Dual layer DVD writer?

[MAS]

Ok,

It looks like my DVD/CDRW drive might have had it. I was just going to replace it with another DVD/CDRW combo as I wasnt that fussed about a DVD writer until dual layer burning was available.

But I got an email from SVP today....the NEC 2510 dual layer writer for £65 I know it's just a 2500, but still..

It's going to cost me £30 to buy a new DVD/CDRW, so should I just stump up the extra £35 and buy the dual layer DVD writer?

The decision basically rests on this: I've heard people saying that the current dual layer writers wont produce discs which can be read by normal DVD players. Is this right? And if so, is it something that will be sorted? Or will I have to wait for the next generation of dual burners before compatibility with current DVD players is assured?

And yes...I know there's no media yet...

[Howard]

Get the Dual Layer one.

I just this afternoon placed an order for an NEC ND2510A

[Rave]

I think the problem is that some DVD drives/players don't recognise the DVD+R DL bit type. If you buy a drive with bitsetting capability you can make the disc apprear to be a DVD-Rom, which should solve most compatibility problems. I believe there are hacked bioses for the 2500/2510 that enable bitsetting.

Rich :¬)

[MAS]

So far it sounds pretty convincing.

Rave: So will some (presumably newer) DVD drives recognise dual layer disks?

[MAS]

Get the Dual Layer one.

I just this afternoon placed an order for an NEC ND2510A

Let me know how you get on with it

[Howard]

Sure will

[Rave]

So far it sounds pretty convincing.

Rave: So will some (presumably newer) DVD drives recognise dual layer disks?

Yes. AFAIK any drive is capable of reading the discs, but some will need a firmware update otherwise they won't know what kind of disc they're dealing with. Whether or not that firmware will actually get written for older drives is anyone's guess. In any case as I said if the drive supports bitsetting you can probably circumvent the problem anyway.

Check out sites like www.cdrlabs.com and www.cdfreaks.com (<---beware popups) for infor on DVD DL and firmwares etc. I'm pretty sure Lite-On released a load of new firmwares for their drives to add DL reading support a couple of weeks ago.

Rich :¬)

[MAS]

That's ace, cheers.

[Kumagoro]

Hmm i dont think i will be buying one till they sort out the niggles with running them on stand alone devices (i want to copy my DVDs) also when media is less the 50p each.

How much are dual layer media now? are the - and + versions?

[spazman]

You cant even get DL media at the moment.

[Rave]

Dual layer DVD-R won't be out until later in the year. Since DVD-Rs don't support bitsetting, I'm thinking that they're less likely to be compatible with older hardware. However, there's no particularly good reason AFAIK why a bios flash couldn't enable DVD-R DL in current burners- apparently Pioneer's demo unit is just a modded 107.

As for the prices of DL discs, right now only Verbatim are selling them and they are $$$. At least three Taiwanese manufacturers will be starting volume manufacturing of them in the middle of this month. A guy from Ritek reckoned that the prices would eventually settle down to about 50% more than a single layer disc; I'm thinking they'll be less than £1 each by the end of the year and that's cheap enough for me TBH.

Rich :¬)