Highly Anticipated: LiteON DVD BURNER!

[weepul]

im still going to wait for dvd burners to be standardized a bit more. fast media isnt exactly cheap yet.

//krunk (^_^x)

 

[MasterG]

Originally posted by: jasonroehm
Price is a big thing, but the other thing keeping me from getting a DVD burner is the fact that there are no dual-layer discs, so the only ones you can get are the 4.7GB ones. For most movies that come on the dual-layer discs (9GB), this means you have to split the movie or cut stuff out, which doesn't do it for me. When I can get a reasonably priced DVD burner that I can just make blind copies of DVDs with, that's when I'll purchase one.

I don't think making a dual layer burner is possible. They make dual layer dvd's by pressing two layers together with a machine.

 

[Chuck2]

For those who question the value of + and - formats in one unit, I remember when stereo sound recording came out and I bought the Voice of Music with staggered tracks. Lo and Behold RCA recorded only with the inline format and then came VHS and Betamax video recording and everyone knows what happened to Betamax! When one format wins the other disappears.

 

[TerryMathews]

This is a slightly different situation as both formats are readable by most DVDROM drives, and the discs are fairly similar.

Eventually, one format might win out. Currently, it looks like DVD+R, which has the most large support. But who knows what the future may hold? Someone may invent a media that is compatible with both DVD+R and DVD-R drives.

 

[SimMike2]

then came VHS and Betamax video recording and everyone knows what happened to Betamax! When one format wins the other disappears

This is a stupid argument as beta didn't suddenly disappear. I know people who were playing and still recording beta tapes a full fifteen years after the format supposedly lost. But this is a stupid argument for one further reason. People who chose to record in the beta format would need a beta VCR to play the tapes. This might be hard to come by now. This is nothing like DVD-R and DVD+R disks. Both these formats are totally compatible with the wide base of existing DVD players and future DVD players. None of the disks you record today in either format will be any less compatible 20 years from now and I venture to guess you won't have trouble buying players for the disks. Compatibility of your burned disks is a non-issue because if they work now, they will work in the future, both formats. This is nothing like orphaned totally propreitary formats you make in your argument.

The only question is whether you will be able to buy blank DVD disks for either format for the forseeable life of your recorder. Maybe if you are lucky you will get four or five years out of your recorder. If this situation is anything like beta, which some people think it is, you will still be able to buy one or the other format five years from now, just like you could still buy beta tapes five years after it supposedly lost.

 

[Flair]

In 5 years, DVD Recorders will be like CD-RWs now, dirt cheap, and will be burning at 40x

The cool thing is the ability to back up your DVDs now .....Or your friends', or Blockbuster's, or Netflix's ;-)

 

[bravo261]

Originally posted by: TerryMathews


Eventually, one format might win out. Currently, it looks like DVD+R, which has the most large support. But who knows what the future may hold? Someone may invent a media that is compatible with both DVD+R and DVD-R drives.

if one wins out, it doesn't seem close at all, with both formats having big backers. but i think dvd-r is more popular because the drives are a little cheaper and the media is definitely cheaper. but +R is better technology


Flair, i'm with ya but can't wait. its scary what i paid for a 2x burner in '98

 

[orion7144]

This is part of the current Lite-On CDRW drives already and is supported by WinXP. I use it all the time.

Originally posted by: rectifire
For anyone who's interested:

Micro$oft has officially put it's support behind the DVD+R/+RW camp. It's working on developing a standard codenamed "Mount Rainier" where a DVD will be instantly writeable (the way a floppy works) with little or no formatting time and no burning software required. This is supposed to be available in the next Windows OS.
I believe the final standard will be called DVD+MR/+MRW (the M standing for Mount Rainier). Mt. Rainier will also come in a CD-R/RW version, since this is what it was orginally invented for (but then was adapted for DVD use.) Personally, I won't be sad to see the floppy go. But then again, people have been predicting the floppy's demise for some time, and yet the floppy is still around. It's just gonna feel a little weird to flash a BIOS from a DVD.

