DVD drive question.

[AdamZ]

I am looking to buy a DVD drive since I got X-Plane last year and its on a DVD ( I currenly only have a CD burner) I also want to get MSFSX which is on a DVD.

I figure as long as I'm getting it I should get a combo drive with CD & DVD with the capablility to write and rewrite. Some of the ones I looked at state they have a buffer of 512 KB or 2MB some are silent as to the buffer.

What is the buffer and does it matter? I suspect I also want the fastest speeds for the money is that correct?

 

[mikea]

I am looking to buy a DVD drive since I got X-Plane last year and its on a DVD ( I currenly only have a CD burner) I also want to get MSFSX which is on a DVD.

I figure as long as I'm getting it I should get a combo drive with CD & DVD with the capablility to write and rewrite. Some of the ones I looked at state they have a buffer of 512 KB or 2MB some are silent as to the buffer.

What is the buffer and does it matter? I suspect I also want the fastest speeds for the money is that correct?

Dunno 'bout the buffer but more is better. I would imagine it would most have an effect for uses where there is a lot of random access, that is, when you're playing a game that is actively using the DVD to figure out what to show you. For playing movies it would all be sequential so the buffer wouldn't matter much.

Just get a Dual Layer DVD with a fast interface. I think you have a hard time finding DL DVD burner that doesn't also do CD-RW. The higher the X the better. 16X. For an external if you can use Firewire you'll see better performance. A neat new feature is Lightscribe where you can laser-burn the label on to special media. I have that on my list. The main issue is support for Macs in the software.

What's on the horizon now is HD-DVD-R that will hold 50GB per disk. Just so you know what you buy will always be obsolete in a few years. I think I heard that NewEgg has an HD-DVD burner for $600+. How much the media costs is another question.

 

[Greebo]

The buffer is a data storage queue that allows the software to pre-read the data to be burned and cause it to flow in an uninterrupted stream to the acutal writing components. This doesn't directly affect the speed of the burn, but it DOES help guarantee uninterrupted burns which can mess up the final product.

Lightscribe ROCKS!

 

[silver-eagle]

The new tech is BLU-RAY. Right now, you'll pay an arm, a leg, and your first born for a Blu-Ray player, the blu-ray writers aren't yet on the market, but close. Check blu-ray.com. Current discs are 25G but rumors have it that 50G are due soon.
Definitely go with dual layer. You'll get 9G a disc.
The buffer just helps with the speed. More data you can buffer, the faster the application.

 

[Greebo]

The buffer just helps with the speed. More data you can buffer, the faster the application.

No, the read and write speeds determine speed. The buffer helps with the smoothness of the data flow. Its similar to with streaming video - when the video player is "buffering" its downloading the video in advance and preparing it for playback, but not actually starting the play UNTIL it is pretty sure that it can play the entire piece uninterrupted.

A side effect of the buffer *can* be speed improvement, particularly when writing, because the buffer allows the data to be prepared to be written in advance and stored in the buffer, which can make the speed faster overall (because the computer doesn't have to get a chunk, process it, and write it, then repeat, but instead does all three simultaneously), but the ultimate limit on the speed is the speed rating of the drive.

As for blueray - nice stuff but wait a few years for the prices to drop...

 

[jesse]

Buffer is as Chuck states.

The larger the buffer the less chance of your burn slowing down. Your writer pulls the information it's burning out of the buffer. If there is no more information in the buffer (your CPU is busy doing something else) the burn must stop. When CD burners came out this would produce a coaster and a buffer error. There was no way for the optical drive to continue the burn where it left off. As technology advanced drives were capable of starting the burn again where it left off previously. No longer was it a problem of destroying your CD it was more of an issue of slowing down. If you have a large buffer your CPU can fill it full of information when it has the time. It can fill it faster than your burner can burn it. Now if the CPU gets distracted by another process there will still be information left for the burner to burn. The CPU should be back in time to fill the buffer with more information before it runs out.

The larger the buffer the less chance of your burn slowing down.

 

[mikea]

The new tech is BLU-RAY. Right now, you'll pay an arm, a leg, and your first born for a Blu-Ray player, the blu-ray writers aren't yet on the market, but close. Check blu-ray.com. Current discs are 25G but rumors have it that 50G are due soon.
Definitely go with dual layer. You'll get 9G a disc.
The buffer just helps with the speed. More data you can buffer, the faster the application.

Blu-Ray is only worth pursuing if you've been assimilated under the influence of Sony. They've had such problems getting the drives made it hurt their ability to get PS3s made.

I think it's gonna die, just as Sony lost the portable music player and flash storage market because they insisted on lock in.

Like most consumers, I'm not buying either for a long while.

 

[AdamZ]

Thanks guys good info.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Just buy the Dual-layer DVD burner now, and wait for HD vs. Blu-Ray to battle it out. My money.. Er, bet... is on HD winning out. But, this is gonna be VHS vs. Beta all over again. Wait until one emerges as the leader/winner, lest you be left with an expensive, worthless box.

Besides, most people don't exactly need such capabilities quite yet. I have yet to lay eyes on a disc for either. DVD's work just fine for me, thanks...