Movies used to be 4.7gb before backing them up. Now they normally lager than that much larger. The standard DVD R is 4.7GB. They are way too small to today's movie without compressing the movie. So you can now buy 8.5GB DVD R in which you can burn on two sides of the disc thus dual layer.
That's not quite it tidsom. I regular store bought movie is pressed on to a DVD9, which has something like 8.5 gigs. Most store bought DVDs are DVD5 which have 4.7 gigs. Dual layers are not just two sided, they have a second so you don't need to compress, that way you get perfect quality burns. But dual layer disc are really expensive (compared to a single layer, which will work just as fine so long as it is compressed, but not compared to a store bought DVD).
These DVD9s cost a lot however if your file is over the DVD5 capacity then in most cases you can compress them using DVD Shrink which is a free prog. Gee there are some really fast typists around here.
Maybe I can clear this up somewhat. 2 sided discs are not dual layer discs. They are usually refered to as flipper discs. 4.7 gig on each side. the real dual layer discs are 8.5 gig on on side but manufactured in 2 layers of 4.7 gig each. Thus the term DUAL LAYER on one side. The flipper discs can be burned with most burners. The dual layer discs require a dual layer burner. Not to be confused with dual format burners which burn either + or - blank format discs. Did I confuse you enough?? Jerry Guess I'm getting slow with the typing.
Glad to help. That does confuse many people when they go to buy blank media. They see the flippers listed at 8.5 gig and think they are buying real dual layer discs. When they get them they find out they have to turn them over to get 8.5 gig on them. Jerry
Hey Jerry746, Maybe you can and the others can help, I use an Nec DVD RW ND 3520A EXTERNAL, and I suffer from the all time downer shrink slow down I have did everything. I can only get DMA mode 2, but every time I have to change usb ports about ten times to get a good ripping speed what my deal.
Thanks for clearing that up Jerry. Saved me the typing. Dvd5 = 4.7 gb (actually 4.38 gb). Dvd9 = 8.5 gb 2 layors on one side thus dual layor. Dvd10 = flipper 4.38 gb on each side.
@tdisom, I'm almost sure that DMA doesn't come into play with a USB external drive. What will make a big difference is if you are using USB1 or USB2. For the burner to work properly and at the best speed you need to have USB2 hooked to it. USB1 doesn't have a fast enough data transfer rate. The DMA does need to be set right for the internal HD to work at proper speed. Also some burners are rip locked from the factory to 2x rip speed. I'm not sure if your drive is or not. Sometimes a hacked firmware is needed to unlock it. Other times it just a matter of pushing the eject button a number of times to unlock it. Check this site and do a search there for your model. http://www.rpc1.com. Jerry
@Jerry746 I don't know what the deal is. I have a Dell Dimension 3000, and I use the two front usb ports for a while everything ran smooth and all of a sudden (slow poke). I disconnected and shut down still slow, I defreged and all still slow, I changed ports still slow but it seems as if when its ready it springs back to life. This may help though, when I disconnect and reconnect the usb icon comes up in the start tray when i click it say I have 8 usb ports but i only have six and when it does that it is very slow then. Hope this helps we need to find a solution to this problem its getting old.
Maybe you need to treat the USB ports the same as with DMAs that won't change. Try going into your Device manager and remove the usb ports and controllers. Then reboot and let Windows reinstall them. Maybe you have a corrupt USB driver. Maybe just try a driver update first for the USB ports. Just guessing on this but it may help. Jerry
