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    DVD RAM, what's it mean

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by londez, Mar 17, 2006.

  1. londez

    londez Notebook Evangelist

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    I thought i had a dvd ROM but it turns out that i have a RAM. Could somebody explain to me what separates a DVD-ROM from a RAM???
     
    londez, Mar 17, 2006
    #1
  2. Rahul

    Rahul Notebook Prophet

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    ROM means read only whereas RAM can be written to, many times in fact.

    Your burner supports DVD-RAM discs, which aren't as popular as DVD-RW or DVD+RW but extremely useful. These discs can be written to about 100,000 times and work just like a hard drive, you just drag and drop files into the drive and thats it, you don't need to burn files to the disc with programs such as Nero.
    Also, you could for example be playing a video file on the disc and at the same time writing another video file to it. Its a really cool format, I just bought some DVD-RAM discs and am really enjoying it!
    Only downside is that they are expensive compared to dvd+rw and DVD-RW discs.
     
    Rahul, Mar 17, 2006
    #2
  3. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    Have to format the disc first before writing to it.
     
    ZaZ, Mar 17, 2006
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  4. Chutsman

    Chutsman Notebook Evangelist

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    So will the RAM media work in a standard DVD burner?
     
    Chutsman, Mar 17, 2006
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  5. Tim

    Tim Notebook Virtuoso

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    It should if you have a DVD-RAM drive installed.
    Tim
     
    Tim, Mar 17, 2006
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  6. dr_st

    dr_st Notebook Deity

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    Depends. Not all DVD-ROM drives are guaranteed to read DVD-RAM.
     
    dr_st, Mar 18, 2006
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  7. londez

    londez Notebook Evangelist

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    The website that i got my z81sp lists the DVD player that comes with th computer an 8X DVD Dual / Double Layer DVD+RW. Is that just another name for a DVD-RAM, or did my reseller accidentally give me a little something extra.
     
    londez, Mar 18, 2006
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  8. qwester

    qwester Notebook Virtuoso

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    if you have Nero you can use that to find your drive capabilities. (I am sure that you can find something free to do that too)

    Almost all drives can read RAM disks, but not all can write to them.
     
    qwester, Mar 18, 2006
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  9. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    I would say most DVD drives won't read RAM unless otherwise noted.
     
    ZaZ, Mar 18, 2006
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  10. qwester

    qwester Notebook Virtuoso

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    I said that because even my mediocre CDRW/DVD combo is reported as capable of reading RAM by nero info tool.

    BTW available for free here: http://ww2.nero.com/nero6/eng/Info_Tool.html
     
    qwester, Mar 18, 2006
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  11. dr_st

    dr_st Notebook Deity

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    And what is that mediocre CDRW/DVD combo you have, qwester?
     
    dr_st, Mar 19, 2006
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  12. qwester

    qwester Notebook Virtuoso

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    Toshiba SD-R2512
    I never invested in anything better becuase I prefer using an external desktop drive (5.25")
     
    qwester, Mar 19, 2006
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  13. dr_st

    dr_st Notebook Deity

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    OK, nice to know that about the Toshiba.

    Out of manufacturers I know that pretty much any modern LG drive will have DVD-RAM support. Also - Panasonic (well, that's a must, they invented the freaking thing, didn't they?)

    But from my past queries, most drives could not read DVD-RAM.
     
    dr_st, Mar 19, 2006
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  14. qwester

    qwester Notebook Virtuoso

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    I never tried to actually read a RAM disk. I wonder if reading different versions is a problem. Early versions were only 2.somethingGB ... So I wonder if mine can read the new 4.7GB RAM disks
     
    qwester, Mar 19, 2006
    #14