We have had quite a few new users online- New to trading, some older traders, but new to DVD.

SO I compiled a few things.
Consider it a "how to " Welcome Basket.
Although I bet it will be beneficial to more than just new burners!

I think it would be great it some other advice that I might have missed can be tossed in from some of our community, as there are a lot of people who can benefit from this right now.


***
Burning DVD/CD for a beginner can be very stressful and confusing. The DVD or CD burning process are unnecessarily complicate. Below are a few practical and easy tips that will help you in solving common DVD burning and playback problems.

* The Quality does matter.

Do you ever burn a CD that just keep skip songs itself on your cd player, or often your DVD Player won't even read the DVD-R that you just burn? Though there could be other reasons that might caused the DVD burning errors, but always burn DVD-R with good quality bands or buy them from a reliable merchant store.


* Examine every disc before burning.

Every now and then, defective discs can slip through the quality control inspection of even the most reputable manufacturers. Before burning, you might want to examine the underside of each DVD-R media for cracks, scratches, spots and blotches. Physical defects, especially those on the disc’s photosensitive layer, will cause burning errors and playback problems.
* Clean your DVD burner.

Burning DVD-R discs from unclean hardware or media can cause burning errors. Dust the external part of your DVD burner regularly to prevent contaminants from reaching the laser eye. Also handle and store discs with care. Keep them dust-free, and aside from grime or grease that may result in imperfect and unplayable DVD-Rs.
* Choose user-friendly software and hardware.

Think using a professional level of burning software and hardware will also brings your blank DVD-R disc professional playback quality? You may want to rethink on that, look for user-friendly software that you can easily follow through. If your software has a complicated interface, you will easily make mistakes that can interrupt the burning process. Also make sure that both your DVD burner and software have good technical support or warranty services. Then when things go wrong, it always helps to consult with the experts.
* Update software regularly.

Software does have expiration date too. Burning DVD-R errors are sometimes due to software's incompatibility. Most of time, the software designers will release the newer version that you need to check and install them regularly. If you register your burning application and regularly install updates, you could save yourself a lot of unnecessary trouble.
* Focus on one application.

For more efficient DVD burning, you may want to close all other programs, including anti virus software, internet browsers and even your screensavers. The burning process is resource sensitive. If you have other applications running at the same time with the burning application, the procedure may take longer than usual. By over loading your application systems, you also lead yourself open to all possible burning errors.
* Don’t speed up.

Don't rush up the burning process, burn DVD with slower speeds. Doing so will decrease the possibilities of recoding errors. If you’re willing to take few more minutes of waiting, burning at slower speeds can brings you more stable and higher quality DVDRs.
* Label with care.

Believe it or not, how you label your DVDs can also affect their performance. If you are plan to buy a new hardware that can print directly onto blank discs, you may want to choose the following alternatives.
o Write on your disc.

The quickest and easiest way to label your DVDs is to use an oil base marker pen to write, but be sure to write lightly. Sharp writing instruments may scrape through the topmost stratum of the disc and damage the fragile recordable layer underneath it.
o Use stick-up labels.

Make the full, donut-style stickers that cover the entire DVDs. Avoid small piece of stickers (such as mailing labels) which will affect the balance and performance of your DVDs as it spins in your player. Small labels can also easily come loose and damage your player during playback.

DVD burning problems are often the result of a compendium of mistakes, many of which can be avoided using good old common sense. As the above steps mention, if you don’t overlook the obvious, burning can be a really easy and stress-free.




DVD glossary

1. Difference between DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM and other formats.

What format does your burner burn on? DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, or DVD-RAM? [Download DVD-Identifier to Check]

DVD-R Media definition:

A write-once, recordable format. DVD-R drives can write DVD-R discs, which can be written only once, as opposed to a DVD-RW drive, which can write and rewrite to RW media. The authoring use drive (635nm laser) was introduced in 1998 by Pioneer, and the general use format (650nm laser) was authorized in 2000. DVD-R offers a write-once, read-many storage format akin to CD-R and is used to master DVD-Video and DVD-ROM discs.

