Sony DRU-500a

[Theinfamousone]

I got a Sony DRU-500a a couple weeks back. I have been very happy with it, as everyone knows it is the first (and I believe the only) drive that writes on all 4 DVD formats and also CD-R/W. Before I was using an old 8x CD burner that came with my computer (made by Gateway). I've found that the compatibility of this new burner isn't as good as my old one. The CDs don't play in some CD players. Everything is the same as before as far as OS, disc brand and ASPI. I am using Windows XP.

Is it the ASPI that's screwed up? The drive, the discs, or what is the most likely probelm?

[DainBramaged]

DVD burners are still farily new, and as standards progress, so does hardware capability. I'd try looking for a firmware/BIOS upgrade for it first. After that, ASPI layers. Lastly, program compatability.

[nasrules]

Originally posted by zebi
At what speed do you burn, i've had cd players who couldn't read discs written at 20x or higher.

cool i dint no that, adds another reason to not having a 48x burner, along with the discs shattering and bits flying into you :-)

[Theinfamousone]

I have burned them at 4x-8x-12x-24x and none of them have ever worked on certain CD players. I think it's because I have the cheapest possible CDs. They are called SpinX. If I got TDK I'd probably fix my problem, and it looks like I'll have to if I want the same compatibility of my old burner. It really depends on the sensitivity of the dye on the CD. The ones that are rated at 48x shouldn't have compatibility problems when burned at 24x.

[Theinfamousone]

Yes, it played with my 2 year old 8x CD burner, but not CDs from my new DVD/CD burner (which is counter logic if you ask me)and matter of fact, this CD player is only a couple months old (got it for Christmas) and specifically says that it can play CD-R/W and even mp3 CDs if I'm not mistaken. Yet my $79 RCA (el cheapo as it gets) CD Changer that I bought 5 years ago plays them like a charm.

[endersgame21]

I was thinking about getting a dvd burner but I think I will just wait. One of the problems was I didn't know what format to get because somebody told me that only 1 format will be supported later on. The Sony DRU-500a is nice because it supports all formats but I still think I will wait a couple of months for Blu-ray Discs to come out.

[Theinfamousone]

Originally posted by endersgame21
I was thinking about getting a dvd burner but I think I will just wait. One of the problems was I didn't know what format to get because somebody told me that only 1 format will be supported later on. The Sony DRU-500a is nice because it supports all formats but I still think I will wait a couple of months for Blu-ray Discs to come out.

Blu-Ray. Yeah, I considered that. But when I think about it, I bet they are going to be very expensive and when they finally come down to less than $400 which is the only time I'd even dream of getting one, I'll probably be 10 years older, and by then P2P will probably be dead. Just kidding. Hopefully nothing happens to P2P. But seriously, I was really excited when my friend bought a CD burner in 2000(seems like forever ago) and it was $300 or something, I don't think he regretted getting it when DVD burners came out because it has served him well for 3 years. I am really skeptical as to whether Blu-Ray will even become standard for anything except for data storage. It's gonna be hard to break DVD's grip on videos, just like DVDs haven't dethroned CDs as pretty much the only medium for music. And just how as easy as it is to burn CDs, most people still use floppy disks for text.:wings

EDIT: I failed to mention that having a DVD burner is like night and day. I have put thousands of videos on .60 cent DVD-Rs and will save them for a future generation to watch. I have all of my very important application on a DVD+RW, it's like a warm blanket. No one can do anything seriously bad to my computer short of coming to my house and beating it with a golf club (you'd actually be surprised how often that's almost happened). If anything goes wrong, pop in the XP CD, restart, install, reload applications, start downloading again. The fact that you can put home movies on DVDs, and copy DVDs is a nice little plus too. Mainly I download TV shows from Kazaa and save them though. For $300, I think it's already paid for itself.

[Mr. Mainstream]

ill stick good ol' CD-R 750mb that enuff

[Theinfamousone]

They have 750MB CDs? Are you banned Mainstream, or are you just playing around?

