Dual Layer Burner @ Best Buy! - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Silverbrain · 05-30-2004, 09:45 AM

Just saw the best buy section and noticed the new Sony DRU700A Dual Layer DVD Burner for sale for $199. To me thats a cheap price for this brand new technology, and I wasnt expecting DL for another 2 months. Will be nice to be able to leave out the dvdshrink program in the process of backup up DVD's. Now, how long until we have to wait until the DL media is available!

heres a review of the drive from may 5.

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.html?i=2045

merkerguitars · 05-30-2004, 10:00 AM

That pretty cheap.....but the media is going to be spendy

bacon_masta · 05-30-2004, 11:34 AM

very cool, didn't know dual layer burning was going to be available to the general public this soon. a dual sided dual layer burn will hold almost 17 gigs, won't it? i'm in, sick of having 300 friggin cd-r's

Cocktopus · 05-30-2004, 05:46 PM

there's an ~$70 nec that you can make a DL drive with a firmware update.

though the drives are out, not sure if the ($) media is available yet

Sty · 05-31-2004, 01:48 AM

Well there was huge loads of those dvd+r dl:s in my local Biccamera. At least from two or three brands so I would expect that the media was on sale around the corner...

punx1325 · 05-31-2004, 05:52 PM

I would seriously drive over to Best Buy and buy one right now but... 2.4x is kinda slow, They will come out with faster stuff I suspect in the near future. Media is always an issue, I don't even know where to find the media at an affordable price. And Lastly, I would want it in Black, I know it sounds cheesy but that color would look horrible on my computer. I did hear it comes with a Black removable face plate, if anyone buys one and it does come with one let me know.

EDIT: NVM It does come with a Black Face Plate.

quadro2000 · 08-06-2004, 06:09 AM

Thought I'd resurrect this thread as I read an interesting article today...

Linky

Quote:

August 5, 2004
Dual-Layer DVD Burners Start to Catch On
By WILSON ROTHMAN

AFTER a shaky start, double-layer DVD burners are finally hitting the market in large numbers, but it may be a while before consumers choose to make use of their full talents.

Double-layer DVD's provide nearly twice the space for data and are already the industry standard for manufactured DVD movies. Invisible to the eye, the two layers are made possible by a DVD player's highly focused laser, which reads out to the edge of one layer, then refocuses to read back from the edge of the next layer.

In a movie on a double-layer DVD, there may be a slight scene freeze toward the end. This is the "layer break," the moment when the player's laser makes the jump.

Double-layer DVD recording systems from Dell, Lite-On Technology and Iomega (as well as unbranded DVD writers sold to computer makers by Philips and NEC) were announced on the heels of the first double-layer recorders, introduced by Sony in April. The DVD-recording powerhouses Hewlett-Packard and Pioneer have taken more time in view of questions about the format's compatibility with conventional DVD players and the availability of blank two-layer DVD's. They are expected to release their own versions this month. "Now we get 90 percent compatibility with set-top players," compared with 40 percent in trials five or six months ago, said Steve Johnson, Hewlett-Packard's DVD product manager.

Because a double-layer DVD provides 8.5 gigabytes of storage instead of the typical 4.7 gigabytes, you can either fit twice the amount of viewable film or store a video at twice the quality. But there are reasons that someone who is not recording two hours of high-quality video or archiving six hours of old analog video should stay away from double-layer DVD for now.

The discs themselves, officially named DVD+R DL, cost $10 to $15 apiece and are at the moment not easy to find. Sony offers such discs, made by Verbatim, at www .sonystyle.com, for $10 apiece, or six for $50. A Verbatim spokesman said that "modest supplies" were also at Best Buy and that the company was making an effort to increase production and lower the price. Other media makers are following suit.

The discs must contain the same amount of data on each layer. If you are burning, say, six gigabytes, the software program will divide your file into two three-gigabyte sections or slice a 90-minute video clip into two 45-minute segments, separated by a layer break. At the moment, you can't pick your layer break, which could spell trouble.

"On your wedding video, you don't want to hear 'Do you take this person to be your lawfully wedded wife?' - then the layer break happens," said Andy Parsons, Pioneer's senior vice president for advanced product development.

If you are recording from TV and don't know the duration of your video, you run the risk of writing too much on one side, which DVD- authoring software can remedy by adding dummy data - meaningless ones and zeros - to the other layer for balance, a time-consuming fix.

The double-layer race is itself a side current of the greater speed race. New writers boast speeds of 8x and 12x, meaning they can burn an hourlong video in 7.5 and 5 minutes respectively. Over the next few months, 16x writers will arrive; for now, 16x is considered the fastest potential speed for DVD writing.

Still, double-layer discs cannot be written at those speeds. HP's coming double-layer DVD recorder, the Dvd530i ($99), writes single-layer discs at 8x but can manage only 2.4x for double-layer media. The company's 16x internal and external models ($149 and $199), anticipated this fall, will still write the DL discs at 2.4x, the company says.

Pioneer's new DVR-A08 ($179) will also be a 16x drive, but it will be the first with the ability to write certain DL discs at 4x.

Bob DeMoulin, Sony's marketing manager for storage products, says the greatest demand for double-layer DVD recording was from DVD producers. "Before this, producers would have to send a tape and wait a week" for a production center to send back a DVD, he said. "Now they can burn proofs on the desktop and be ready in an hour. For them, $15 a disc is no problem."

