DVD Question

[Matt Ottinger]

For the uninitiated (since it was mentioned twice)...

coaster (n.) -- A blank disc that fails to record properly for unknown reasons, making it a worthless piece of plastic (except as something to set your drinks on).  

A fairly common problem in the early days of this technology, but much less so now.

[kidsplash]

[quote name=\'Particleman\' date=\'Sep 23 2004, 12:31 PM\'] I'd highly recommend going to computer route.  Not only can you create video DVDs, you can also backup much more data than a CD can.  Trust me, after losing my FF Challenge data, I could have used one then!

Something you'll hear people who do this with the computer is problems with audio sync.  Several things can cause it, number one being that most TV capture cards record using AVI and those files later have to be converted to MPEG.  

So make sure you get a capture card that has MPEG hardware on the card.  I have a Win-TV PVR 250 by Hauppauge.  The software for it isn't the best but this card always puts out awesome MPEG movies with little to no sync problems.

I'd also recommend an 8x Pioneer DVD +/- recordable drive.  I have never had this drive burn a bad DVD and I've done quite a few.  It has a technology that compensates for DVDs that tend to teeter-tot on the spindle mechanism.

Just about all new DVD players will play the + or - format.  The DVD-R discs are cheaper and are by far the most compatable discs out there.  If you get the hardware I mentioned above, I'd stick with minus.

Like I said, I've done quite a few VHS to DVD conversions and they have all turned out successful.  You'll probably experience the same amount of success with a standalone, non-PC oriented DVD recorder but you'll miss out on backing up a ton of stuff on your computer if you ever wanted to.

One last thing, if you go the computer route and have a motherboard with a VIA chipset (if you have a P4 processor, you don't), you'll want to download a PCI Latency patch.  You can Google search for it and find it.  All motherboards based on the VIA chipset should have this installed anyway. [/quote]
 I'm seriously thinking of getting me a Hewlett-Packard Media Center PC. It costs about $2,000 at I saw it couple of times at Sam's Club (the place where I still work at). It has a DVD writer. CD writer, 200GB hard drive, 512MB RAM, Windows XP with Hyper-Threading technology. Right now, I've already made over $600 in my money-making program. I've invested all of the earnings and expected to double on Monday.

I'm moving in my dad's house and he's got DirecTV. I ask him for DirecTV in my new room but I gotta get a seperate receiver. After that, I'm going to save money for DVR with TiVo. I know it sounds crazy, but I want to have a DVD recorder, Media Center PC AND DirecTV DVR. I'll use the blank DVD's to record shows taped from DVR so that I can keep the memories alive forever.

[J.R.]

Another question just hit me just now:

Lets say I'm recording the Ken Jennings run this week. After I have recoded Monday's episode, I want to watch something else on it.

So, can I just take it out and pop it back in tomorrow for Tuesday's show or do I have to Finalize every time and once I do "Finalize", can I still record extra stuff on a disc ?

Thanks !
-Joe R.

[ClockGameJohn]

You can do whatever you want UNTIL you finalize the disc.  Once finalized...it's, well, final.  

[mystery7]

If the disc is a DVD-R or DVD+R, you're done once you finalize. You can't add to it. On A DVD-RW (ReWritable) or +RW, you can add on, then finalize once you're sure you've got everything you need on the disc.

[TV Favorites]

I question I have....what is the difference between the DVD +/- RW discs and DVD-RAM discs?

[roadgeek]

On my DVD recorder you can "unfinalize" a DVD-RW, if you wish.

On a DVD+/-RW you can:
* add to a disc
* write over part of a disc

On a DVD+/-R you can only:
* add to a disc (and only if you haven't finalized)

TV Favorites: here are some pages that I Googled and found pretty useful:
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardwa...tsExplained.asp
http://www.dvdirect.com/TSS/charts/DVDFormats.htm

So far I've burned 5 DVDs, and it's becoming pretty quick and easy.  If any other collectors would like me to help transfer some tapes, let me know.

[Matt Ottinger]

You're getting a lot of confusing and even conflicting information with regard to this "finalize" deal, but here's my take on it (which doesn't exactly match anyone I've seen yet).

If you're working with -RW or +RW discs, you don't have to worry about finalizing at all.  By definition, they're re-writable, so nothing is ever "final".

If you're working with +R or -R, you can ADD to the disc as much as you want before you finalize, but you can't erase what's already on there and start over again.

To answer your specific question, you don't have to finalize a disc before you eject it.  Whatever you recorded is still on there.  You just won't be able to play that disc on some other machine until you put it back in your recorder and finalize it.