DVD burners
 

Alright, I am looking for a good dvd burner. I know the pioneer A05 is supposed to be good, but I have some questions. First, what format works for PS2 and DVD players? all? Also, will the same formats work for my xbox? I dont know much about dvd burners, but some people have said I should get a HP dvd 200/300i burner. I would like any help possible, I dont want to spend all my cash on a burner that wont be any good for me.

Well the Pioneer is a -R/-RW burner.

The HP is a +R/+RW burner.

For MY money, right now I'd order a +R/+RW burner using the NEC 1100A engine. Plextor makes one that's around $175 (or less!) on Pricewatch right now.

But it's REALLY up in the air as to which is "better". My money is on +R, but it could go either way in the future.

The only drives to do BOTH + and - are the Sony DRU500 and the upcoming Liteon and LG drives. (LG already has a burner out, don't mistake it for the new multi-mode one!) But the sony is $325 or more, the LG will debut at 400 Euros (which is ... in dollars ... about $400 AFAIK), and nobody knows how much the Liteon will be (or when we'll see it).

Well, hope that helped.

I personally wouldn't bother getting the HP. They're a pain in the butt with firmware updates, and the drive isn't any better or worse than any other.

- Gurm

I am going to say to go with a -r/-rw burner. -r/-rw media is supported by many more devices and more liked by ps2 and xbox. -r/-rw is also more widely used. They say +r/+rw is supposed to be the future but they have been saying that for quite some time. If it were to be the media of choice in the future we would have a completely different line of burners by then.

bighap,

I'm not challenging you, just looking for clarification - have you tried both +R and -R in your PS2? I've run +R in my v4 and the laser seems to have to work harder to run them (it's certainly a bit noisier) than regular DVD's... but then again I have a v4 and (at the moment) a Neo2.5 chip, so that might account for it.

I know that +R works in every DVD player I've tried them in, even the ones that DON'T run backups. My friend's old Sony, which won't play a single burnt CDR or CDRW, plays +R's fine. My Dad's Samsung, which specifically doesn't play ANY backups, plays +R's. Even this nasty old ProScan DIVX player my other friend has ... runs +R's.

I haven't found a device yet that doesn't run them. I'm not saying that you're wrong, just that my experience doesn't bear your claim out. I am FAR from the definitive source. I've only tried a half dozen units, so it's not a scientific sampling.

And hell, -R media is cheaper and the units are MUCH cheaper. If I thought it were the superior technology I'd be all over that!

- Gurm

P.S. Here's an interesting article, detailing why +R/+RW is "better". Take it with a grain of salt, but here it is:

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/video/comparison.html

v1-v4 usualy only plays -r if anything. Sometimes a v4 will play +r though. In your case I think -r would play much better in your system. v5 and up usualy plays -r and +r. This is what I meant by the ps2 liking -r better, because more versions support -r over +r. But if you have a v5 and up it doesn't really matter. As far as dvd players go, not by testing the players to see what they play, more players claim to play -r than they do +r. Don't know if you have tried -r media on your ps2 or dvd player, but if you like I can send you a -r backup and you can send me a +r backup(of course of something we already legally own) and we can see how it goes.:) Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I have mine you have yours.:)

I don't have a -R opinion, because I haven't tried too many -R's yet.

- Gurm

P.S. Check your PM.

Well, I have a V7 ps2, so I guess ill be fine either way. My grandfather wants a dvd burner for making dvd backups, and i've read +r is better for that. I will be able to back up my games with either drive he gets, so thanks for the help guys.

Make sure his dvd player can play +r. Look here

It's a PIONEER DV-250, which according to that site plays just about everything, including +r and -r. I guess for me any dvd burner will work, so its just a matter of price now :)

Yeah it is a good one. You might want to look into getting a Cendyne like the one seen here. These are a Pioneer 105 in a Cendyne box. They are identical to the Pioneer but much cheaper.