In a couple days I'll have a Plextor 708A. I'm interested in all the feedback I can get. My main curiosities are:

1. What brand of media do you use? And do you prefer - or + and why?

2. What is the best program to shrink down a 9 GB dvd in it's entirety to put on a 4.7 disc? And does it bypass copy protection?

Answers to these questions and your related feedback would be most appreciated. :)

Hey belthazor,

To answer your questions:

1) I like to use Verbatim, but I have had very good results with TDK as well. I may go and try Memorex as well being their CD-R's have served me quite well.

Do I prefer - or + R? Well depends... From what I know (which is not a whole lot about it :lol:) is that the only main difference between the two formats is the file structure and handling... Obviously the -R is cheaper at this point. So far, I have only been burning with +R's and I have yet to burn a coaster. I too have the 708A... Now if only I can find a whole bunch of 8x +R's that do not cost $5 per 1 DVD - then all will be well! ;) I myself would like to know more about the differences between the formats -/+ R...

2) Take a look at these 2 links...
Part 1: hxxp://www.techimo.com/articles/index.pl?photo=136
Part 2: hxxp://www.techimo.com/articles/index.pl?photo=137

I hope this help you out some. Enjoy the new Plextor! :)

-SlickVic78

Nice article SlickVic78.
Thanks :)

I have a major curiosity about TMPGEnc DVD Author 1.5 Ver1.5.15.49
If it's as good as the other TMPGEnc.

I use DVDShrink and DVD Dycryptor, but prefer DVDShrik. You can re-author with it. I rip with DVDShrink then burn with Nero. A nice site ishttp://www.doom9.org/ It'll take you to a lot of places.


I burned a stack of Memorex 4X +R and had no trouble. I couldn't find any more where I live and so went through a few -R no-names with good results. I'm now moving to -R since they are cheaper and I don't see any difference for my needs.

You will need both TMPGEnc programs unless your movie is already in DVD compatible MPG format.

The best program i have found for shrinking large dvd's to a dvd-r format is DVD Shrink. I'm presently using V3 Beta 5- very stable and prety fast :)

I use -R disks only, i buy cheap bulk spindles of them and don't have any problems with coasters etc. I think i am paying around £25 for 50 dvd-r disks (when i can get them on offer :D ) or around £60 for a hundred at other times- shop around and see what you can find, some places do great deals!

I'm using the NEC ND 1300-A drive with region free bios (rpc-1 patched)- great drive and i believe i first found out about it on this very site :P

So far, it looks like my choice will be DVD Shrink and Nero for backup copies, and TMPEnc and Nero for authoring.
And SlickVic78, my 1st choice would be Verbatim due to all I've heard and their reputation. Finding them at a reasonable price is the obstacle, especially the 8X.

I understand from a friend that - are older than + which cause a price difference. As for quality between the two, I'm not sure. I do understand that since the + is newer, not all DVD players can read them. Of course, that's something to consider. My friend uses DVD Xcopy and I've seen him use it. The menu selection is very simple/basic. If you want more than one backup you have to make it off the original because DVD Xcopy will not make a backup of a backup it created.

DVDShrink beats other software hands down if you want to rip and reencode DVDs. Before the DVDShrink days I had to rip using SmartRIP, and then encode seperatly using mpegrecode. The whole proccess used to take a good 10 hours, not to mention the mess manually editing DVD nfo files, etc. With DVDShrink you stick your disk in the player, and it transcodes it as it is being ripped, giving you a nice 4.3GB folder ready for burning with nero :)

If you want to download DivX's and burn them to DVDs, the easiest option would be to use NeroVision to do it all for you.

As to the best media to use, I would advise you experiment. Buy a few types of disks, and see which work on your intended player. From the ones that do work, go for the cheapest.

There is no difference as such in the proceedure for writing to DVD+/-R(W). I can get DVD-Rs for 45p or so on a good day, but they do not work with my ancient stand-alone player. DVD+RW's cost me £1.25, work perfectly on my player, and have the bonus of being reusable. Other people have players which will read almost anything. Your milage may vary. Buy a few discs, and see what happens.

