dochira wrote:

Well, that's years away for me. It'll be pricey when they first come out. But if you wait to buy because "something better will come along" you'll never buy anything.

I agree with dochira. If you keep waiting, you'll never buy anything and just be stuck with a bunch of VHS tapes.

Also BLU-Ray is VERY expensive. $1k-3k just for a blu-ray recorder (and I don't think they're even sold in the US yet). Also imagine the costs of the discs. DL discs are already pricey at around $3-$6 bucks per disc... Just imagine blu-ray discs...

@BMW:
Stay away from Sony... they are just too pricey.
I recommend PANASONIC all the way! Not only have they been in the DVR business for awhile, they have made it affordable for consumers to archive now.
Satisfied customers: amrayu and Eltinator.
I've had my panasonic for at least 3 years already. It's still chugging away after all the recording i've done.
Also the situation that Kou mentioned about some dvd players not playing panasonic produced dvd-rs, could involve other factors (some dvd players are just picky about media period, or it could've been a bad burn). All of the discs that I've recorded worked on various players (according to all the distro requests i've completed).
The only thing you have to remember is to finalize the DVD-r once you have filled it up with programs/shows. Un-finalized DVD-rs are only readable in the recorder itself.

I hope that helps in your decision.

Cool. Make that three satisfied customers. I own the ES10 and I am currently transferring tapes to DVD. Even at EP mode (6 hrs), the quality is bearable. Since I recorded the programs with EP, I can barely tell the difference. There's some pixellation, but it's okay for me. I would never touch 8 hr mode.

I just bought the Sony DRU-720 drive for my computer. But I may end up returning it and getting a Pioneer drive instead since it can read DVD-RAMs. I could then record shows on my Panasonic using -RAM, transfer it to my computer (using the Pioneer), then record over the -RAM disc.... I forgot how many times you can rewrite one disc. I love this forum. I would never have found out that Pioneers can read -RAM discs.

dochira wrote:

I just bought the Sony DRU-720 drive for my computer. But I may end up returning it and getting a Pioneer drive instead since it can read DVD-RAMs. I could then record shows on my Panasonic using -RAM, transfer it to my computer (using the Pioneer), then record over the -RAM disc.... I forgot how many times you can rewrite one disc. I love this forum. I would never have found out that Pioneers can read -RAM discs.

Personally, I hate sony computer parts. Too pricey and suck! LOL...
One of my older Pioneer burners didn't read -RAM actually. I had to get a Toshiba dvd-rom so i could rip stuff. I love Pioneer burners though. I own 3 Pioneer burners so far.

VHS->DVD-ram->Pc for authoring->Final Burn.
I do the same procedure. Also erasing and formatting DVD-ram discs take 1-2 minutes only.
DVD-ram discs can be recorded onto 10,000 times? (or was it 100,000 times?) i forget, but they are very resilient.
_________________

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I think for me, it'll be my crude version of a DVD-Tivo combination. But I like how the newer Pioneers can read the DVD-RAM format. I've been looking for one for a while now. Never knew it was under my nose this whole time. I'll probably box up the Sony now.

olnil wrote:

Well the site is wrong. Do a search on google and you will see that it "Supports to read DVD-RAM (Ver.2.0 and 2.1) ". I thought it did since I was going to buy a A-107 external model about a year ago. Only reason I wanted to was because it could read dvd-ram disc. Comp Usa had the external model on sale for $79. By the time I got down there they were sold out. I ended up months later getting the A-108 model internal drive for the same price. At least you still have tyhe dvd-rw option with the panasonic. Do you have Nero installed on your computer. If not d/l Nero Info Tool and install it on your computer. It will tell you if your A-107 does support dvd-ram.

Whoops my bad: the a107 doesn't support writing of DVD-RAM discs... It doess read them.

Still, I don't know why I'd buy DVD-RAM discs over DVD-RWs...

amrayu wrote:

@BMW: Stay away from Sony... they are just too pricey. I recommend PANASONIC all the way! Not only have they been in the DVR business for awhile, they have made it affordable for consumers to archive now. Satisfied customers: amrayu and Eltinator. I've had my panasonic for at least 3 years already. It's still chugging away after all the recording i've done. Also the situation that Kou mentioned about some dvd players not playing panasonic produced dvd-rs, could involve other factors (some dvd players are just picky about media period, or it could've been a bad burn). All of the discs that I've recorded worked on various players (according to all the distro requests i've completed). The only thing you have to remember is to finalize the DVD-r once you have filled it up with programs/shows. Un-finalized DVD-rs are only readable in the recorder itself. I hope that helps in your decision.

Thanks a lot.... I was waiting for our resident digital a/v engineer to chime in...

I agree, Sony makes some wonderful equipment, but at a Sony price. Admittedly, I have a WEGA TV and other Sony stuff, but they're not the absolute gold standard...

Unless something remarkable happens, the Panasonic is my number one choice now... Just gotta find the best price....

bmwracer wrote:

Whoops my bad: the a107 doesn't support writing of DVD-RAM discs... It doess read them. Still, I don't know why I'd buy DVD-RAM discs over DVD-RWs...

