DVD Drive Buying Guides
October 21st, 2008 | by admin |Subhash asked:
DVD drives are available in many different speeds with a variety of options and formats. The main factor to consider when purchasing a DVD drive is its purpose. Usually, a DVD drive is intended to play DVD movies and audio CDs, as well as to read DVD-Rom and CD-Rom discs.
Features:
• DVD-ROM is a newer standard than CD-ROM, able to read 7 times as much data off of a typical DVD disk (4.7 GB) as opposed to the measly 650MB a CD-ROM drive can read, and also able to play DVD movies with the proper decoding software or hardware.
• With fast video cards and processors today, you typically don’t need any special DVD decoding hardware to play DVD movies. Microsoft ships a software DVD movie player with Windows XP that works fine.
• Consumers interested in obtaining a more advanced DVD drive will need to consider other options, such as burners, drives that support DVD-R technology, and drives that support DVD+R technology.
• The only difference between the two formats is the way the DVD drive determines the position of the laser on the disc. DVD-R discs are read by the DVD drive through special grooves on the disc known as land prepits, whereas DVD+R measures a disc’s wobble frequency.
• A consumer can also purchase a “dual-DVD” drive that supports both the DVD-R and DVD+R format, typically known as DVD±R.
• DVD-ROM drives can read CD-ROM disks, so if you have a DVD-ROM drive, you don’t need an extra CD-ROM drive. Also, the x-factor for DVD drives refers to a higher transfer rate: 1x DVD-ROM drives transfer data at the rate of a 9x CD-ROM drive.
• Most complete systems with DVD-ROM drives will ship with 12x or 16x DVD-ROM drives today. DVD-ROM drives are dirt cheap today, so don’t even bother with plain CD-ROM drives unless you have no choice.
• In 2002, Sony and Phillips introduced the DVD+R format. All DVD+R formats are compatible with each other. DVD+R has the same capacity as a DVD-R, and DVD+RW works exactly as a DVD-RW. This format also offers DVD+RW DL.
• The DL stands for dual layer, a technology which allows a single disc to hold up to 8.5 GB of information. The DVD-RAM offers more storage capacity, but it requires a specialized DVD drive which is more expensive.
• The DVD-RAM format enables the disc to be re-written with the DVD drive up to 100,000 times as opposed to only 1,000 times or so for an average DVD-RW. It can be two-sided, enabling as much as 9.74 GB on a single DVD-RAM disc. This disc is best for users with mass portable storage needs.
A “dual DVD” drive or DVD±R with DVD-RAM is very versatile, as it reads all formats of DVD technology and is capable of writing to all forms. Typically, a user will achieve speeds of 16x write for DVD , 8x write for DVD+ DL and 5x write for DVD-RAM, as well as the capacity to write regular CD-R at 48x with this type of DVD drive. This ensures any format of disc will work when using the dual DVD drive.
Christian
DVD drives are available in many different speeds with a variety of options and formats. The main factor to consider when purchasing a DVD drive is its purpose. Usually, a DVD drive is intended to play DVD movies and audio CDs, as well as to read DVD-Rom and CD-Rom discs.
Features:
• DVD-ROM is a newer standard than CD-ROM, able to read 7 times as much data off of a typical DVD disk (4.7 GB) as opposed to the measly 650MB a CD-ROM drive can read, and also able to play DVD movies with the proper decoding software or hardware.
• With fast video cards and processors today, you typically don’t need any special DVD decoding hardware to play DVD movies. Microsoft ships a software DVD movie player with Windows XP that works fine.
• Consumers interested in obtaining a more advanced DVD drive will need to consider other options, such as burners, drives that support DVD-R technology, and drives that support DVD+R technology.
• The only difference between the two formats is the way the DVD drive determines the position of the laser on the disc. DVD-R discs are read by the DVD drive through special grooves on the disc known as land prepits, whereas DVD+R measures a disc’s wobble frequency.
• A consumer can also purchase a “dual-DVD” drive that supports both the DVD-R and DVD+R format, typically known as DVD±R.
• DVD-ROM drives can read CD-ROM disks, so if you have a DVD-ROM drive, you don’t need an extra CD-ROM drive. Also, the x-factor for DVD drives refers to a higher transfer rate: 1x DVD-ROM drives transfer data at the rate of a 9x CD-ROM drive.
• Most complete systems with DVD-ROM drives will ship with 12x or 16x DVD-ROM drives today. DVD-ROM drives are dirt cheap today, so don’t even bother with plain CD-ROM drives unless you have no choice.
• In 2002, Sony and Phillips introduced the DVD+R format. All DVD+R formats are compatible with each other. DVD+R has the same capacity as a DVD-R, and DVD+RW works exactly as a DVD-RW. This format also offers DVD+RW DL.
• The DL stands for dual layer, a technology which allows a single disc to hold up to 8.5 GB of information. The DVD-RAM offers more storage capacity, but it requires a specialized DVD drive which is more expensive.
• The DVD-RAM format enables the disc to be re-written with the DVD drive up to 100,000 times as opposed to only 1,000 times or so for an average DVD-RW. It can be two-sided, enabling as much as 9.74 GB on a single DVD-RAM disc. This disc is best for users with mass portable storage needs.
A “dual DVD” drive or DVD±R with DVD-RAM is very versatile, as it reads all formats of DVD technology and is capable of writing to all forms. Typically, a user will achieve speeds of 16x write for DVD , 8x write for DVD+ DL and 5x write for DVD-RAM, as well as the capacity to write regular CD-R at 48x with this type of DVD drive. This ensures any format of disc will work when using the dual DVD drive.
Christian
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