Besides, if you want to be able to fit the entire DVD without cutting anything out, then DVDXCOPY XPress or Platinum would be the program to use... Although, it isn't free - It costs around $150 buck for Platinum - but you can cut scenes out with ease and it compresses what you want to fit on the CD... So basically, it does most of the work for you, at a price... :lol: From what I hear, a lot of people have been having tons of issues with this program running on their systems... I guess I am one them users who lucked out... :P

I never used DVD Shrink - but have heard many good things about it... That may be the next program of choice if Platinum poops out on me... :lol1:

@belthazor
If you can find Verbatim 8x DVD+R's at a really good price, hit me up with the info please... I'll do the same. ;)

-SlickVic78

DVDXCopyXpress (or the suite-Platinum) is a simple one step, easy approach if you don't do a lot of back ups. I used it until I got a big project of doing a couple dozen. That's when DVDShrink's advantages became apparent. Also one key thing if it's important, DVDXCopy removes the ripped files from the hard disk after it's finished burning. With DVDShrink or DVD Decrytor, you keep the ripped files if you want to use them again. For example, with DVDShrink, you might decided to back up a DVD with a lot of Extra's, a complicated menu, etc. With DVDShrink you could decide later to re-encode the ripped files. You can do it, selecting just the Main Movie. I've had reasons to do this and find it a really simple and quality solution.

This is a good site to check DVD player compatibility
http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdplayers.php

I found this interesting. It's lifted from the dvd forum at cdguides. The link isn't working right now. It's a bit old (references to burn speed), having been posted in Feb, 2003.

The DVD DVD-R/RW and DVD-RAM
standard is made up of over 230 companies. The big names giving it support are:

Hitatchi
Matsushita (Panasonic)
Mitsubishi (Verbatim)
Pioneer
Phillips
Sony
Thomson (RCA)
Time Warner
Toshiba
Victor (JVC)

The +R/RW forum has more supporters which are
more PC oriented. You will notice some of the same names
on both standards.

Phillips
Hewlet-Packard
Sony
Yamaha
Ricoh
Mitsubishi
Thomson (RCA)
Dell
Fujitsu

In North America you tend to find
more PC drives are geared towards DVD+R/RW, while more
standalones are DVD-R because of Panasonic.
DVD-RAM has been around for quite some time. It?s also
very good for Data, but not much more then that. The only
standalone DVD players that support DVD-Ram are made by
Panasonic. If your intrest is STRICTLY data then this is
probably the best format to use currently because of size. A
DVD-Ram disc can be up to 9.4 Gigs on one side while the
other standards can only be up to 4.7 Gigs.

So what are the real world differences between the disk
types? They both write at the same speeds (DVD+RW now
writes at 4x so it has an advantage over DVD-RW which only
does 2x) so for the most part it just comes down to
compatability. Check vcdhelp for player compatability to see
if your player is on the list or not, and which format it
supports. They have a list of pretty much every DVD player
out there. Check out the user comments of others that have
the same player. Sometimes a player may support a format,
but not fully support it so it may have issues. Check it out
here athttp://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdplayers.php Also
please post your comments about your player there and give
back to the community that helped you out. Especially if
your player is new.

Most older players tend to favor the ?R format while more
newer players seem to support both. I haven?t seen to many
standalone players that actually play DVD-RW and DVD+RW.
A lot of players on the VCDHelp site claim to be DVD-RW and
DVD+RW compatible when they really aren?t so be careful
there.

The one advantage that I really like about DVD+RW is the
ability to do packetwriting. What this means is if I am using
DVD-R and DVD+R and I write to it, that?s it I can?t write to
it anymore. If I am using DVD-RW I can format it and write
again, but what if I have one file that I want to change? On
DVD-RW that?s not really possible. I have to format the disk
and reburn all the contents. With DVD+RW I can delete that
one file and add it without formatting.

