Dvd burners and a dvd question

I want to be able to copy dvds with OUT having them temporarly go to my hard drive. If I buy an external dvd burner I can do this, right?

Also.. what is the diference between dvd+r and dvd-r. I just bought 2 packs of dvds for the same price, same brand, the only diference is that one is -r and the other is +r. To me they seem the same, but if there is any minor diference, I would like to know.

Thanks for help in advance,
Tokuman

 

as far as i know, if you are doing a direct copy, the computer has to make an image on the hd, regardless of external. the difference between + and - is compatibility. some dvd players can't read one or the other.

 

Okay, then with the external, it will be faster than just one writer, right?

About the dvds, do you know which is more compatable with a broad range of players? I bought some dvds a few months ago that appeared to be bad as they were not playing on any of my dvd players. I did not even know whether to check if they were - or +. That was probably the problem, but I still think that there was something wrong with them since none of my players would accept them. The player said they were dirty, but could not be since they were brand new. I now think that my player only accepts dvd-r, which is a good thing to know.

 

You're correct. Generally speaking, -R is more compatible with a wide range of standalone DVD players... although if you have a Liteon burner they have an application which allows for bit-setting on +Rs to fool your DVD player into thinking it's a pressed DVD.

Two drives won't be much faster than a single drive, since your DVD copying application has to make a decrypted image on disk first, especially if you're also shrinking it to fit onto a single layer disc. The only speed boost you're likely to notice if from the higher burn speeds found on an external burner.

Regarding the discs you had problems with a few months ago, they may have just been a bad batch... you do get what you pay for. For general use, I normally recommend either Verbatim/Mitsubishi or TDK. For long term archiving you can't go past Taiyo Yuden.

 

Ah well I have always used the cheapest of brands. I like to share homevideo with friends and family, so I can not afford to pay 50 dollors for 100 dvds. I usually get the office depot or imation. If I need better quality disks I will use your advice.. for right now my pay check makes that choice for me.

Saving 5 minutes per disk is important to me. After Christmas/birthdays I spend days copying disks, then putting my custum labels on them. Do you think I would save 5-10 minutes? Right now it is taking me 36-50 minutes depending on how full the disk is.

Thanks for y'alls help =)

 

quality of the media definitely makes a BIG difference. buying cheap media is a waste of money and time.