[Mr. Mainstream]

yes we have 750mb pritty standard and the banned name is a just a joke

[Theinfamousone]

I know I have the newest firmware, but how do I check/upgrade to the BIOS? How do I upgrade the ASPI layer?

[endersgame21]

Blu-Ray. Yeah, I considered that. But when I think about it, I bet they are going to be very expensive and when they finally come down to less than $400 which is the only time I'd even dream of getting one, I'll probably be 10 years older, and by then P2P will probably be dead. Just kidding. Hopefully nothing happens to P2P. But seriously, I was really excited when my friend bought a CD burner in 2000(seems like forever ago) and it was $300 or something, I don't think he regretted getting it when DVD burners came out because it has served him well for 3 years. I am really skeptical as to whether Blu-Ray will even become standard for anything except for data storage. It's gonna be hard to break DVD's grip on videos, just like DVDs haven't dethroned CDs as pretty much the only medium for music. And just how as easy as it is to burn CDs, most people still use floppy disks for text.

Actually Blu-Ray will replace DVD's because you can easily record anything on to it. It is like VHS except for it is in the form of a disc and it holds a lot more info. People still use VCR's to record their favorite TV shows and now they will be able to do that with Blu-Ray discs. The reason DVD's didn't replace CD's is because CD's can currently burn a lot faster and CD players don't play DVD's. All DVD players will already be able to play Blu-Ray Discs so there won't be much of a switch. They just won't be able to record anything on to Blu-Ray Discs. For that feature you will need to buy a new player. Also, Blu-Ray discs can old up to 110 gigs so you can put a lot more movies on that then just on a 4.7 gig DVD.

[endersgame21]

They have 750MB CDs?
Yea, that is all we have over hear in the U.S. Every once in a while you might find a 700MB CD. What do they have where you live?

[Mr. Mainstream]

Originally posted by endersgame21
Yea, that is all we have over hear in the U.S. Every once in a while you might find a 700MB CD. What do they have where you live?

u can get 99min cd i can prove that if you really want. u can get 700meg discs in bulk cheap as potty watter :fire :hole :fire

[endersgame21]

u can get 99min cd i can prove that if you really want.
I am guessing by having real low quality mp3s. If not, please tell me how.

[phalkon30]

Originally posted by endersgame21
Yea, that is all we have over hear in the U.S. Every once in a while you might find a 700MB CD. What do they have where you live?
All we have over here are 700meg cds (depending on format, I believe VCD can do 750, some formats up to around 800), you might find a 650 here and there, but its mainly 700 megs in every part of the US i've been to....

[endersgame21]

All we have over here are 700meg cds (depending on format, I believe VCD can do 750, some formats up to around 800), you might find a 650 here and there, but its mainly 700 megs in every part of the US i've been to....
Oh, my bad. It is 700 MB and 80 min. I also meant you might see a 650 MB CD every once in a while. I just got confused because someone earlier mentioned a 750 MB CD.

[underpaid mo'fo]

Hearing wot u been saying means i have the fastest writer here

52*24*52 sorry to brag but i just had to, a victory for South Africa.

Its too bad though as there are few 52 speed cd media and probably non-existent 24 speed re-writables


________________________________________________

"Boy who go to bed with sexual problems, wakes up with solution in hand.

[Theinfamousone]

Originally posted by endersgame21
Yea, that is all we have over hear in the U.S. Every once in a while you might find a 700MB CD. What do they have where you live?

I'm in the US. I am pretty sure that 750MB CDs aren't standard, although I haven't bought any in 6 months probably since 100 packs are so cheap. Do you mean in VCD/Audio CD format they hold 750MB Mainstream?

