Eidolon14

It's a pretty straightforward question. I'm curious as to whether an average DVD-RW out on the market would be capable of burning copyrighted materials (i.e. a DVD from Blockbuster Videos). And if so, which DVD-RW should I get?

Headhunter

Usually not, storage capacity is too low; the new dual-layered recordable DVD's that are out in a few month should be capable of doing this.

Which is why there's a growing legal battle over their release... [img]smilies/sigh.gif[/img]

Eidolon14

Thanks for the response. Now time for another question. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] Is there any specific burner I should get that shines above the others?

Headhunter

Far as I know, Sony is the forerunner in getting the technology available to consumers; whether they're the best buy, I don't know.

Should probably wait until 1-3 months after release, and then price/function compare between all the available products at that time.

The Daywalker

I buy cheap Lite-On stuff, i've never had a problem, but that's with just CD-R/RW's. I haven't really looked into a DVD burner yet, but i saw one that was nice, seemingly, i wanted black, it was black and was the fastest at the time 4X on all 4 formats, for about 160.

jessieka03

I have a DVD burner with my computer (it's a Sony VAIO) and if you're gonna get one, you need to make sure it's either a DVD-R or DVD+R and remember that because you can't interchange the two. Also, you can't copy discs (such a movie DVDs) unless you have certain programs that you need to purchase, (most are around 100 dollars, one is called "DVDXCopy" but I know that it's not for sale anymore because of a court order.

Eidolon14

Yep. I actually heard about this program from a Best Buy employee and after a little check on eBay...

jessieka03

If you're going to get it, you should get Gold or Platinum becuase they come with Xpress which cuts out all the menus and just plays the movie. But it makes it so you can get the whole thing on one disc instead of having to switch discs through the movie.

The Daywalker

Yeah, the Burner i was looking at was all 4 formats, so i was and am interested. About $90 and it's the fastest out, so i think i'll pick it up. Black too [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

jessieka03

That's good!

When I bought my computer in August they told me it was for all four, so I was happy. But then I found out he was looking up info on the wrong model. But it's not really a big deal cause the discs are the same price.

Scout_la_rue

DVD burners own ::hugs burner::

For, koff, backing up purposes, koff, I use dvdshrink. It does on the fly compression, rock! Then I burn the files with Nero. I tried DVDxCopy, but dvdsrhink is much easier and it's freeware. Yay!

Nicole D

There are definitely ways of getting around the dual layer issue. Here's a really nifty guide that explains all the details - click. Little to no quality loss happens and you get to keep all the nifty dvd extras. I've found that dvdshrink really pixelates the movie. (of course this is only to be used to backup the movies you already own. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] )

Programs - (like the guide states) Dvd Decrypter is the key program here. You also will have to pick up Instantcopy. Good solid program.

The burner I have is the 8x Lite-On. Haven't had any coasters yet and am anxiously waiting for 8x media. I think I might try the hacked firmware for the burner to burn 4x dvds at 8x speeds... I'm a little iffy about it though.

Eidolon14

I'm new at this, obviously. Could anyone tell me which program (I know of DVD Shrink and DVDxCopy) would be better to use for "backing up" files? And when "backing up" the files, do they go on your hard drive, or does it automatically burn it onto a DVD-RW?

And ..um, if someone could just explain the entire process to me, that'd be great.

Nicole D

I posted a tutorial in the above post. Check it out

Eidolon14

For some reason, I always skip the important things. Thanks, Nicole D.