One other thing to watch for as far as what you buy is the
price of the disks. Currently you can buy ?R blanks in stacks
of 100 for about .60 a disk for cheap disks. The cheapest I
have seen +R discs for is 1.55 a piece for a stack of 100.
DVD-R has been out longer and definitely has a price
advantage at this point, and probably will continue to have
this advantage for quite some time. At this point and time
that is the main reason I would go with ?R over +R.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. :)

And SlickVic78:

I ended up buying a 30ct. Verbatim DataLife DVD+R spindle from Sam's Club. It cost $46 and some odd cents USD. It's only 4X, but that doesn't mean they won't burn @ 8X. That remains to be seen...I'll let you know. But $47 for 30 Verbatim 4X DVD+R is pretty reasonable from what I've seen (about $1.57 ea.). Still, let me know if you see the 8X cheap. :)

I have a Phillips DVD burner, using +disc and use DVDXcopy and have great success with no coasters. :rolleyes:

Good deal, Belthazor. I checked out Staples this a.m. They are getting Equiv. US$56 for 25 Fujifilm. I went back to CompuCentre this a.m. and got 2 more 25 stacks of 4X Aterra for US$28 equiv for 25. Toronto is not the mecca of pc enthusiasts. Montreal is much more advanced. (n'est pas, Bads?) Here, guys we are more concerned about hockey and beer. :)

The 25 Memorex 4X I recently burned cost US Equiv $42 per 25 at Futureshop (Best Buy). Prices are definately dropping like, but in Hockey land it takes longer. :) I'm talking -R, of course.

I haven't looked into it, but I suspect the Plextor 708A might burn 8X -R DVD's with a firmware upgrade.

When I did the firmware upgrade on my 2.4X Sony DRU 500 it burned the Memorex 4X DVD +R's at 4X, but it would not burn other disks at more than 2.4X.

Hey belthazor,

Wow... That isn't bad at all for Verbatim. Looks like I may have to hit up a Sam's Club. :lol:

Thanks for the info! :)

@rikytik
As of right now, there is no firmware upgrade that will bump the burn speed up on -R's to 8x. And as far as I know, I don't think I have seen Plextor giving out a firmware upgrade to increase burn speeds. But if they do, someone please let me know... :D Right now it is up to 1.03.

-SlickVic78

Better late than never, but here's an update on my experience so far.

As for disks, Verbatim Datalife DVD+R 4X do burn @ 8X on my 708A. The bad news is that they won't play on my standalone. So I am now using Datalife DVD-R, which only burn @ 4X but DO play fine on my standalone. The 30 pk. spindle runs about $38. I haven't seen anything that can touch that.

I also experimented with SEVERAL programs and methods. From the feedback posted, no one mentioned one of the proggies I'm using.

Running AnyDVD in the background (for the obvious), I rip using Nero Recode2. The other proggies mentioned above, and at least 2 others that I tried, don't match the encode that Recode gives. The picture is noticeably better than with DVDShrink, for example. I do however choose to do a 2-pass rip for insurance. Only one word of caution: Recode does some of your thinking for you as far as settings. So check them to see what it's omitting. It automatically takes the foreign audio out, and sets the compression individually on each part. Optionally, I've set it to "rip & burn" or I just rip and burn later with Nero.

Again, thanks for all the input, and I recommend the above method.

Belthazor, I t ried your recommendation. Worked perfectly for a complicated movie DVD I was having trouble "shrinking" yet keeping certain features. Looks like this is a winning combo: AnyDVD and Recode2. Thanks for reminding us of this possibility. I've been using DVD Shrink almost exclusively.

@Belthazor: Why not just get RPC firmware for your burner and do away with the need for AnyDVD full stop? There are a few sites out there that provide the software and full details on how to do it- i havent had a problem with any of the dvd burners i have patched :D

Whilst region free patches will will allow you to play disks from any region, it does not remove the encryption/css making them impossible to copy without tools like DVDDecrypter/Smartripper.

I haven't heard of AnyDVD before, just checked out thier site. Seems like a very useful driver, as it decrypts DVDs on the fly, so any program, even "official" software like Nero Recode can read the DVD directly without needing to rip it to the HDD first.

EDIT: Oooh, and it removes PU-OPS on the fly :) So DVD discs can't force me to watch annoying parts :)

I have been using DVD Shrink and burning with Nero. Since Nero came out with Recode though, I have tried it a few times by ripping the DVD with DVD decrypter first but Recode has burned a few coasters for some reason. I don't have any problems burning after using DVDshrink though. But that AnyDVD looks cool. Will try it.

I know, but once the region protection is circumvented you can use any dvd ripper you like :D I hated having to change region codes through windows or using 3rd party applications to get around the restrictions :angry:

PLUS quite a few of the DVD writers around now have media restrictions written into them, ie you can only burn to specific media at a specific speed- the region free patches often remove the restrictions and enable you to burn at the full speed of the media.

