>New categories in the Chatter forum... good move.
>
>Anyways, who's got a DVD Burner? Whats the skinny on those? Affordable? Useable? Reliable? Who makes the best, and whats the best value?
>
>I'm thinking about getting one just for back up purposes, is that realistic?

Mike;

Without question this looks interesting. I am looking at this as an electronics engineer so here is my take.


I think this technology is a bit new to know much about it. As an example check out the specs of the Pioneer DVR A03 DVD-R/W Internal EIDE

http://computers.cnet.com/hardware/0-1095-404-6145334.html?tag=st.sh.7375949-311-6145334.dir.productinfo

and compare it to the IBM DVD-RAM / DVD-R 24x/6x/2x Internal EIDE

http://shopper.cnet.com/shopping/resellers/0-7375949-311-7344381-0.html?tag=st.sh.7375949.lst.ml_7344381

What is immediately evident is the lack of standardization in format types and data capacity. This deserves looking into as it might be another Beta vs JVC type fiasco and the consumer gets burnt in the end. Remember even though Sony Beta was better technically, JVC won the battle.

I like new things and often get in on the beginning of things like this but this time I am going to wait a bit longer before I make a decision. Perhaps some of the consumer reports people have done a review?

Tom