap import players don't seem to play -R all of a sudden...hmmm).

They are pretty much of a muchness these days.

BTW the NEC +/- 4x from svp is currently at £89.98 and its 99p shipping again this weekend (also their policy is that if prices drop inside 7 days they will refund you the difference).

[Simon]

Thanks for that Dack.  Very useful.  It almost seems silly to buy one now doesn't it?  The prices just seem to be dropping like a sack of spuds in a lift shaft (I cleaned that up a bit!), so I may well do as Sean is doing, and see if they drop to nearer the £50 mark.

[Dack]

Depends - the bargain 4x ones at the moment are all at the £90 to £100 mark while the newer models are 8 speed and have a £50+ premium. I don't really see them dropping that much lower as they just phase out the lower spec models to maintain the £100+ price point.

Though my Panasonic DVD recorder went from £750 to £250 in about 12 months  

[Simon]

Yeah, I'm looking at those too!    I think I would get a lot more use out of a DVD Recorder for the TV, than I would a DVD-R/RW for the computer.  

[Dack]

Several cheap recorders on the market - primarily Philips and Panasonic.

Best buy at the moment is probably the Panasonic E-30 or E-50 (difference being that one has firewire input) which can be had for £250 multiregion.

Once you have played with the DVD-RAM editing, and playback while recording you'll wonder how anyone buys the Philips.

Philips is +R and +RW while the Panasonic is RAM and -R. The RAM discs don't play in many machines apart from the latest Panasonics and a few others, while the +RW is a record and share kind of medium. Both can record in a write once format though which should play on most machines.

[Adept]

Best buy at the moment is probably the Panasonic E-30 or E-50 (difference being that one has firewire input) which can be had for £250 multiregion.

Does firewire input mean I could plug my Digital Camcorder into it and record straight to DVD Dack? Sounds good that

[Dack]

Yes you can record direct from DV to disc but, and it takes a lot for me to say this, I made a mistake  

The E-50 doesn't have firewire - the E-60 does and thats about £350. Though if you can get hold of an E-20 (should be about £200-£250 second hand - I know because I'll probably be selling mine soon and getting a second hand HS2 (which has the hard drive built in)) then Bobs your aunties live in lover.