Dual layer media is like $US 10 per disk, at least it was a
month ago. But the drives are (or should be) so cheap that
it can’t hurt to have this feature for the future.
The drives seem overpriced to me in Taiwan, compared to
US prices as mentioned in the article or at techbargains.com.
e.g. the NEC 16x Dual layer they describe as $68.
My take is that the price curve has a 3 month lag here in Taiwan
and flattens out a bit slower. Ditto for raw processors.
What’s up with that? I thought some of these computer parts
would fall off the truck here but apparently they just don’t
have the bare knuckles competition of the huge US market
and internet shopping and price comparison here.
DigiTimes has an article on current retail DVD burner prices in Taiwan. The article is here, but unless you are a paid member you can only see articles for the past few days, so I’ll summarize:
Single Layer 16X Burners going for TWD2049-2100
Dual Layer 16X Burners local brands going for TWD2700-2950
Dual Layer 16X Burners international brands going for TWD3100-3500
They attribute the drop in prices to the IT Month show. I haven’t been computer shopping for a few weeks, so I haven’t verified these prices myself, but at those prices there’s little reason not to spring for a 16X dual layer drive if you’re in the market for a burner.
[quote=“jlick”]DigiTimes has an article on current retail DVD burner prices in Taiwan. The article is here, but unless you are a paid member you can only see articles for the past few days, so I’ll summarize:
Single Layer 16X Burners going for TWD2049-2100
Dual Layer 16X Burners local brands going for TWD2700-2950
Dual Layer 16X Burners international brands going for TWD3100-3500
They attribute the drop in prices to the IT Month show. I haven’t been computer shopping for a few weeks, so I haven’t verified these prices myself, but at those prices there’s little reason not to spring for a 16X dual layer drive if you’re in the market for a burner.[/quote]
I wasn’t looking very hard since I’m waiting for a trip home for a DVD burner, but the Asus 16X I noticed was still over NT$4K, which is about the same as it was when I did some serious looking a couple of months ago.
BJ, from the comparison shopping I’ve done here, prices are consistently a minimum of 20% higher than in the U.S. – and that’s only if they happen to include all the parts you would’ve gotten in the U.S. version. I just got (from my perspective) ripped off badly by some bastard at Nova who displayed a machine with the same CD drive which is standard in U.S.-sold units, but who didn’t include one in the box (as I found out when I opened it at home). Net result was a 50% markup over U.S. prices for the equivalent unit.
There’s a stall in Nova that does that sort of thing. I had a video tape transfered to CDR (VCD format), so I’m sure they could do DVD. I forget the price, but it was high enough that I wouldn’t do it for more than a tape or two.
yeah, i have a lot. should i get one of those standalone burners that look like a regular dvd player? or better off with one for the computer? would i need a special input card then?
You would need to get a Video Capture Card and convert the analog video to digital. Then burn it onto a VCD, DVD, Dual layer DVD.
It’s not hard. But there are enough little things involved that it can become time consuming. I.e. Compression, resolution, setting up a menu, setting up breaks…
Might be worth it to give someone money to do it for you.
It’d be much easier to get one of those consumer electronics DVD video recorders. Then you just need to press record and go. Computers still aren’t anywhere near that simple.
hi there what’s the best brand for dvd9 dual layer in Taiwan? I bought the verbatim and mitsubshi and recently I have many coasters with them…as many as 9, can you guys recommend a good or the best dvd9 in Taiwan? thanks
Do you mean that it failed to complete the burn?
Or did it complete the burn but the verification failed?
Or it doesn’t play on your DVD player?
If the first one I would strongly suspect your burner has a problem. The second also indicates a burner problem, but not as strongly. Verbatim/Mitsubishi have very low failure rates and generally considered best quality. You might also try Ritek or Digimaster brands of media in case your burner is not suited to Mitsubishi media. Also a good idea to update your burner firmware if possible when you have this kind of problem.
If it is the third, then you probably have a picky player. Some players just won’t play dual-layer burns no mater how good the media is.
It’s the second one, during 50 to 51% verification it gives me this error “I/O error, check condition, read 10-sector:1914784, L-EC uncorrectable error” I have always used Verbatim/Mistubishi for 4 years now…never had a problem, I tried a different burner and it also gave me the same error! the first burner I had like 9 coaster before…then got new but the same brand media, for awhile it was ok, maybe 7 burns was ok and now it’s the same problem again…maybe both of my burner is bad? or I just got bad luck and got a bunch of bad media in a roll? also just updated my burner firmware and it still gives me the same error!! help!!!
[quote=“jlick”]Do you mean that it failed to complete the burn?
Or did it complete the burn but the verification failed?
Or it doesn’t play on your DVD player?
If the first one I would strongly suspect your burner has a problem. The second also indicates a burner problem, but not as strongly. Verbatim/Mitsubishi have very low failure rates and generally considered best quality. You might also try Ritek or Digimaster brands of media in case your burner is not suited to Mitsubishi media. Also a good idea to update your burner firmware if possible when you have this kind of problem.
If it is the third, then you probably have a picky player. Some players just won’t play dual-layer burns no mater how good the media is.[/quote]
when I burn dvd5 it seems ok…but have problem with dvd9, dvd9 I use verbatim/mitsubishi…so could it be bad discs for dvd9 since dvd5 burns are ok? if it’s the burner then why dvd5 burns are ok?
Dual layer is much more difficult to burn correctly, so it is still possible there is a burner problem. Given your symptoms though, I would suspect a bad batch or fake disks. Have you looked at the manufacturer ID of the disks with DVD Identifier? Also if you still have the package label does it say “Made in Singapore”?
Can I be a complete div and ask what is a double-layer DVD burner? I need a burner that will plug straight into my iBookG4 without the need for disks, etc.
I borrowed one off of Funk500 and its some kind of Sony machine. It worked a treat. I only need it for burning DVDs of home videos to send to the folks back home.
Now they’re hassling me for more DVDs, so I need to get something. I was planning to just get the exact same model as Funk’s, but if there’s something better I’d be interested.
A Dual-Layer DVD differs from from a standard DVD by employing a second physical layer within the disc itself. A drive with dual layer capability accesses the second layer by shining the laser through the first semi-transparent layer.
Dual layer recording is available on DVD-R and DVD+R discs for storing significantly more data, up to 8.5 GB per disc, compared with 4.7 GB for single-layer discs.
A Dual-Layer DVD differs from from a standard DVD by employing a second physical layer within the disc itself. A drive with dual layer capability accesses the second layer by shining the laser through the first semi-transparent layer.
Dual layer recording is available on DVD-R and DVD+R discs for storing significantly more data, up to 8.5 GB per disc, compared with 4.7 GB for single-layer discs. [/quote]
Thanks. So that means that as I’m only burning a few hundred MBs each time, I don’t need dual-layer. Right?
A Dual-Layer DVD differs from from a standard DVD by employing a second physical layer within the disc itself. A drive with dual layer capability accesses the second layer by shining the laser through the first semi-transparent layer.
Dual layer recording is available on DVD-R and DVD+R discs for storing significantly more data, up to 8.5 GB per disc, compared with 4.7 GB for single-layer discs. [/quote]
Thanks. So that means that as I’m only burning a few hundred MBs each time, I don’t need dual-layer. Right?[/quote]
Besides that, all current burners will have dual layer capability, so it is no longer something one needs to worry about when making a buying decision.
For a DVD Burner, as said before most are dual layer. If you are using a desktop just buy an OEM one. I bought mine for 17$US a few years ago. Sure the thing was some strange off brand. The drive came in not but it has never let me down.