I have no doubt that both DVD+ and - will be around for a long time.....but I'd be more inclined to bet on the +R/+RW camp winning out, since the momentum seems to be on their side. (Just my humble opinion.)

None of this DVD+ or - debate may matter a year or two from now anyways, since the Mt. Rainier standard also requires compatible hardware. The DVD drive you buy today will likely not be compatible with Mt. Rainier tomorrow.

Oh well, we're used to the hardware upgrade cycle by now, aren't we?

 

[dgem77]

Has anyone caught wind of when the Lite-On or the Optorite will be released?

 

[rectifire]

orion7144:

I have no doubt that your Liteon CD burner may be one of the later models (>40 recording speed) that support Mt. Rainier in hardware/firmware.

However on the software side, I believe you are confusing the native Windows XP IMAPI drag and drop packet based CD writing service, with true software Mt. Rainier support. No Windows, Mac OSX, or Linux distro have support for Mount Rainier as of yet, and I don't beleive any firm dates have been set. Most likely they are waiting for the hardware to become more plentiful.

Just a few benefits of Mount Rainier:

2K block sizes instead of the common 64K block sizes used in many of today's packet writing software, which means more efficient use of CD-R/RW space.

So Far, CD-R/RW recordable media haven't been trustworthy enough for some of the more critical backup applications. Every one of us has had the occasional bad burn/coaster, which is unacceptable when backing up critical data. Most of the time our writing software will just burn blindly to the CD, even if certain parts of the CD are defective. This gives us a coaster and/or corrupted data in the worst case. Mt. Rainier fixes this by putting error detection and correction into the hardware of the drive, much in the same way that SCSI hard drives automatically self diagnose, mark off bad blocks and ban their use by the drive.

I could go on, but I'm already talking too much.

 

[Avatar26]

Does anyone know anything about the TDK multiformat DVD burner that Dell is listing on their site? It can be had for less than the Sony with the usual sales/coupons... I might jump on it if the right sale comes along this week.

 

[Avatar26]

Stupid double posts! DOH!

 

[Murse]

You might want to check out this link for more info on the +R/+RW format. Granted, the site is specifically advocating this format, but it looks to have some significant advantages over -R/-RW. Also, a new generation of +R/+RW drives that support x4 RW burning are just coming to market. The drives today support x4 R and 2.4x RW burning.

Also, from the homepage you can link to some pretty comprehensive spec sheets for the drives that are out there today, and some that are coming in the near future. Based on the specs listed, it looks like some Philips and Ricoh drives already have Mt. Ranier support.

 

[dgem77]

Does anyone know anything about the TDK multiformat DVD burner that Dell is listing on their site? It can be had for less than the Sony with the usual sales/coupons... I might jump on it if the right sale comes along this week.

I saw that one too! Unfortunately, Dell doesn't really post a model number you can search other sites for it with. All I know is that it is "Indi" and even searched the TDK site for it, all is on the TDK site is for +r/rw not +/-. So I don't know either! Are manufacturers usually late in posting their new products on their sites?

 

[Avatar26]

I did some digging and found the model listed in a CeBit News release, the model # is 440. Manufacturer's # is AID+040212. I'm not sure about this, right now you could get the drive and a 64MB Dell USB key, with the stackable coupon, it comes to about $300 or so for both SHIPPED. Not scorching hot, but it might be worth it. I wish I knew more about the DVD burners. Anyone think that's a good deal?

 

[conehead433]

Sony had announced a collaboration with Lite-On back in February. Sony may end up using Lite-On's multi-format drive under their own name just as it has used their CD-RW drives in the recent past. Lite-On is the world's largest manufacturer of computer optical drives. They didn't get to that position by accident. They make exceptional drives. Sometimes it may be best to wait for a second revision. I expect these drives to be <$250
at sale prices after rebate, etc. Blue laser drives are around the corner, but you can expect the price for them to initially be in the thousands. So here's the text to the Sony article and a link so you can see for yourself. I personally want DVD-R and DVD+RW.