Blu Ray hold up to 27GB per layer. So I suppose with double sided, double layer they could hold 110GB. Do you know when Blu Ray burners will be out? My DVD burner can make a complete 4.7GB disc in 15 minutes. It burns up to 4x. But I still buy the 1x because I don't mind waiting an extra half an hour for the DVD to burn because with an 8MB buffer (the A05 only has a 2MB buffer) and burning that slow, you can pretty much do anything that you want without making a coaster except maybe play a high end game that takes 75% of the CPU.

underpaid mo'fo, anything past 24x is completely overkill if you ask me. Mine burns a full 80 minute music CD without having the files already uncompressed (still in mp3 format) takes less than 5 minutes. But 52x burners are easily accessible if I really wanted one.

BTW why do you think you have the fastest?

BTW #2 After I put all of my favorite shows on DVD, I'll probably be satisfied. I will probably sell this burner within the next 6 months, these go for a lot on ebay because they are next to impossible to get your hands on. I had to put in my order 4 months in advance to get mine.

[Mr. Mainstream]

Originally posted by Theinfamousone
I'm in the US. I am pretty sure that 750MB CDs aren't standard, although I haven't bought any in 6 months probably since 100 packs are so cheap. Do you mean in VCD/Audio CD format they hold 750MB Mainstream?
.

um no. get 99min cds http://www.noelleeming.co.nz/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=17212 here u buy 700meg cds in bulk here and 750 meg in singles ova here

[Theinfamousone]

Expensive little buggas

[endersgame21]

Blu Ray hold up to 27GB per layer. So I suppose with double sided, double layer they could hold 110GB. Do you know when Blu Ray burners will be out? My DVD burner can make a complete 4.7GB disc in 15 minutes. It burns up to 4x. But I still buy the 1x because I don't mind waiting an extra half an hour for the DVD to burn because with an 8MB buffer (the A05 only has a 2MB buffer) and burning that slow, you can pretty much do anything that you want without making a coaster except maybe play a high end game that takes 75% of the CPU.
They said they will release the players in spring witch will also record stuff onto it. But the thing is you can record a show onto a Blu Ray disc like you can do with VHS. You cannot do that with regular DVD's. And I also forgot to add that Blu Ray discs will be the only discs that can hold enough info to play a movie on an HDTV with HDTV quality. Right now there are no DVD's that can play on an HDTV because they can't hold nearly enough info so if people are planning to make the switch from regular TV's to HDTV's, the will also have to make the switch from DVD's to Blu Ray Discs.

[phalkon30]

http://cdr-info.com/Sections/News/Details.asp?RelatedID=3581
talks about the blue ray release

[Theinfamousone]

They have digital cameras that record on DVDs, why not TV DVD recorders. It all depends on how much the discs themselves cost, because right now I can burn a high quality movie on a DVD for 60 cents or less (I don't really look around). The Blu Ray discs will be $30 each according to Phalkon's article.

Edit: Not to mention the fact that the burners themselves will start out at $3,800

[endersgame21]

A second industry group led by Toshiba is promoting an alternative to the Blu-Ray format, which it says will be less expensive and more compatible with existing recorders. Toshiba hopes to have a violet-laser recorder on the market in about one year's time.
I hate it when they come out with more that one format. That is what they have now and people don't know what recorder to buy because they don't know which one will be more popular or whatever. I think all companies should agree on one format and just use that one.

[Theinfamousone]

Originally posted by endersgame21
I hate it when they come out with more that one format. That is what they have now and people don't know what recorder to buy because they don't know which one will be more popular or whatever. I think all companies should agree on one format and just use that one.

Oh man, you said it. Toshiba and Sony are going to be duking it out for the next few years trying to make their format the best. You would think it would be healthy friendly competition, but DVDs haven't really come that far. Although who knows how much they would cost if there was only one format. It might be a good thing there is more than one format.

