DVD Burner

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jhazeljhazel
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Quick question. I'm running a QuickSilver Dual 800 with the standard 2x DVD Burner that shipped with it. I'm doing more and more home movies and such and would like to upgrade the drive. There are several 8x drives available for very reasonable prices. I noticed one drive that was DVD+ and I know these are DVD-.



My question is do I need to be concerned with any of this? I know if I change from - to + I'll have to change media but in terms of the Mac and it's software, are there any compatability issues? I may even go with a DVD+- so I can still use my remaining media. Will I simply be able to replace the drive or am I limited by what will work with iDVD, iTunes, iMovie, ... and such?



Thanks,



Josh

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    telomartelomar Posts: 1,804member
    iDVD won't work with DVD+ at all and I have a sneaking suspicion is won't work with anything but OEM drives although I'm not certain on that. It won't work with external drives though.



    Oh and the Mac OS doesn't officially support DVD+ either.
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  • Reply 2 of 13
    jhazeljhazel Posts: 28member
    Can I still go with a DVD+-RW drive and just utilize the -?
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  • Reply 3 of 13
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    do not switch to +R. it is a dying medium.
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  • Reply 4 of 13
    jhazeljhazel Posts: 28member
    REALLY?? Pardon my ignorance in this area. I have a friend that seems to do his homework on things and he was telling me just the other day that + was far better than - and would be the way to go. It does seem to be more popular in the marketplace. Where can I do my own research on this? Thanks for the tip!



    Josh
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  • Reply 5 of 13
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jhazel

    REALLY?? Pardon my ignorance in this area. I have a friend that seems to do his homework on things and he was telling me just the other day that + was far better than - and would be the way to go. It does seem to be more popular in the marketplace. Where can I do my own research on this? Thanks for the tip!



    Josh



    well, every "hollywood" dvd you buy is a -R. So that's a pretty good bit of info. also, and maybe this is just me, but i have had far better experiences dealing with -R's and home entertainment systems than +R's. There's virtually no difference between +R and -R other than the way they're recorded, but +R seems to bit less flexible and compatible. If your friend knows his stuff though, then follow his advice. I work in video production and we only use -R's for everything from corporate training DVD's to music videos.
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  • Reply 6 of 13
    jhazeljhazel Posts: 28member
    I've been doing some reading on this since the last post. Every article I've found states that there is little difference in the two as well. However, they also state that the + format is completely compatible with any reader whereas the - format is more particular.



    Will I be alright if I just go with a +- drive? Will the OS or iSoftware have any issues with this?





    Thanks,



    Josh
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  • Reply 7 of 13
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jhazel

    I've been doing some reading on this since the last post. Every article I've found states that there is little difference in the two as well. However, they also state that the + format is completely compatible with any reader whereas the - format is more particular.



    Will I be alright if I just go with a +- drive? Will the OS or iSoftware have any issues with this?





    Thanks,



    Josh



    A +- drive should be fine, but for clarity's sake I'll add that the -R format has greater compatibility with DVD players.
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  • Reply 8 of 13
    telomartelomar Posts: 1,804member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jhazel

    I've been doing some reading on this since the last post. Every article I've found states that there is little difference in the two as well. However, they also state that the + format is completely compatible with any reader whereas the - format is more particular.



    Will I be alright if I just go with a +- drive? Will the OS or iSoftware have any issues with this?



    Technically there is virtually no difference, which is part of what bugs me in that they both exist. Originally the story was + was more aimed at data and - at media but - handles data fine. The - format is the more widely supported though not +.



    The Pioneer and Sony drives that Apple use for the superdrive are both combined +- drives they just don't advertise it.
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  • Reply 9 of 13
    ichiban_jayichiban_jay Posts: 660member
    so will external dvd burners work with idvd?
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  • Reply 10 of 13
    ichiban_jayichiban_jay Posts: 660member
    So would an external dvd-burner work with idvd on the mac in general? Or does it depend on the brand?
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  • Reply 11 of 13
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Ichiban_jay

    So would an external dvd-burner work with idvd on the mac in general? Or does it depend on the brand?



    there are hacks to make external writers work with idvd--search macaddict--i believe they had that tip in an issue a while back. i know it can be done.
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  • Reply 12 of 13
    ichiban_jayichiban_jay Posts: 660member
    any chance you got a link? I can't seem to find it. or term to search for



    wait... toast 6 will work with any external dvd burner right? problem solved! I think, imovie and toast... to burn dvd's
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  • Reply 13 of 13
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Ichiban_jay

    any chance you got a link? I can't seem to find it. or term to search for



    wait... toast 6 will work with any external dvd burner right? problem solved! I think, imovie and toast... to burn dvd's



    i wish i had time to sort through these, but i think this will get you on the right track: google link
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