"Lite-On IT and Sony form strategic alliance, sources say
Wednesday, 26 February 2003"


"According to DigiTimes "...Sony recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Taiwan-based optical drive manufacturer Lite-On IT, reported the Chinese-language Commercial Times. The news follows shortly after BenQ and Philips Electronics announced a new joint venture on February 12..."
and continues "...The two companies were said to be cooperating on developing DVD-Dual chipsets, scheduled for launch in the second quarter. These highly integrated chipsets combine support for the DVD+RW and DVD-RW standards and could help DVD-Dual optical drives/players become mainstream products..."

Maybe the upcoming LiteOn's DVD Dual recorder would be actually a SONY OEM DRU-500A drive?"


http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.asp?RelatedID=3564

 

[toprat]

I was playing the "wait and see" game but could not pass on the last Saturday OM F&M deal on HP 300i 4x/2.4X +R/+RW drive for $150 and also pick up 50 blank Fuji +R DVD discs at Bestbuy for $80, the drive is working flawlessly, can't complain much.

 

[orion7144]

Windows may not support it but it does work very well with the software that come with the drive (48X). I have the native IMAPI disabled in winXP. More information about Mt. Rainier and the liteon CDRW drives that support it can be found here.

Originally posted by: rectifire
orion7144:

I have no doubt that your Liteon CD burner may be one of the later models (>40 recording speed) that support Mt. Rainier in hardware/firmware.

However on the software side, I believe you are confusing the native Windows XP IMAPI drag and drop packet based CD writing service, with true software Mt. Rainier support. No Windows, Mac OSX, or Linux distro have support for Mount Rainier as of yet, and I don't beleive any firm dates have been set. Most likely they are waiting for the hardware to become more plentiful.

Just a few benefits of Mount Rainier:

2K block sizes instead of the common 64K block sizes used in many of today's packet writing software, which means more efficient use of CD-R/RW space.

So Far, CD-R/RW recordable media haven't been trustworthy enough for some of the more critical backup applications. Every one of us has had the occasional bad burn/coaster, which is unacceptable when backing up critical data. Most of the time our writing software will just burn blindly to the CD, even if certain parts of the CD are defective. This gives us a coaster and/or corrupted data in the worst case. Mt. Rainier fixes this by putting error detection and correction into the hardware of the drive, much in the same way that SCSI hard drives automatically self diagnose, mark off bad blocks and ban their use by the drive.

I could go on, but I'm already talking too much.

 

[Chuck2]

SimMike2 It was not a argument. I thought it was a statement. Technically, the staggered stereo recording was better than inline and because of the pre-recorded tapes by RCA and followed by the rest of the music industry effectively killed the staggered format. Beta was also a better format and again Pre-recorded VHS tapes and less pre-recorded Beta ones killed that format. With the production of both formats + and - in one unit I can wait for the price to come down by competition.

 

[rectifire]

That's great that it works well for you with the Lite-on software.
It bodes well for the day when these features are transparently included in the OS. I too have disabled the IMAPI Windows XP CD burning service, as it sometimes tends to cause problems with other burning software.

 

[GetInMyFatBelly]

According to the AccuPC site, the Optorite is now available and in stock for $290 plus free shipping.

 

[conehead433]

The future of DVD is here now. With an estimated price of $3800 per unit, it's not likely that people will be rushing out to buy Sony's new Blue Laser DVD. But the fact that they will be hitting store shelves soon gives hope to the decrease of current DVD models' prices on the market. After all, it's not really much different than a CD burner.

More disc space. More format wars.

November 2002 | "In August, Toshiba and NEC presented a joint proposal to the DVD Forum for a next-generation, 120mm blue-laser disc format that would more than double the capacity of a DVD pressed with the same equipment now used to manufacture 4.7 and 8.5GB discs. The format would increase the capacity of single-sided, single-layer read-only discs to 15GB, and single-sided, single-layer RW discs to 20GB. The biggest gain comes in the single-sided, dual-layer, read-only category, which would find its capacity increased to 30GB, the companies claim.

