• Sunvalleytek International Inc.
  2522 Seaboard Ave,San Jose, CA 95131
• Tel: 1-408-428-9416
  Fax:1-408-428-9430
• E-mail: info@sunvalleyus.com

How to Buy a DVD Burner - Introduction

DVD burners have come a long way. Speeds have increased dramatically from where they were just a year ago and prices have dropped to a point where a DVD burner costs about the same as a CD-RW drive. Dual-Layer/Double Layer support has also made it into many of the models, doubling the capacity of traditional DVD media to ~8.5gb. With all this in mind, are you ready to get your own DVD burner right now? Here is some information you need to know before selecting a DVD burner. 

How to Select a DVD Burner -  DVD±RW DRIVE Shopping Tips

Are you ready to buy a DVD ROM drive? Here are some recommendations for buying a drive that will suit the needs of most average users.

Speed . Most DVD-R drives write at 8X, although some older models, or portable models, may only support 4X. Drives that write to write-once DVD-R and/or DVD+R media at 16X have a distinct advantage over the DVD burners released last year. Of the rewritable formats, DVD+RW's maximum write speed is the same as that of DVD-RW: 8X.

Compatibility . Between the write-once formats, DVD-R and DVD+R are both highly compatible with existing DVD players and DVD-ROM drives. Some older players might have better luck with DVD-R than DVD+R, simply because DVD-R has been around longer. Rewritable media tends to be less compatible, so it may be more difficult to use rewritable media with some DVD players and DVD-ROM drives. One advantage DVD+R format has, is the ability to be able to change its Booktype or Bitsetting to DVD-Rom; increasing compatibility. Just search “Booktype” or “Bitsetting” in Google for more information.

Formatting time when choosing recording standard . All rewritable optical discs must be formatted prior to use--a potentially lengthy process. But DVD+RW drives format on the fly (thanks to the formatting feature being built into their internal firmware), so formatting adds little time to the writing process. In contrast, a DVD-RW drive requires packet-writing software to format the disc prior to burning; depending upon the software and the version being used, the formatting process can take as long as an hour (since some software packages only support formatting the entire disc). Newer software packages support formatting DVD-RW media on the fly.

For desktop PCs, get an internal drive with an IDE interface . Since a rewritable DVD drive can read DVD-ROMs and CDs, you can replace your existing CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive without sacrificing functionality. If your motherboard supports it, Serial ATA will help you maximize the drive's burning speed, but only newer machines are likely to have this high-speed internal connection.

For portable drives, or desktop PCs with few internal connections, consider the interface . For external drives, you'll see about the same speed from a FireWire drive as you would from a USB 2.0 drive. There's little cost difference between the two, and for a few more dollars, you can often buy a drive that has the flexibility of both interfaces. To use a FireWire or USB 2.0 drive, you may need to buy a $40 USB 2.0 or FireWire card for your PC, but on some desktops, that can make it easier for a rewritable DVD drive to coexist with multiple hard drives and/or other optical drives.

Make sure that the bundled recording software fits your needs . All manufacturers provide software with drives sold at retail; the software typically covers DVD and CD mastering (including audio CDs), DVD video authoring, and the ability to drag and drop data. However, some vendors add software for backup tasks and video editing.