DoG, I'll try this, although I wonder how manufacturers feel about altering the firmware while the unit's under warranty.

I did run into a small glitch. Seems there's something going wrong in the burning process. The ripped files play PERFECTLY before they are burned. And the DVD's seem to play fine till about half way through.

But I noticed something strange. Burning with nero, there are 2 time indicators. The one that refers to "Time Remaining" reaches 0:00, but the burning process is only at about 50%. I think this is more than a coincidence.

I'm experimenting some more, including a complete reinstall of Nero. If that doesn't work, I'll try something else for the final burn.

I used always flash my DVD ROMs to region free but AnyDVD makes it all unnecessary. It does, as Zone say, do deCSS on the fly so that any copier can read DVD videos, whether or not they include a deCSS module of their own.

Second, it makes the region problem, in all its guises, go away. It:
a. permits any region coded DVD to be read by any DVD ROM coded with any other region.
b. tricks more sophisticated checks into believing that the region on the disk is the same as the region on the DVD ROM, even when the ROM has been flashed to "region-free"
c. stops Windows running its own checks in software which can result in the software player running out of changes and needing to be fixed or reinstalled.

Have you tried CloneDVD? There are two CloneDVDs, one by Elaborate Bytes which used to produce CloneCD. It's version is 1.3.10.1, I think. This is the one I use and have yet to have a failure with it. The other CloneDVD, a later arrival, is made by DVD X Studio and is 2.1 I think. I have never tried this one so can't comment.

Last, if you've got a transcoded video and are having difficulty burning it, it might be worth trying CopyToDVD which does that job very well.

Hope this is useful.. I'm certainly no expert but I have made and burned many, many DVD videos with, fingers crossed, no coasters yet!!

Can someone explain how to use Nero and burn these files?
I have never used nero before.
I have used DVD Shrink and have the files on HD.

Thanks for any help
user needs

freezer121- I did try the Elby version. It was as good as any, but the results with ANYDVD/Recode/Nero are really good.

user needs, I'll work up a tutorial by tommorow unless someone beats me to it. ;)

And good news. There's nothing wrong with the DVD's I've made (except 3 that I screwed up experimenting). I got a Sony standalone now and everything plays perfectly. :D

AnyDVD cost money this one does not and works with more apps.http://www.afterdawn.com/software/vi...ols/index2.cfm Look for DVD43 this is a freebie that works with more apps.

DVDXCopy 1.5.2 1 Feb 2004

This method will not be fast, but the burnt DVDs will play in any player.

On various forums I have seen a lot of complaining about this program and Platinum.
There also seem to be more install problems with Platinum.
One problem is that these programs have no Burn-Proof protection and have no way to set the burn speed. Also, the native Gear burn engine is not very stable, hogs a lot of memory, and can?t tolerate other activity going on while burning.

I have finally found a way to get good burns every time with DVDXCopy 1.5.2., AND IT WILL LET YOU BURN AS MANY COPIES AS YOU WANT NOW OR LATER.

1-Put source DVD in DVD-rom, open DVDXCOPY, and when ready to copy, click the Advanced Options button. Here you enable ?External Nero program?, then close the advanced options button. Of course, Nero must be installed on your computer.

2-DO NOT have a dvd blank in the burner.

3-Now let DVDXCopy copy the first half split image to the Temp folder, and when this is completed, open up the destination Temp file and copy the DVDXCopy folder to a different drive or folder with a different name, say Folder B

4-Shut down DVDXCopy completely, and start up Nero. If you shut down DVDXCopy before copying the image to folder B, the image is erased as part of the DVDXCopy shut-down procedure.

5-In Nero, set it to DVD mode and click on Nero Express.
Then click on DVD_VIDEO FILES.

6-This opens up the Video Files Screen, which will show 2 files already in the Window. Leave these 2 files, called Videos_TS and Audio_TS in there, and click on ADD button.
This opens ?Select Files and Folders? Window.

7- In the Select Files and Folders window you browse to the Second copy of the ?first half split image?, you copied to folder B. Now open up the DVDXCOPY folder inside, and hi-lite the contents, and then click ADD button in the lower right corner of the Select Files and Folders Window.