"Blue-laser" discs are just that?discs recorded with a blue-laser diode. The capacity increase results from the diode's shorter wavelength, which measures 405nm as opposed to existing red-laser diode's 650nm. The format Toshiba and NEC are proposing is different from the "Blu-ray" format proposed earlier this year by Matsushita, Sony and others. While not compatible with Blu-ray?a format that promises up to 27GB capacity on a single-sided, single-layer disc?the Toshiba/NEC technology uses a 0.6mm substrate, the same as current red-laser discs. The companies claim that blue-laser players would be compatible with current red-laser discs, meaning that new blue-laser DVD players would still be able to play red-laser discs. The 0.1mm substrate Blu-ray, which also uses a 405nm diode, is not compatible with existing DVD media.

The other key difference between the Toshiba/NEC proposal and the Blu-ray proposal lies in the numerical aperture (NA) of the lens required to read the disc?hence, the difference in compatibility. Blu-ray uses a 0.85 NA lens, while Toshiba's proposal indicates a lens with an NA of 0.65, much closer to existing players' 0.6 lenses. Both formats propose a data transfer rate of 36Mbps, and both would result in discs with a total thickness of 1.2mm.

Toshiba and NEC say they also will soon propose a 40GB single-sided, dual-layer RW disc to the forum.

Sony showed off its Blu-ray recorder for the first time at its Sony Dream World 2002 exhibition in Japan in early September. The trial units were slightly larger than typical external DVD recorders, according to Nikkei Electronics, but offer both digital satellite and broadcast television recording capability. Sony still hasn't announced when it will bring the recorders to market.

The DVD Forum Steering Committee has established two subgroups to examine blue-laser technology, one to focus on Blu-ray's 0.1mm substrate, the other to look at the Toshiba/NEC's 0.6mm substrate. The DVD Forum is comprised of 230 companies who work together to define formats and standards, as well as to license the well-known DVD logo. Since the forum does not endorse +RW (a forum endorsed by the rival DVD+RW Alliance, which counts Forum member Sony as a member), neither of the blue-laser proposals includes DVD+RW compatibility."

?Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen

SONY Sells First Blue Laser model.

TOKYO (Reuters) -- "Japan's Sony said it would start sales next month of the world's first DVD recorder that uses blue laser light and can pack a two-hour high-definition TV program onto a single disc.

It won't be cheap, with a retail list price of 450,000 yen ($3,800) while low-end DVD recorders using conventional red lasers go for as little as 50,000-70,000 yen. But with digital satellite broadcasts in Japan, the United States and elsewhere now bringing high-definition TV to a small but growing number of households, Sony wants to get an early start in what could become a hot product.

"The market has already been established, and although it's still looking for direction, there will be a growing number of users who want high-definition recording," said Sony spokeswoman Shoko Yanagisawa.

Coming to America
The recorder, which includes a built-in broadcast satellite tuner, will hit store shelves in Japan on April 10. No date has been set yet for an overseas roll-out, she said.

The machine will give Sony, the world's largest consumer electronics maker, a head start over its partners in the Blu-ray consortium, a nine-member group of industry heavyweights that unveiled a common format for blue laser DVDs a year ago."

"Sony's Blu-ray machine will be able to play red-laser discs using the DVD-R and DVD-RW formats, but not those using the DVD-RAM or DVD+RW formats."

Looks like you'll need a Blue Laser DVD that supports Blue or Red and also the different Blue disc formats and also all the different recording formats. I'll take a dozen. I knew I should have taken the Blue pill. While I'm waiting around I'll probably get either a SONY or Lite-On multi-format DVD.

Links to articles. http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/03/04/blue.dvd.reut/

http://www.emedialive.com/r3/2002/news1102_01.html

 

[dvdplyr30]

Looking at the pics provided by newegg, it looks exactly like my rebadged Ikebana (sony dw-u10a=dru500a)lite-on

 

[deeznuts]

damn, i'm about to do the dell deal with the TDK + drive. it's $321, and with $90 coupon (have to add about $30, i'm adding a pc card that' i'm selling) it comes out to around $230 for the drive. shipped free, and no tax, with me being in CA and newegg tax, it's a good deal. no rebates either.