Thursday, June 09, 2005
LiteOn DVD-RW for desktop computer
I've had a DVD writer for several years---an old Sony. It hasn't been trouble free. At the moment, after two returns to Sony for repair---it seems to be working correctly. I've learned from a friend that his (same) model has essentially the same issues, and he had the same problems getting SONY to do anything about it. The first repair for him went badly, just as mine did. So, no recommendations for Sony DVD burners.
Fortunately, the new crop are not only faster---four times faster at 16X (burning DVD's! That's a sizeable convenience---four of five minutes to fill a DVD as opposed to 15 or more). They are also "dual layered" meaning that with the right media, you can burn up to 8.75 Gigabytes of data onto a single disk. CD write speeds are right up there, to, at something like 40x or greater.
I almost bought a BenQ---it got a decent review---then came upon this LiteOn (model 1673). It got a good review and was somewhat less expensive, under $60 including shipping from www.newegg.com. It came in a few days, and I slipped out my old CD burner, slid this into its place and away it went.
I can't pledge---yet---that it'll be troublefree. But I paid nearly $300 for the older burner, and it certainly wasn't. If this one gives up the ghost, it can't be worse, and for $50 and change, I'll probably heave it into the round bin. Meanwhile, all that speed is nice. Quiet, too.
I've had a DVD writer for several years---an old Sony. It hasn't been trouble free. At the moment, after two returns to Sony for repair---it seems to be working correctly. I've learned from a friend that his (same) model has essentially the same issues, and he had the same problems getting SONY to do anything about it. The first repair for him went badly, just as mine did. So, no recommendations for Sony DVD burners.
Fortunately, the new crop are not only faster---four times faster at 16X (burning DVD's! That's a sizeable convenience---four of five minutes to fill a DVD as opposed to 15 or more). They are also "dual layered" meaning that with the right media, you can burn up to 8.75 Gigabytes of data onto a single disk. CD write speeds are right up there, to, at something like 40x or greater.
I almost bought a BenQ---it got a decent review---then came upon this LiteOn (model 1673). It got a good review and was somewhat less expensive, under $60 including shipping from www.newegg.com. It came in a few days, and I slipped out my old CD burner, slid this into its place and away it went.
I can't pledge---yet---that it'll be troublefree. But I paid nearly $300 for the older burner, and it certainly wasn't. If this one gives up the ghost, it can't be worse, and for $50 and change, I'll probably heave it into the round bin. Meanwhile, all that speed is nice. Quiet, too.
Do Everything DVD player:
My old tabletop DVD player was as old as I feel, sometimes, and was skipping a bit and wouldn't even try to play .mp3 disks, or any sort of re-recordable DVD's. In the old days, this didn't matter: I played commercial CD's (for music), or commercial DVD's (for movies).
But after awhile putting together my own video DVD's, and various slide shows on DVD media, I realized that I was missing a great deal.
For example, when putting together a video DVD, I had no choice to write it to a DVD-R disk (the only one this dog could play). It had to be a perfectly-created DVD, too. Most of the time, whatever I made wouldn't play. It's nice to be able to write a trial version to a DVD-RW disk, and play it back on your TV.
But, far nicer, it turns out, is to skip the whole process of making a "DVD." If you don't already know, a DVD is a very regulated/restricted format. Everything must be laid down in precisely one way, and one way, only, and the whole process (called "DVD authoring") requires special programs. They are not only unforgiving, but extremely time consuming. Strange, since what is played back is basically just an .mpg (mpeg 2) video. You can make those easily on your computer. Why do we have to go to the extra work of making a full DVD if you could just play the .mpg video straight back in the first place? Well, that's precisely what some DVD units will do. They act much as a computer. Pop in the disk, and up comes a menu or "tree" of the DVD contents. Choose a file and it will almost always play back on the TV. With the right DVD tabletop player, you can see almost any picture file, or any video file.
It plays .mp3's readily, too. What this means is that you can compress about 6-10 ordinary CD's onto ONE CD. The sound quality, to my ears, is virtually identical. Of course, you have to construct the mp3 disk on your computer, but this is not difficult using any of the currently available CD writing programs (I use ROXIO). (By the way, this means you can listen to randomized 6 hours of music without having to change a single disk).
Now, how did I pick such a versatile beastie? Well, I made every sort of imaginable CD and DVD, using every media type I had, went into a BEST BUY (I don't like 'em, but what are you going to do? You need SELECTION, and lots of them; Walmart doesn't have them plugged in and ready to go; Best Buy does). I insisted on plugging every format I had into every player until I found one that played every one. I ended up with a Yamaha DV-S5750. I'm not here to tell you it's the best DVD out there (or that it isn't; it seems quite good). Just that it plays everything I've put in its slot. It was the ONLY one that did. Also the most expensive, alas, at nearly $150. But I've used Yamaha before, and found them to be quite serious about making quality products. Recommended.
