Sony VS Pioneer?? Help!

I am just about to purchase my first DVD burner. I'd say I have a sound knowledge of computers, however this purchase has got me confused.

I need to know which drive to purchase, Sony's dual format or the pioneer 105 (oem version)? I have been offered the 105 instead of the A05 at a reasonable price of £185 (UK) Is it worth paying the extra for the A05 for the software. I have seen many reviews that state the software isn't up to much.

If the 105 is the one what software would you recommend?? I have Nero burning rom that came with my LITE-ON CDR/W but I don't think it can burn DVDs, am I right?

Once I have created a backup using whatever software, can you burn a copy of the backup without going through the full ripping process?

I'd also like to know which media and which format X4 or X2. I know X4 would get the best performance out of the drive but which brands?

I'll be using it to back up my DVD collection as well as putting all my WMA files onto discs in case my computer packs up (is this possible?)

Finally!, how do I convert a VHS video onto a DVD and with what software?

Many questions that I need answering because it's my first experience of DVD burning,

Many thanks for any replies

Take care

 

Hullo rustybolt

I had the same problem deciding which burner to get but in the end I choose the pioneer A05. As for the software that came with it, well i never use it. Nero will burn your dvds and its all I ever use. If you do get the pioneer burner i would suggest you get it without the software. I paid £245 for the burner from amazon when I should have went to dabs.com (plenty in stock) for the oem version.

Media format- DVD-r is actually cheaper than dvd+r and works on most stand alone dvd players(one of the reasons I got the pioneer)

As for the media, well i bought 25 princo discs and I made a big mistake. Yes they write at X4 speed but these discs are poor and always seem to freeze near the end. Now i buy ritek and have had no problems and they burn at X4 speed.

As for VHS to DVD, get a video capture card.

I hope this has helped you a little. Sorry I could not answer your other questions

 

Thanks Allin

Thats a great help and probably swayed me towards the pioneer. I don't mind the + & - battle because there will be a better drive out in 6 monthes and everyone will be selling their 105s.

The thing I could do with amswering:

I run XP and have copied all my CDs onto the Media Player. I have nearly 18GB of WMA files, I really want to put all these files on 4 or 5 DVDs in case the thing packs up. Is this at all possible or is that DVD-RAM???

Also do you know where I can get NERO in the UK at a reasonable price

Thanks everyone

 

You will have no problems backing up your music to dvd. I just did a quick test (im really bored today) burning my music collection and everything worked fine.

 

Cheers Allin

Do you put a DVD-R in the drive open the window for the disc and drag the WMA files into the window, the same as you would with a CDR, or do you use NERO?

Also do you have NERO Vision Express (Video authoring)? I've just downloaded this great freeware called DVD Shrink. What an easy program!! Puts a full DVD onto 1 disc and theres the option of removing the parts you don't want, such as menus, subtitles and the differnt audio tracks. Superb and hardly any loss in picture quality.

Cheers

 

When using nero all you do is select dvd-rom, then from your file browser drag the files into the new complication window. A piece of cake.

I have never used NERO Vision Express.

Im glad you have spotted dvd shrink. Before I used that program, i had to use DVD Decrypter then dvd2one(that program has crashed on me a few times) to shrink the film. From the threads i have read in these forums alot of people still prefer DVD2one but in my opinion dvd shrink is exellent. The program is so easy to use and it is easy to cut out bits of the dvd that you dont want. I find it great in backing up my episode dvds.

 

Hello again Allin

Right I've just ordered NERO 5.5 and it also comes with NERO vision express (Video authoring) for £14.95 (reasonable)

Anyway when you use NERO didn't you have to get a MPEG2 DVD plugin? From what I've seen I need it to copy DVDs, it only comes with MPEG1 (VCD) plugin.

Where can I get this from?? NERO charge you nearly $30 to download it!

 

The DVD plug in is for the NeroVision component (which came with your Nero package). Nerovision will take an mpg (or mp2) file and "transcode" it into DVD format. The Nero 5.5 is the burning ROM where you just select files to be burned onto the media, in your case you just have to create a VIDEO_TS folder with the appropriate .ifo, .bup, and .vob files and then Nero 5.5 burning rom will burn the DVD. You'd only be using nerovision express for something like either you captured video from the television or video and you want to make a dvd out of it. If you start to get into that, keep in mind that transcoding a dvd more than doubles the size of the mpg file, so a 2.5 gigabyte mpg may not fit on a 4.7 gig dvd.
Also, that dvdshrink is great, works like the new dxc express but it's free.

 

Thanks Commwiz

I realise that, and the Nero burning ROM I have is OK for my DVDs. But there a few home videos (not that sort!) that I wouldn't mind putting on DVD and I can capture them through my TV card. I take it there is no free version of this plugin anywhere? If not thanks for your help.