TOPIC: What type of Burner should I get ?
Question: ScubaPete, What type of DVD burner should I get AND, Should I get an Internal DVD drive OR an External DVD drive ?
The only burners that anyone has posted problems with, were those bearing the HP name and those made for Memorex (though they changed so much from time to time I have no idea who is making them now, - whoever is cheaper at that moment - Lol :)
I have a BenQ 1625, DL burner and cannot say enough good things about it.
My suggestions for DVD Burners are:
1. Buy one that can change Book type.
They are:
- Ben Q
- LG
- Lite-On
- Nec
- Nu Tec
- Plextor
- and Ricoh
2. Buy a burner that supports dual-format media (DVD +R/RW & DVD-R/ RW media as well as one that supports Dual-layered burning. I almost hate to say that BUT if I didn't put it down, there would be someone who would still be selling a crappy burner able to only burn +R media at 4X. FYI, just in case you didn't know, all DVD burners can burn CD's.
3. Purchase those drives that support LightScribe burning. They are drives capable of "burning" a label on your DVD disc. Soon, around the beginning of this year, LightScribe discs will be able to burn a "silkscreen" quality, colored labels directly on your DVD or CD. Currently, it's available in only gold-tone silkscreen though it still looks cooler than cool (:D) DL Burners prices range from $35.00 to $70.00 USD).
Always buy quality. Quality never goes out of style.
As for internal Vs. external ~
If you have an open bay in your PC, by all means use it. Iffin' you have something already there, no worries, it’s actually easier to hookup an external burner. ~ I suggest buying an external housing separately from your burner as the price of the two, already assembled is just way too high. You can get an external housing of excellent quality, already wired, with a built-in fan for $24.99 to $29.99. The internal and external DVD drives are exactly the same drive. Always purchase a bare drive, with today’s XP PC, they’re just “Plug and Play”. It takes no knowledge to hook one up. All you need do is plug in the housing's power wires and IDE/USB wires into the burner and screw the top in place, Plug the power cord into the wall and the USB cable into your PC. That's it. You’re done and done ! You’re all set to go in less then 5 minutes, using nothing more than a screw driver.
Why do I say a USB connection instead of a Firewire connection ? A 2.0 USB connection is almost as fast as an internal IDE connection and faster than a Firewire connection. I have 2, Dual Layered, 16X, DVD drives hooked up via 2.0 USB connections as well as 500 GB's of Hard Drive and they are all connected to a USB hub. What does a 2.0 USB hub cost ? About $15.00, and I still have 2 USB connections available to me.
Just a note for those who are going to install their new DVD burner internally.
1. Make sure your internal burner is jumpered to Master and connected to the secondary IDE cable and, 2. Make sure you have 80-wire NOT 40-wire IDE cable. Don’t count the “pins” at the cables end, count the wires themselves. Even a newer model PC may have a 40-wire IDE cable. The 80-wire cable uses the extra wires to insulate the wires that transfer the data providing you with a faster more efficient data transfer. An 80-wire IDE cable make the difference between a working burner and one that's giving you migraine headaches of tremendous proportions. The DVD burners of today are 10X better and 10X cheaper than ever before. Enjoy your new purchase (:D) <~
How much Hard Drive (HD for short) is needed to backup a DVD ?
Question: ScubaPete, How much HD space do you need to backup a DVD ? i.e. If you have a 120GB HD (about 111GB actually) you should have 10% of that for the PC to run well. (Less than 5% free and your PC could well "CRASH" ! :(
111 GB - 11 GB (about 10%) =100 GB
Then 12 to 15 GB for ripping and encoding a regular commercial DVD.
100 GB - 15GB for your DVD work = 85 GB Left for your "stuff"
That's assuming that you defrag your system often.
I have 4 HD's totaling 740 GB and I run defrag on my system every night to keep all 4 of them below 1% fragmented. You can set yours to run automatically by using "Scheduled Tasks" in your "Control Panel".
To find the actual size of your HD, simply open, "My Computer" and rest your curser on Hard Drives. The number listed in "Total Space" is your actual HD space. The number listed on the HD OR on your PC's specs is the "advertised" size.
TOPIC: LQQking for a new DVD software program ? Beware, some programs are rip-off's.
Question: "ScubaPete, I've heard that there are several programs for sale that are nothing more than freeware, re-packaged. Is that true ?"
I'm sorry to tell you this but Yes, it's true. Next, you may well wonder why people such as MrDVDShrink and Lightning_UK haven't done something about it. These icons of DVD video programming, have given their God-given talents freely to the world and haven't asked for anything in return. So, what's the problem ? The problem is money. Many times, these companies are in different Countries and it takes money to track these people down and to take them to court. The programs we speak of, are nothing more than some DVD compilation packages which provide you with a bunch of FREEWARE tools, some fancy packaging, along with some poorly written guides, written by the companies themselves OR, some decent guides, they have stolen from places like www.doom9.org. Here's a partial list of programs you should be on the lQQkout for:
It appears that DVD-Cloner2 (aka, DVD-ClonerII) , as so highly rated on the link below, uses DVD Shrink's transcoding engine. The picture below is NOT a picture that's been conveniently altered, this is a screenshot of what you will see when DVD-Cloner2 "freezes". You can plainly see the basic DVD Shrink, "Peeking out" from behind DVD-Cloner2's facade.
A DVDCloner2 review –
http://www.dvd-copy-review.net/
DVD-Cloner2 "Uncovered"-
http://forum.digital-digest.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=160183
Interested in additional information concerning this issue? Here are some links you might wish to checkout:
If you are a purchaser of any of the above listed "software", I suggest you pursue what avenues you can to obtain a refund of your purchased price.