8-Then click NEXT, and the Final Burn Settings screen comes up. HERE set the burn speed to the lowest speed your burner will do. I set my Plex 708A to 2.4X. Later on you can up the speed one notch to experiment. I know that the plex never fails at 2.4X with movies and the copies will play on any player. At 8X AND 4X it always burns and the copies work fine on the Computer, but often not on stereo DVD-player.(I regularly copy data and Music at 8X). In the options Screen I verify that Burn-Proof and Overburn are on.

10- Click burn

11-After burn is completed, you can make another copy by repeating the Nero burn steps(5 through 10 above), or you can save the file in folder B for burning another copy later?.or erase it.
12-Once finished with the first half image of the movie, start up DVDXCopy and repeat the whole procedure for the seconf halt image.
Remember that before you start ?tp Copy?, you must open the ?Advanced Options? and click on ?Skip Directly to Disk 2?.

Using this method, shutting down DVDXCopy completely between halves, gets you faster reads for dvd 2, which under the usual method often took 60 to 85 min for the read of the second half compared to 15 min for the first half.
This also works with DVDX?Platinum, but with Platinum there also seems to be more complaints about poor installs, which in turn can lead to several other types of problems resulting in failed burns, or in certain screens not showing up.

Hey moen,

I've been using DVDXCOPY Platinum with no problems (me knocks on wood). What I like so much about Platinum over the DVDXCOPY 1.5.2 is that I can remove all the extra crap that is thrown onto the CD... All I usually care about is the movie itself, the scene selection and subtitles... If I can squeeze the deleted scenes, then they will go on to the DVD as well...

One thing that I did not like is that DVDXCOPY does not give you the ability to hold onto the files to burn another copy... I guess they did this for various reasons, I'm sure... But that is a bummer because I always burn a copy to a DVD/RW to make sure the copy worked (and looks good enough to burn onto a regular DVD/R media).

So, I began doing what you mentioned here... Before I insert a blank DVD (when asked to), I go to the temp folder where all the files were copied to. I copy the contents of that temp folder to a new folder. I then let DVDXCOPY finish up burning the DVD... Of course the original location of the files gets wiped out, but the new folder I created remains. :lol:

So now, if the original copy worked well on the DVD/RW media, I can then use Nero, or any other DVD burning software to burn the backed up files onto another DVD instead of having to go through the entire reading process again. ;)

-SlickVic78

To slick...
I know at least 6 others who have been experimenting with DVDXcopy plat, and all have options that do not work. For example, the Browse option up front., or the option to continue after the first dvd has been made the prog does not let you continue on to the second half. also some other screens are greyed y out.
I haven't even got to the point with Platinum to try to weed out stuff.

What speeds do you usually burn at?
I have not had many problems with plain DVDXCopy 1.5.2, other than having to use lower burn speeds to make sure the DVD will work in all dvd players.

Wha burner are you using?
Have you had both Plain DVDXCopy AND Platinum versions installed onthe same drive at the same time?...I have not and I was wondering whether they might interfere with each other.
I have purchased both programs, so it is not because of bad cracks or serial nos.

@ moen,

Well, some of the features in Platinum are still greyed out because 321studio has not perfected them at their last release - which is 3.2.1. I am sure you are talking about such features as acquiring TDF files from online, or DVD files from online - really not important features to make good backups of your movies. You know that Platinum is really Xpress (but with the ability to remove content from the DVD)... You can tell when you check the content that was copied to your computer, the folder that it all goes to is an Xpress folder... :P

In terms of speed - well, I've burned at all speeds successfully... But to play it on the safe side, I usually burn at 1x, or 2.4x. But like I said, burning at 4x works out just fine for me as well... I have not had the opportunity to try out 8x yet being I have no 8x media...

As for the burner I use, check out my sig. :D I am using the same burner as you - Plextor 708A. I moved up from the Plextor 504A. Both have been great drives for me and I have yet to burn a single coaster. ;)

I too have both DVDXCOPY 1.5.2 and Platinum 3.2.1 - obviously purchased as well. You shouldn't have any issues with having them both installed at the same time because they are installed in seperate directories.

-SlickVic78