Is burn-on-demand the future? (1 Viewer)

[DavidHAN]

Ok, this is a thorny issue for me.
Let me just say that I don't know anything about what a company that burns on demand is using to do the burning.
Now wait. Is it like my equipment that I have here at my house?
It must be much better than what I have. Right?
I don't particularly like the thought of a burn on demand service because of what I use to burn discs with.
If it is much superior to what I have, then I might have to rethink.
The Doug and Hey Arnold! example looks quite fabulous, and thus the rethinking, but only if the discs would last longer than the freaking discs I use on the freaking apparently inadequate system I burn them on!
If it can be proved someway that this is true.....well, I just might believe it.

Until then.....I just don't know. I just don't know.

 

[Todd Stout]

Okay... so where's Hey Dude?

 

[David Deeb]

I'm curious on how the "burn on demand" format will be accepted....

Now that these are for sale, has anyone bought any of the titles and can you give us your review / feedback?

 

[Wezzo]

I got Hey Arnold! S1. Discs played fine on all five players I tested (including Philips, Sony, Panasonic and two budget makes) and on my PC's DVD drive. The discs were DVD-Rs that are purple on the reflective side. Not sure about what brand they are. The AV quality of the shows was better than I expected, pretty solid, although I don't have a high-end system to really test them on (though we are talking mid-1990s Nicktoons here, so don't expect miracles).

The packaging was good - the cover looked professionally printed, the disc label art was good and the actual case was sturdy. Menus were alright.. I noticed one error where a long word wrapped onto the next line but other than that there were no problems there. On HA!, at least, the opening credits played only once at the start of each disc, but the end credits played every time they would have originally aired (usually after every second story) - presumably to ensure no-one's name was lost, which might happen if they combined five lots of credits into one lot at the disc's end.

Overall, I'm really happy with the set, and I'd say it's worth the money. I've since ordered Hey Arnold! S2 and Doug S1-S2.

 

[Robert13]

Is Nickelodean the only company doing this right now? I'm hoping for releases by Sony and CBS/Paramount properties. This could be a great way for them to make rare shows available in a less-costly way.

 

[AnthonyC]

I just got the second season of Doug as a belated birthday gift (season 1 is on its way as well

)...I did a quick test, and it plays on both my computer and my Toshiba D-VR600 (which is not a play-only device, so that warning is probably a "just in case" disclaimer and not a rule). The packaging is very nice, the discs themselves look superb. One plus that I think everyone can agree on with these releases? The menu pops up instantly, no sitting through FBI warnings, logos, etc.

I obviously haven't gone through the entire set, but from what I've checked out so far, the sound and video are about what'd you expect--not amazing but definitely above VHS quality. I doubt that Paramount would've gone through any effort to improve upon this if it were a standard retail release.

While I would love to have extras, the overall package exceeded my expectations for sure. In fact, my only real complaint--and this is more of a pet peeve than anything--when you select an episode and it finishes, it goes directly into the next episode. Not a big deal at all and I know that I'm one of the few people here who doesn't swear by "Play All" so I won't really consider it a mark against it.

Now please, bring out Survivor and Amazing Race already!

 

[Ethan Riley]

I finally ordered South of Nowhere #1; amazon said it will be delivered 11/3-11/5. A whole month?? Sheesh, amazon--get busy and burn the stupid thing already. After all I DEMAND it. hahahahahaa~~~

 

[Ethan Riley]

Got it yesterday. Okay; you wanted a little review, here it is. THIS SET IS TERRIFIC! There is nothing whatsoever about it that is shoddy or amateurish, or "homemade." It doesn't say what kind of discs they are, but they are certainly not "burned" discs; the backs look like any pre-recorded disc you've ever seen. They are not bluish or purplish. The printing on the discs looks silk-screened like most discs; it's not a sticker/label. The cover art did not look like it came out of a laser printer or anything; it looks like it came from a professional printing company.

The discs have warnings that they might not play on certain equipment, like PCs. So, I tried the disc on the following: a standard dvd player, my Playstation 2, my dvd recorder, a portable dvd player, and my laptop. The discs played on ALL of these, just fine!

Dvd image/sound quality: about 9 out of 10. The show looks like it was completely, professionally authored. Terrific image and sound; the show looks 5X better than it did on Noggin.

So? This is a major plus. I want to publicly allay any worries about the quality of these particular burn-on-demand dvd sets. These are not second-tier products; they are highly professional and attractive. This is a great way to start amazon's burn-on-demand program; they hit the ground running. I urge you to try some for yourself (if any of the limited number of shows now available do interest you). The main reason for this is--that if people are showing "demand" for this kind of product, you'll just see it more and more. Maybe the vaults will get unlocked on those obscure or commercially unviable programs that we dedicated fans all want. We all have a huge laundry list of shows we want that we don't think will make it to our local Wal-Marts anytime soon. Maybe this is a way to get them.

This is a sensational product; don't worry about the quality!

***Rave over. Now get back to whatever it is you were doing...

 

[AnthonyC]

Really? The Doug ones are purple. Either way, they play perfectly and I have no complaints.

 

[Ethan Riley]

The South of Nowhere ones are whitish, or silvery, just like most pre-recorded discs. It doesn't look like any kind of inferior media at all. In fact, I have a feeling these are NOT "burn on demand." It looks more like a limiting pressing. Maybe they have some sort of program where they produce the sets (in the traditional manner) when they get enough orders. Maybe it's more like "manufacture on demand."

 

[John Green]

I just received Doug Series 1 and 2. Neither will play on my Denon DVD3910. Checked on the Denon website which says it may not play 'poorly finalized' DVD-R discs. Damn thing cost me nearly £1000 when it came out.
The discs play fine on my daughters £50 Sony DVD player !!!
The look of the discs is fine by the way. They look no different to any other DVD package.
Another problem I had was that all the discs were loose owing to the fact all the disc tray splines ( the cases are cheap things - NOT AMARAY) were broken so I need to get new cases.
If you can play DVD-R on a more recent player this is a great show to own.
Cheers, John

 

[nikkif99uk]

cool i want to get the south of nowhere discs but cause they currently cost over £20 will get a customs charge on them so need them to come down to £18 or less, but not sure if they will

 

[Ethan Riley]

Sounds like Doug was done totally differently than South of Nowhere. It says on the amazon page, however, that the discs might not play on dvd recorders; it's a good strong warning that the media might be dicey, and yes they do returns. But South of Nowhere played on five different players including my recorder and my laptop, so good going there.