The above link goes to Yamaha where you can find a similar model, a multi-disk player, but which has essentially the same specs.
My old tabletop DVD player was as old as I feel, sometimes, and was skipping a bit and wouldn't even try to play .mp3 disks, or any sort of re-recordable DVD's. In the old days, this didn't matter: I played commercial CD's (for music), or commercial DVD's (for movies).
But after awhile putting together my own video DVD's, and various slide shows on DVD media, I realized that I was missing a great deal.
For example, when putting together a video DVD, I had no choice to write it to a DVD-R disk (the only one this dog could play). It had to be a perfectly-created DVD, too. Most of the time, whatever I made wouldn't play. It's nice to be able to write a trial version to a DVD-RW disk, and play it back on your TV.
But, far nicer, it turns out, is to skip the whole process of making a "DVD." If you don't already know, a DVD is a very regulated/restricted format. Everything must be laid down in precisely one way, and one way, only, and the whole process (called "DVD authoring") requires special programs. They are not only unforgiving, but extremely time consuming. Strange, since what is played back is basically just an .mpg (mpeg 2) video. You can make those easily on your computer. Why do we have to go to the extra work of making a full DVD if you could just play the .mpg video straight back in the first place? Well, that's precisely what some DVD units will do. They act much as a computer. Pop in the disk, and up comes a menu or "tree" of the DVD contents. Choose a file and it will almost always play back on the TV. With the right DVD tabletop player, you can see almost any picture file, or any video file.
It plays .mp3's readily, too. What this means is that you can compress about 6-10 ordinary CD's onto ONE CD. The sound quality, to my ears, is virtually identical. Of course, you have to construct the mp3 disk on your computer, but this is not difficult using any of the currently available CD writing programs (I use ROXIO). (By the way, this means you can listen to randomized 6 hours of music without having to change a single disk).
Now, how did I pick such a versatile beastie? Well, I made every sort of imaginable CD and DVD, using every media type I had, went into a BEST BUY (I don't like 'em, but what are you going to do? You need SELECTION, and lots of them; Walmart doesn't have them plugged in and ready to go; Best Buy does). I insisted on plugging every format I had into every player until I found one that played every one. I ended up with a Yamaha DV-S5750. I'm not here to tell you it's the best DVD out there (or that it isn't; it seems quite good). Just that it plays everything I've put in its slot. It was the ONLY one that did. Also the most expensive, alas, at nearly $150. But I've used Yamaha before, and found them to be quite serious about making quality products. Recommended.
The above link goes to Yamaha where you can find a similar model, a multi-disk player, but which has essentially the same specs.
Goldwave version 5.10
I've used and recommended Goldwave for some time (see earlier links and references). There is a newer version out. It comes with some improvements, notably a "pause" button for recording. This was absent in the previous version. It looks a bit different, but as far as I can easily determine, works about the same way. Also, unlike the previous version, it comes with codecs already installed for making and retreiving .mp3 sounds.
For those of you a bit mystified, Goldwave is the wonderful little program which you can use to manipulate sounds, such as your own recorded voice (it makes a dandy voice recorder, as well, far better than Window's own), and "ripped" music from a CD. You can edit, shorten, slow, speed, or filter any of these soundtracks.
I use it to review and then tailor a soundtrack for a slide show or video program. Or to make a voice recording I want to stick on a CD to send to a friend. If you already had a registered version, the new one is free, and is the world's simplest thing to install. If not, you can use it free for a period, then must pay. Try it, you'll like it.
I've used and recommended Goldwave for some time (see earlier links and references). There is a newer version out. It comes with some improvements, notably a "pause" button for recording. This was absent in the previous version. It looks a bit different, but as far as I can easily determine, works about the same way. Also, unlike the previous version, it comes with codecs already installed for making and retreiving .mp3 sounds.
For those of you a bit mystified, Goldwave is the wonderful little program which you can use to manipulate sounds, such as your own recorded voice (it makes a dandy voice recorder, as well, far better than Window's own), and "ripped" music from a CD. You can edit, shorten, slow, speed, or filter any of these soundtracks.
I use it to review and then tailor a soundtrack for a slide show or video program. Or to make a voice recording I want to stick on a CD to send to a friend. If you already had a registered version, the new one is free, and is the world's simplest thing to install. If not, you can use it free for a period, then must pay. Try it, you'll like it.
