DVD Burner newb...some questions (1 Viewer)

My old Plex cd burner just died, and I've been wanting to get a DVD burner for a while, but haven't had a real good excuse to waste the money. So, some questions are in order.

1. Are all DVD burners capable of burning normal audio cds?

2. I want to backup all of my DVDs so I don't have to play the originals. I'm assuming this can be done legally w/o much trouble?

3. I'm also assuming that PS2 DVDs can't be copied and played w/o modding your PS2?

4. I might like to burn home movies to DVD someday - are there camcorders now that burn easily to DVD?

5. How easy would it be (or is it possible at all) to connect the burner (computer) to my DirecTivo and burn recorded things?

6. Does it matter what kind of system I have? It's not too powerful.

7. What are my options for burners - internal, external? I've also always seen this +/- RW crap - what's the difference?

8. I've noticed in passing the discussion of dual layer DVDs, or something like that. What is it, and how should it affect my buying decision?

9. What burner do you recommend? Under $150, the cheaper the better.

Thanks a lot for any help, it's much appreciated.

Tim

No, not legally.

Tim:

1. Yes, most DVD recorders ARE capable of burning CDs, but I BELIEVE they are still slower than straight-up CD recorders, so you'll often find both on newer computers.

2. I BELIEVE if you do this strictly to keep back-up copies, this is ok. Most DVDs, though, have 8.5 GB of capacity per side (dual layer) instead of the 4.7 GB that most recordable DVDs have. There is a program called DVDXCopy that will do this for you (AGAIN, ONLY ADVOCATING THIS IF YOU OWN THE DVDS), but it may be off the market due to a court injunction (MPAA doesn't like the software one bit, obviously).

3. Yes, PS2 games cannot be copied and played without modding your PS2. You're probably better off waiting until the titles are $20 and then purchasing them again if you'd like extra copies.

4. Some camcorders burn to DVD, but a lot of them use small DVDs (3 inch) to do so. These STILL should work in DVD players, though. I'm not up to speed on camcorders, but I do know I've seen a Sony DVD handycam commercial out recently.

5. It would probably be more trouble than it's worth to do what you're suggesting. If you had a computer with a TV tuner/capture card, it may make things somewhat easier though.

6. The system would likely matter when it comes to managing the video (video editing is processor-intensive), but I'm not sure it has as much bearing on DVD recording speed as the drives do.

7. Internal drives are cheaper, but you have to install them inside the computer. External drives are (I believe) about $50 more expensive, but they can be plugged into your computer and moved if you decide to update your system.

The +/- thing is a simple, old-fashioned standards war. The plus side consists of mostly computer makers and a few electronics companies (I believe), the hyphen side consist of (I believe) mostly electronics companies. Both formats seem to have equal compatibility in DVD players (~85% for R), so choosing formats WAS like flipping a coin, in most respects. I was actually giving the hyphen side a slight edge for eventual adoption except for one thing, which I'll get to in #8.

8. Dual layer DVDs have been (IIRC) first released by the + camp. These DVDs have identical capacities as most commercial DVDs out now, almost doubling recording capacity. Right now, recording on them is (will be) slower than single layer DVDs, but they (again) hold more information. I'm not sure if the drives supporting the format are out now, but if they aren't they will be soon.

9. The DVD recorder I'd recommend (actually the one I'm currently looking at) is this, the Sony DRU-700A. It will burn dual-layer + DVDs and all other +/- DVD formats. It'll run you about $200, apparently, but the extra functionality should be worth it.

Hope I've answered all your questions!

1. Yes, all DVD burners burn CDs

4. There's lots of software that tries to make it easy to convert DV camcorder tapes to DVD. Your computer needs a FireWire port/card. If you have an older analog camcorder there is an extra step/hardware required.

6. For the burning, it's more a matter of the underlying I/O -- mainly the sustained hard drive speed. A 1xDVD is about the same speed as a 9xCD. For the video editing and DVD authoring, you'll probably want a hefty system, though.

7. You want a dual-format burner that does both +RW and -RW

8. And you probably want to wait for the dual-layer ones, which will get nearly twice as much info on one disc.

No, the DMCA makes it illegal to break the encryption.

Thanks a lot for the help guys. I figured it was legal to make backups, since it's not I'll look into it a little more and see if it'd be worth my while.

So basically any burner will burn dual-layered DVDs? And these aren't out yet, but will be soon?

Out of curiosity, how many people do you suspect even buy DVD burners for reasons other than backing up (copying) DVDs (movies, games, whatever)? It seems as though the manufacturers market them for this very reason, but it's not legal. Maybe I'm missing something really obvious, I don't know.

Anyways, thanks again for the help.

I would expect that is the main reason for most people.

i have the NEC-1300a dvd+-rw burner, and i havent copied a single dvd movie. i realize you were targeting a large group of people, but there are honest ones among them. one visit to sharingthegroove.org and you'll probably need a dvd burner too. i have probably burned 50 (legal) dvd-video concerts and maybe 150 dvds filled with lossless audio concerts. maybe one of these days i will get around to actually listening to everything i have and i highly recommend the NEC-1300a, especially with the nice black faceplate. bought it for $90, burns at 4x. the 8x NEC should be around that price by now.

CJ

Asketh the Tim:

Not all burners will burn dual-layer DVDs. There is a new crop of them that should start coming out this month that will record dual-layer DVDs. I'm not sure if they are out yet, if not, they will be out VERY soon.

Under the DMCA, breaking the copy-protection on DVDs is illegal. Even if you are just backing up the DVDs you legally purchased so your five-year-old doesn't scratch up the originals, it's still illegal.

More DMCA info can be found here.