Hollywood has yet to express concern over the format, which in theory could be used to duplicate manufactured discs more easily. "In the short term it seems like it's not being used as a movie-copying tool," Mr. DeMoulin said. "That's in part due to lack of supply and price of media. Over time, that could change."

I'd say give this another year (maybe less) and it'll be good to go...

Dragonlich · 08-06-2004, 10:00 AM

That same burner costs some 119 Euros over here. 199 Dollars seems a bit expensive. The DL DVD-R discs are *very* expensive, by the way - I've heard they cost some 16 Euros each...

(And there's a bunch of other DL burners around that price. And a 16x speed Aopen DL burner for 149 Euros.)

/just sayin'

kutulu · 08-06-2004, 10:06 AM

I don't get why the discs are so expensive. How much to movie studios buy them for?

docbungle · 08-06-2004, 10:13 AM

I just bought a dual layer NEC burner off NewEgg for $77. Sony is way overpriced compared to the rest of the market.

Dragonlich · 08-06-2004, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by docbungle
I just bought a dual layer NEC burner off NewEgg for $77. Sony is way overpriced compared to the rest of the market.

It's a big name, with a big price. Besides, you get a ton of software with the burner. Same goes for a brand like Pioneer - they cost some 20 Euros more than similar burners from other brands (some even with the same pioneer drive inside, just re-branded), mostly because of the name and the software (all Pinnacle stuff). And I'm not even going to comment on Plextor...

Lotronex · 08-06-2004, 12:47 PM

Newegg has the Sony burner mentioed above for $125, the 199 was from over a month ago, so the price is defineatly dropping. Of course, the Sony drives are now just rebranded Lite-Ons, so I would get one of those if I felt the need to get a DL.

08-06-2004, 02:01 PM

how much are DL media. i think i saw one disc for $18. your much better off buying the retail dvd itself haha

05-30-2004, 09:45 AM	#1 (permalink)
Silverbrain Addict Location: Nor Cal	Dual Layer Burner @ Best Buy! Just saw the best buy section and noticed the new Sony DRU700A Dual Layer DVD Burner for sale for $199. To me thats a cheap price for this brand new technology, and I wasnt expecting DL for another 2 months. Will be nice to be able to leave out the dvdshrink program in the process of backup up DVD's. Now, how long until we have to wait until the DL media is available! heres a review of the drive from may 5. http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.html?i=2045 __________________ Over Thinking, Over Analyzing Seperates the Body from the Mind - MJK

05-30-2004, 10:00 AM	#2 (permalink)
merkerguitars Buffering......... Location: Wisconsin...	That pretty cheap.....but the media is going to be spendy __________________ Donate now! Ask me How! Please use the search function it is your friend. Look at my mustang please feel free to comment! http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=26985

05-31-2004, 01:48 AM	#5 (permalink)
Sty Patron Administrator Location: Tôkyô, Japan	Well there was huge loads of those dvd+r dl:s in my local Biccamera. At least from two or three brands so I would expect that the media was on sale around the corner... __________________ br, Sty I route, therefore you exist

05-31-2004, 05:52 PM	#6 (permalink)
punx1325 Junkie Location: San Diego	I would seriously drive over to Best Buy and buy one right now but... 2.4x is kinda slow, They will come out with faster stuff I suspect in the near future. Media is always an issue, I don't even know where to find the media at an affordable price. And Lastly, I would want it in Black, I know it sounds cheesy but that color would look horrible on my computer. I did hear it comes with a Black removable face plate, if anyone buys one and it does come with one let me know. EDIT: NVM It does come with a Black Face Plate. __________________ If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is....

08-06-2004, 10:13 AM	#10 (permalink)
docbungle It's all downhill from here Location: Denver	I just bought a dual layer NEC burner off NewEgg for $77. Sony is way overpriced compared to the rest of the market. __________________ Bad Luck City

05-30-2004, 11:34 AM	#3 (permalink)
bacon_masta Psycho Location: i live in the state of denial	very cool, didn't know dual layer burning was going to be available to the general public this soon. a dual sided dual layer burn will hold almost 17 gigs, won't it? i'm in, sick of having 300 friggin cd-r's

05-30-2004, 05:46 PM	#4 (permalink)
Cocktopus Insane	there's an ~$70 nec that you can make a DL drive with a firmware update. though the drives are out, not sure if the ($) media is available yet

08-06-2004, 10:00 AM	#8 (permalink)
Dragonlich 42, baby! Location: The Netherlands	That same burner costs some 119 Euros over here. 199 Dollars seems a bit expensive. The DL DVD-R discs are very expensive, by the way - I've heard they cost some 16 Euros each... (And there's a bunch of other DL burners around that price. And a 16x speed Aopen DL burner for 149 Euros.) /just sayin'

08-06-2004, 10:06 AM	#9 (permalink)
kutulu Junkie	I don't get why the discs are so expensive. How much to movie studios buy them for?

08-06-2004, 12:47 PM	#12 (permalink)
Lotronex Tilted	Newegg has the Sony burner mentioed above for $125, the 199 was from over a month ago, so the price is defineatly dropping. Of course, the Sony drives are now just rebranded Lite-Ons, so I would get one of those if I felt the need to get a DL.

08-06-2004, 02:01 PM	#13 (permalink)
Xepidemic Guest	how much are DL media. i think i saw one disc for $18. your much better off buying the retail dvd itself haha