I am very new to this as well. I presently have as my d drive: Samsung CD-ROM SC148C and e drive: Philips DVD+RW-D28 with a Pentium4 2GHz Proc, in my Dell Dim4500 with 512MB Ram. I will provide more info if needed. I'm frustrated with not being able to burn to DVD-R discs, only DVD+R as it seems there's many more DVD-R players out there so I'd like to get a new burner and am considering the Plextor 716A that I've read good things in here about. I've also tried to use my Philips DVD burner to emulate MS FlightSim2004 on CD-R and it looks like it burns it but I can never get the game to work with the backup copies. Somebody replied in another forum that my CD/DVD burner may just not be able to emulate correctly so I'm hoping this all fixes that problem. When I opened my computer, it doesn't look like I have anywhere to put it. Is it easy to just pop the Samsung CD-ROM player I have in there now out and replace it with the Plextor? Can someone provide me steps? My experience "in the computer" only consisted of adding an internal Linksys antenna. That seemed easy. Many of you are probably laughing at this. Am I losing out by not just spending the extra on an external drive (I'd prefer not to have more wires)? All thoughts are welcome. Thanks.
Well your not able to burn to a dvd-r is becasue you have a +rw drive. You need a -/+ or just - to do dvr-r. This could be your problem. Let me know if this helps?
Hello, this forum is sooo coool. You guys are such a big help. I was in the middle of paying for a Sony and than just cancelled and got myself the Plextor px-712uf. I did a lot of research because I'm really new with this burning thing. My question is what is the difference btw the regular blank dvd-rs like taiyo yuden and the dual layer blank dvds? I just want to burn like a regular 2-4 hour movie. And the plextor says dual layer and I have no idea what that does. 2nd question is I want to buy a cd/dvd label printer that prints directly on the dvd's and I have no idea what type of blank dvd's to buy in order for it to be compatible with a label printer. And which label printer is the best and good cost wise? Thanks!
Sorry one more thing, what is the difference btw a label printer that is inkjet and one that is thermal? And which blank dvd's are the best to label on? I was reading something someone asked about white and silver dvds.
Hiya DarnIT and welcome to AfterDawn There are two basic types of blanks - Single Layer and Double Layer with SL blanks having one layer for data and DL blanks having two layers. Here's a great link that'll give you the 411 on DVD constuction: http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html Both Canon and Epson make inkjets that will print to discs with the Epson 200 being both inexpensive and very popular.All you need is to get "inkjet printable" media and you'll be set. Quality brands to look for are Taiyo Yuden, RiDATA and Verbatim DataLifePlus
Thank you so much for the warm welcome and the really fast reply! I love this place! I KNOW I'll be back soon with more questions so brace yourself for some retarded ones!
hi! I'm back! Question: what is the difference btw hub printable and not hub? ~Also, what is the diff. and which is best in quality the white inkjet printables or the silver?
Hub printables can be printed all the way to the center hole whereas the standard discs will only print to within a quarter inch of the center hole. I have no idea what the quality difference is between the white and silver printables because I'm a tried and true Sharpie man
Back to the thread, I have ended up with a Plextor ROM for the reading (Plextor have a good rep) & 3 108s because Pioneer has a good reputation in making quality gear. Firmware updates seem to improve performance.
Looking for a new DL burner. Any experience with or opinions on the NEC 3520A (16X DVD+R, 8X DVD+RW, 4X DVD+R DL, 16X DVD-R, 6X DVD-RW, 48X CD-R, 24X CD-RW )? It almost seems too good for the price. ($58 shipped on NewEgg)
Just purchased this burner from I/O-Magic with a nice rebate as said in my earlier thread. However, after reading this forum, I have a feeling that I would be better off returning this burner IOMagic's IDVD16DD to Staple and buy the NEC 3520A, instead. (It would cost me $19 more.) Is this a right feeling? I am a newbie here and don't have much experiences with dvd burner but would like to buy one with DL capability to burn backup copies for my children's dvds. This burner is to replace my 8x Khypermedia (6 months old) because I am having a lot of problem with backup copies, even with good level of compressing by dvdshrink (78%). Many thaanks in advance Dee
For unbiased review/opinions check out http://videohelp.com and click on dvd writers. They actually rate the NEC higher than the plextor and it is about $50 less.
Well what I meant by unbiased is that they are reviews based on actual results and not preconceived results (i.e. my brand is the best)
hello im back again! my question of the day is : now that i have my plextor and all of the software it came with do i need to get any other type of dvd ripping or decrytping or shrinking softwares? or its ok to just use what plextor gave me?