[endersgame21]

They have digital cameras that record on DVDs, why not TV DVD recorders. It all depends on how much the discs themselves cost, because right now I can burn a high quality movie on a DVD for 60 cents or less (I don't really look around). The Blu Ray discs will be $30 each according to Phalkon's article.
Yea, I knew it would be expensive when it first comes out. Everythin is way overpriced if it is new or whatever. But eventually they come way down in price and I will probably wait until then. The article said that the recorder will be like 3,000 dollars and DVD recorders were actually a lot more than that when they first came out. I think the very first one was like 10,000 dollars or something but it was real professional. And you can't record DVD's as easily as you can Blu Ray Discs. I don't really know how to explain it but it is like a VHS or floppy disc. You know how it is easier to put something on a floppy disc than to put on a CD. CD's will never be like floppy discs. The same with Blu Ray Discs and DVD's. And it is the only disc that will work for HDTV's.

[endersgame21]

Oh man, you said it. Toshiba and Sony are going to be duking it out for the next few years trying to make their format the best. You would think it would be healthy friendly competition, but DVDs haven't really come that far. Although who knows how much they would cost if there was only one format. It might be a good thing there is more than one format.
Yea, it will bring the price down but I hope this isn't going to be like what happened with Beta and VHS. They were different formats and Beta was actually better but Hollywood didn't know what format to use. They just picked VHS because I think it was already supported by more companies or something.

[nasrules]

ive never seen a 750 here in the uk, but u could prob get em sumwhere. 650/700s are standard, both cheap cheap cheap in bulk (eg 20p a disc, about $0.35 US)

has anyone seen that panasonic dvd + hd recorder? man there nice, but the price aint! £1000!!!!! sheesh!

i believe that one of the main reasons for vhs winning was that whoever made beta (sony i think, sorry before my time) would only allow certain co's to use it, whilst vhs was kinda open-source style, like videoplus+ became and is. the same is happenin with sony's sacd's (super audio compact discs), its gonna go down the drain, its only really any use for audiophiles.

[endersgame21]

has anyone seen that panasonic dvd + hd recorder? man there nice, but the price aint! £1000!!!!! sheesh!
Yea, I would really love to get one but I hope they come down in price soon. Otherwise it won't be a possibility for me. But they sure are sweet.

[Theinfamousone]

Originally posted by endersgame21
Yea, I knew it would be expensive when it first comes out. Everythin is way overpriced if it is new or whatever. But eventually they come way down in price and I will probably wait until then. The article said that the recorder will be like 3,000 dollars and DVD recorders were actually a lot more than that when they first came out. I think the very first one was like 10,000 dollars or something but it was real professional. And you can't record DVD's as easily as you can Blu Ray Discs. I don't really know how to explain it but it is like a VHS or floppy disc. You know how it is easier to put something on a floppy disc than to put on a CD. CD's will never be like floppy discs. The same with Blu Ray Discs and DVD's. And it is the only disc that will work for HDTV's.

If they are rewriteable, they will be like floppy disks I suppose. Maybe just the fact that you don't have to compress the video to MPEG2 will make it easier. Wow, how many divx movies could I fit on a double layer Blu Ray disc? Muahahaha. I'd like to see WMA9 audio on one of those bad boys. They could hold like 2 years of CD quality music.

BTW, I can use a DVD+RW as a floppy disk kind of with DLA. I can just drag and drop stuff on it, delete stuff, change file names. It will probably take 3-4 years for them to come down in price though, by then they'll have White Ray disks or something and you'll want to hold out until those come down in price. LOL

[endersgame21]

BTW, I can use a DVD+RW as a floppy disk kind of with DLA. I can just drag and drop stuff on it, delete stuff, change file names. It will probably take 3-4 years for them to come down in price though, by then they'll have White Ray disks or something and you'll want to hold out until those come down in price. LOL
It is funny you mention it. They are working on a disc that will be out around 2010. It is made of holographic memory. I don't know much about it except it looks like a regular disc and holds 1.5 terabytes of data. For those of you who don't know that is 1500 gigabytes of data. That is amazing. That is more than most harddrives.

[Theinfamousone]

Most hard drives? That is about 10 times most hard drives. See, now why would you want to get a crappy Blu Ray disc when you get a holographic burner that holds 100+ times more in a couple of years?