The "publisher" of this "software" is based here :
http://www.dup-dvd.com/
The Internet is loaded with pitfalls and prizes. Research should be your number 1 tool. Seek out and ask those with experience as opposed to those as "green" as yourself. Finally, remember that old saying, "A fool and his money are soon parted." Don't let that apply to you.
Subject Addendum:
Question: "ScubaPete, I see so many reviews on DVD software, how do I know which ones to believe ?
Sadly, my experience has lead me to believe that the program's with the largest purse strings seem to rate the highest. I have watched several "Review" sites and have seen the programs juggled for no apparent reason. A program that was # 3, is exchanged for the one that was 1st place and neither one had issued any updates to warrant the change. I rarely see any 2 "Review" sites rate the programs the same and finally, the ties between programs and "Review" sites remain static (constant). By that I mean, no "New" software ever comes upon the scene even though there are many superior products out there. Under the Heading of, "Veeery interesting", all of these so-called "Review" sites are heavily involved in the sales of those particular products they have under review. If you wish to test my theory, go surfing for DVD software reviews and you’ll find the same type of site under different names, all set to sell you the same software. They certainly aren't independent reviews otherwise, where are the "2-Thumbs down" software programs ?
An awful lot of top grade programs don’t make the “Lists”. Why is that ?
At the end of the day, I have found the best information comes from "informed" sources that don't have any involvement in the sales or distribution of any software programs. I speak of those people who can be found, volunteering their time and expertise staffing various forums about the Internet.
A great man once said, "Advertising can be referred to as, The art of telling believable lies about anything that any company is involved in selling you."
"Contrary to popular belief, There is no truth in advertising. If you believe otherwise, you haven't learned your lesson yet". (My dear old gray-haired Mother said that !) “Never argue with your Mother !” ScubaPete said that !
NOTE:
Ease and speed usually cost you something. That something is almost always quality. Most quality programs aren't hard to use at all. There is a plethora of easy-to-understand guides available to make the best of programs easily within the grasp of the novice.
ScubaPete, always on your side ~
TOPIC: Fine tuning DVD Decrypter
ScubaPete, Can anything be done to make DVD Decrypter work better ?
Sure, Here are some slight "adjustments" to fine-tune DVD Decrypter.
You ready ? Good ! Let's make our small adjustments to DVD Decrypter.
For that, we need to go to "Tools," then "Settings," then click on the "General" tab ." Under "Removal Method," - please change that from "Normal" to "Aggressive." Next, in the "File Mode" tab, Check, "Remove IFO PUO's." If you use ISO Read to rip episodel and some of those difficult multi-angled DVD's as I do, you might also go to the "ISO Read Mode" tab and Check, "Remove IFO PUO’s" as well. Next, let's scoot on over to the "CSS" tab and lQQk to your left to find "Brute Force ~> I/O Key Exchange" and Check that too. Finally, head to the "I/O tab." At the bottom-right, I'd like you to put a check where it says "Ignore Read Errors." This will help speed things along by bypassing any tiny scratch-caused errors on the original disc and also some empty files which might make it hard for DVD Shrinker and like programs to wade through. Finally, (Yea, I know there was a "Finally" before this one BUT this is really and truly the last "Finally", Honest !) Sooo, let's go to the "Device" tab. "Under"Eject Tray after," I like to check both "Read" and "Write" so that if I'm busy doing something and my PC's sound is turned down, the tray's opening alerts me that DVDD's job is done. If you don't want that to happen then. . . . don't check those boxes, BUT, you'll like it a whole lot better if you do Soooo, what the hey, . . . . (nudge, nudge) Go ahead, put a little checkie-pooh there. That's a good kid, your Uncle ScubaPete LOVES Ya for doin' that. Now, click "OK."
Hey, All we're trying to do is to put a few more teeth in DVDD's dentures, giving it a better "Bite".
Sea if that doesn't help, just a little. :P) At least you'll have a few more choices to rip those difficult discs :D)
Now you’re ready to feed DVDD some nice little sandwich-type DVD’s and sea how them there fangs cut through those movies (:P)
FINALLY, a question I hear from time to time so we'll cover it here:
QUESTION: ScubaPete, Can I run AnyDVD and DVDD ?
Fasfrank Note:
A feature was added to DVD Decrypter to allow the use of AnyDVD's I/O interface.
Go to Tools and click on settings. Now click the I/O tab. You can change the interface to "ElbyCDIO-Elaborate Bytes"
By using this interface, DVD Decrypter stays "up to date".
Of course you can. No worries!
AnyDVD runs in the background making the original appear as if it has no encryption and is region free. I like to backup my DVD's to my HD and wait until I have 4 or 5 of them, then burn them to disc. I use DVDFab Decrypter OR DVDD to rip the originals to my HD even though AnyDVD is running.
All it means is, no matter what other program I use, I have a successful rip the first time, every time. As a trial, from time to time, I'll shut down AnyDVD to sea what others are speaking of when they say they can't get, ABC or XYZ DVD to rip.
With AnyDVD, all programs get along as right as rain :P)
I hope that puts that "Puppy" to bed.
DVD Shrink ver. 3.2.0.15 (FREE) -
Though it's has reached its final form and hasn't been updated since 07/2004, DVD Shrink remains an excellent editing, encoding and recoding program. To keep it "abreast" of the "times", it only needs a decrypter, capable of dealing with today's encryptions. A milestone in workmanship, it is, without a doubt, a "Must have" program for anyone doing DVD video backup work.
Thank you for choosing a ScubaPete Guide!
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