Anyone got a DVD burner that they want to rave about? I'm thinking of getting the TDK External Indi 4x (or 8x). Read some good stuff about it, and with firewire and USB2.0, I can use it on just about anything. I want to mostly burn my own movies. I do video editing for both home videos and fun projects, and am getting bored with XSVCD. I also do HD music multitrack recording and would like to back up my raw audio data.

I am sure you could get an external case for it, but the Pioneer A06 (or 106) is a badass burner that has never failed me with a lot of questionable blank media. Highly recomended. The next best I would suggest for price reasons is a lite-on model.

I'm waiting until late spring when the Double-Sided DVD burners come out so I can direct copy DVD movies. Until then I do CD's with AVI and MPEG formats.

I've got an Indi internal (4x) that does great and rips the hell out of music CDs for my mp3 player (much faster than my cdrw). If I were going to buy one now though, I'd have to agree w/ Toadman and wait for the newer dual-layer burners to come out this year. Yeah, they'll be pricey at first; but with a little patience they'll definitely come down and be worth it.

i have an I-O Magic 4x burner. no problems so far although with some trouble at first with dvd+rw's. winamp was my default cd player and every time i put an rw in winamp would pop up. well after the dvd had something burnt on it and the disc was inserted winamp would try to come up and there would be a long delay and you really couldnt do anything with the disc. i removed the winamp association with cds and everything works fine.

Originally posted by S3/P3/E2
I've got an Indi internal (4x) that does great and rips the hell out of music CDs for my mp3 player (much faster than my cdrw). If I were going to buy one now though, I'd have to agree w/ Toadman and wait for the newer dual-layer burners to come out this year. Yeah, they'll be pricey at first; but with a little patience they'll definitely come down and be worth it.

How would dual layer burners work? Aren't dual layers like stompped together? i can picture dual sided, but dual layer burner?

I got a cheapo EMPREX DVD+- from Frys. Updated the firmware, and I can play them AS DVD's on certain dvd players, and they come up as dvd's on my laptop.

meeh,...dual layer is usually what all the latest movies are burned on...if you notice when you watch movies off of a DDL (dual data layer) disc you see a slight jump between scenes when the layers switch.

But Toadman...FYI you can use DVD XCopy Xpress and make a perfect copy of the entire disc with no loss of quality and it plays exactly as what you copied...

I have the Sony DRU-500A burns everything...

I'm with Genom. I have a Pioneer A06 that is kick ass. As to back up copywrited DVDs.. I use AnyDVD & CloneDVD.. AnyDVD run in the background and allows you to read any dvd. CloneDVD make a 1:1 copy (including menus and all that jazz). Remember if the original disc is > 4.7g it will lose quality. With a title that is over 9g I just use 2 disc.

I, too, have the Sony DRU-500A. I saw it for $150 at BB a week ago. I think the Pioneer drive is about $150 now.

Are you guys getting dual sided and dual layered mixed up? Dual sided DVDs are just 4.7 GB discs, but burnable on both sides. Dual layer discs are another deal altogether. The laser has to change its focus to read the second layer. Is it even possible to "burn" a dual-layer? I don't know how they manufacture them in bulk, but I would guess it involves a more physical fabrication like meeh mentioned.

Dual-layer isn't a product for the masses, yet...i haven't heard when it will even become available...it would be nice though...dual sided I thought was already out...that only involves the disc...it's a 9.4Gb disc with 4.7 on each side...

Dual layer takes this and places the availablity of 9.4 Gb on one side just as Eradicator stated shifting the laser focus, thus burning the second layer first ...talking about some major investments....

Commericial dual layers dvd like movies are pressed together. Not burned. I got more info on dual layer burners:

Here's more info on dual layer burners due to come out. (http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/129)

I have the new plextor, px-708buf external...does a fine job, but try to find 8x dvd media...

Thanks for all your responses. I decided that I don't really need a DVD-burner. I'm a musician, not a filmographer. My occasional play with Adobe Premiere doesn't justify the expense. Instead I bought Cakewalk Sonar 3 Producer Edition for $400. Much more useful, since my current frankenstein software makes recording, mixing, and mastering a complete pain.

I've seen dvd burners for about $80.

Yep - I'm sure...dual-layer. Here's the CNET article I read just a few days back (similar to what Meeh posted above).

The duel of the dual-layer DVD formats (http://news.com.com/2100-1041-5130905.html)