[endersgame21]

Well, that is still seven years off if you want to wait that long. It will probably be 2011 or 2012 until the price is reasonable. That is at least 8 or 9 years. I wouldn't be able to wait that long and if they are only about 2 or 3 hundred dollars to buy then you should get your money's worth out in 8 years and you can save up another 200 dollars in 8 years also to buy the new technology.

[phalkon30]

Yeah, the way technology goes, there will ALLWAYS be something just on the horizon, that will be more effiecient and have a much higher "cool factor"

If you allways wait for the next technology, you'll never get anything new, sometimes you just have to stick your foot in and do the hokey pokey (or buy it....whichever works)

[Theinfamousone]

I wonder what hard drive sizes will be like in 10 years. They double each year it seems like.

[endersgame21]

Yeah, the way technology goes, there will ALLWAYS be something just on the horizon, that will be more effiecient and have a much higher "cool factor"
Yea, as soon as that 1.5 tb disc comes out, they will have something that is even smaller and holds twice as much info or whatever. It is funny how new things come out that make the old things insufficient. People used to think that 20mhz was extremely fast and more power than anybody would ever need. LOL!!! They also used to think that 56kbs internet connection would also be more than fast enough. Right now I think my computer is pretty damn cool but once I buy a new one in a few years this thing will look like a pile of shit.

[endersgame21]

I wonder what hard drive sizes will be like in 10 years. They double each year it seems like.
You would never be able to guess. Harddrives will be large than you will ever have dreamed of and so will processor speeds. They should have DNA computers out before 10 years is up and maybe even quantum computers (I doubt it but it would be pretty cool if they could get them done that fast). Either way computer will be like nothing you have ever imagined.
-DNA PC
-Holograhpic discs
-Holographic memory for harddrive
-Magnetic Ram
-3D screens
-And I can't even begin to think what the software will be like.

[Theinfamousone]

That's pretty sweet. What's DNA and quantum? Is that like quantum leap? How about magnetic RAM? I can see processors getting very fast. If internet speeds increase proportionally....well, let's just say, you think P2P is the greatest thing to hit computers now, wait 7 or 8 more years when hard drives are astronomical, and processors and internet speeds are greased lightning, you will be able to download ANYTHING in a matter of seconds (or faster, who knows). Videos will become as numerous as mp3s are now because everyone will be able to play them, and download them in a very efficient amount of time. Compression codecs will also be worlds better too, so a full DVD quality movie (or better most likely) will be like 50MB or something. That's actually kind of scarey to think, because if the RIAA and MPAA are having piracy problems now, wow, I'd hate to be them when everyone has 100Mbit+ fiber optic lines or whatever and unlimited hard drives. Eventually something will have to be done I think.

Now that I'm on a roll. Even if ES5 is a hoax, someone will eventually implement something similar because if internet speeds increase exponentially, and hard drives will be that big, there's going to be a lot of people with lots of money that are just going to say "What the heck, I don't care if it's legal or not, I hate the RIAA and MPAA" (assuming they're not dead yet) and make one very similar and it will be really cheap relative to what it would cost today. I can see everyone having cameras built into their computer, so that you can talk to the person that you are trading with, and then you can know if they are the feds, or a real person.

Hopefully, the RIAA and MPAA give up after a while. Court systems aren't going to be any faster than they are now (I mean, they haven't progressed in the last 10 -20 years, so enemies of file sharing will be screwed). People will have to come up with a more direct way to support artists.

[endersgame21]

Well, go to www.howstuffworks.com and search that stuff to find out more but DNA computers have to do with DNA and proteins and Quantum computers have to do with atoms. The main plus of Magnetic Ram is that it will start automatically so when you turn on your computer you don't have to wait at all. It will be like turning on you TV. I also forgot to mention that Internet2 will be commericially available. It is extremely fast. I don't remember the speeds but you can download the whole congress library in 20 seconds.

[endersgame21]

Well, I have es5 right now so I know it is not a hoax but you do have a point.