Just curious, do you know how many times you can rewrite a DVD-RW disc? I've seen 1000x, but they could be pulling that number out of thin air.

dochira wrote:

Just curious, do you know how many times you can rewrite a DVD-RW disc? I've seen 1000x, but they could be pulling that number out of thin air.

I've seen/read 1000+, whereas DVD-RAM is 10K+ (?) times....

bmwracer wrote:

I've seen/read 1000+, whereas DVD-RAM is 10K+ (?) times....

I think that's why I'm leaning towards -RAM to handle my "Tivo-esque" duties. Not that I need to bring the -RAM disc to other people's homes, so I don't mind the lack of compatible machines.

dochira wrote:

I think that's why I'm leaning towards -RAM to handle my "Tivo-esque" duties. Not that I need to bring the -RAM disc to other people's homes, so I don't mind the lack of compatible machines.

Yeah, it does make me think about that 5-disc offer... And the fact my Pioneer can read those puppies.

So far, newegg.com has the best price/shipping package: $179/$6...

Not to make things more confusing, there's a Samsung DVDR120 for $179.99 at Best Buy. It does -R, -RW, -RAM and has a Firewire input. I have not looked at any reviews for this recorder.

dochira wrote:

Not to make things more confusing, there's a Samsung DVDR120 for $179.99 at Best Buy. It does -R, -RW, -RAM and has a Firewire input. I have not looked at any reviews for this recorder.

Ehhh, I'd rather stick with the Panasonic... It's more of a known quantity.

bmwracer wrote:

Ehhh, I'd rather stick with the Panasonic... It's more of a known quantity.

I figured that, but I wasn't sure if you were itching for a DV input. But since you haven't mentioned it so far, I didn't think you would. But I had to present it out there.

dochira wrote:

I figured that, but I wasn't sure if you were itching for a DV input. But since you haven't mentioned it so far, I didn't think you would. But I had to present it out there.

Well, I've already got a Firewire card for my current DV>PC setup, so another DV input would be redundant. Nice, but redundant.

Matsushita chief says next-gen DVD talks are dead

Yoshiko Hara
(05/20/2005 8:02 AM EDT)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=163105945

TOKYO — An effort to revive deadlocked talks aimed at unifying competing DVD standards has failed, according to the president of Matsushita Electric.
Kunio Nakamura said Thursday (May 19) the company will not budge from its insistence that a unified spec include a 0.1-mm cover layer. He emphasized that the Blu-ray Disc group's position has not changed and that the ball is now in rival Toshiba's court.

Despite the breakdown of the unification talks on a next-generation DVD format earlier this week, there were signs during during the week that a summit meeting involving Matsushita, Sony and Toshiba might revive the talks. Nakamura denied such a meeting is planned.

According to a source close to the Blu-ray camp, the sides decided last weekend (May 7) to seek a final management decision on whether to pursue unification talks. Neither side would yield, and the decision to end negotiations was announced in meetings earlier this week.

Toshiba first proposed unification talks in early March, according to the source. A test balloon to adopt the HD DVD spec for the ROM format and the Blu-ray spec for recording formats was floated at an industry meeting. At the time, Toshiba seemed to be groping for a compromise that would satisfy both sides.

While nearly all involved in the dispute agree that a unified standard is desirable, neither side appears willing to compromise on key technical points. For example, if 0.1-mm cover layer technology remains a precondition of a unification deal, as Sony and Matsushita insist, Toshiba would gain little and have a major problem persuading HD DVD backers to agree to a unification deal.

Memory Tech Corp., a member of the HD DVD camp, for example, has been focusing on developing HD DVD disk production technologies. A unification deal would present the company a serious disadvantage if the next-generation disk used a 0.1-mm cover layer.

While both sides claimed publicly to be ready to resume talks, observers agreed the unification effort is likely dead. If so, the HD DVD group will then begin making ROM products as early as possible in order to make the format a de facto industry standard for next-generation packaged media.

They'll never learn... They are going to make the consumer decide which will stick and which will disappear. Does anyone remember the failed-Divx (not the codec) format put out by Circuit City?

I think we know what the consumers wanted.

dochira wrote:

They'll never learn... They are going to make the consumer decide which will stick and which will disappear. Does anyone remember the failed-Divx (not the codec) format put out by Circuit City?

I remember that. What a joke. There are few certainties in life and I knew that Divx was gonna tank...

Dochira, looks like I might have to swallow my pride and buy the Panasonic from Circuit City... No point in buying it from newegg.com since I have to pay sales tax AND shipping.

bmwracer wrote:

Dochira, looks like I might have to swallow my pride and buy the Panasonic from Circuit City... No point in buying it from newegg.com since I have to pay sales tax AND shipping.

Look on the bright side: if you don't like the player and/or it craps out on you in the first 30 days, you can always return it.

I'm probably going to return my Sony burner and get a Pioneer one, so that I can use this -RAM disc they included in the box.

dochira wrote:

Look on the bright side: if you don't like the player and/or it craps out on you in the first 30 days, you can always return it.

I woulda thought Best Buy would have a better price. Hmph.

Quote:

I'm probably going to return my Sony burner and get a Pioneer one, so that I can use this -RAM disc they included in the box.

The 16X DL burner, ne?