DVD-RW Media definition:

DVD ReWritable. A rewritable DVD format that is similar to DVD+RW, but its capability to work as a random access device is not as good as +RW. It has a read-write capacity of 4.7 GB.

DVD+R Media definition:

Short for DVD+Recordable, a recordable DVD format similar to CD-R. A DVD+R can only record data once and then the data becomes permanent on the disc. The disc can not be recorded onto a second time. DVD+R and DVD+RW formats are supported by Philips, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha and others.

DVD+RW Media definition:

The DVD plus RW Alliance is a group of companies, including Philips and Sony proposing a standard of recordable and rewritable DVDs

DVD+R DUAL/DOUBLE DL LAYER Media definition:

Double Layer DVD+R media has an amazing 8.5GB of storage capacity. This incredible capacity is enough for up to 4 hours of DVD quality video, 16 hours of VHS quality video or over 120 hours of MP3 audio. Compatible with all current DVD video players and DVD-ROM drives as well as new DVD+R DL drives, the disc is ideal for virtually any business or household application.

Dual-layer DVD-R media offers genuine advantage over the current single layer 4.7GB DVD. The new dual-layer recordable DVD-R disc allows users to read, write or view almost twice the amount of data that is currently possible with the single layer and the advanced technology means that material can be read or recorded on one layer without affecting the other. No need to flip sides or change discs.

DVD-RAM Media definition:

DVD Random Access Memory. A rewritable DVD disc endorsed by Panasonic, Hitachi and Toshiba. It is a cartridge-based, and more recently, bare disc technology for data recording and playback. DVD-RAM bare discs are fragile and do not guarantee data integrity. The first DVD-RAM drives had a capacity of 2.6GB (single sided) or 5.2GB (double sided). DVD-RAM Version 2 discs have double-sided 9.4GB discs. DVD-RAM drives typically read DVD-Video, DVD-ROM and CD media. The current installed base of DVD-ROM drives and DVD-Video players cannot read DVD-RAM media.



Expanded Glossary-Everything you might come across

Matte Finish:

Dull finish on coated surface, which lacks gloss or luster. No fingerprints.

Silver Matte:

Same as Matte Finish - Dull finish on coated surface, which lacks gloss or luster. No fingerprints.

Shiny Silver:

Surface is of a reflective, lustrous white, ductile, malleable metallic element.

Inkjet Printable:

Surface is capable of being printed on using inkjet printers that have the capability to load CD/DVD's.

Thermal Printable:

Surface is capable of being printed using high end Printing Hardware where dots are selectively heated and cooled and impressed on a heat sensitive surface

Hub Printable:

That means you can print all the way to the center hub of the disc and personalize your CD/DVD in a more stylish and unique way!

No Stack Ring:

Always in conjunction with Hub Printable - No stack ring means that the center of the CD/DVD ring is not present, which means you can print all the way to the center. The stacking ring refers to the small ridge around the inner plastic center ring on the disc. Its purpose is to keep the discs slightly separated when stacked on a spindle. If you look at a standard disc, you will see the stacking ring. When a disc is to be hub printable, there is no stacking ring so that the printable surface can be applied all the way to the center hub. Also, for discs that are to be thermal printed, there is an advantage to not having a stacking ring. The stacking ring sticks up and interferes with the thermal printer head. A thermal printer cannot print any closer than 1/4" or so from the stacking ring. When there is no stacking ring there is no restriction on the thermal printing area.


5. What does the DVD Media speeds mean? 4X, 8X, Dual Layer, etc.

This is the speed in which the DVD Media can burn up to. For example 8X media, means it can burn at speeds of 1X, 2X, 4X, to 8X. Dual Layer media are media that can store up to 8.5GB of Data (called DVD9 format), doubling the size of regular DVD5 formats discs.

Curious what Brands peopel prefer?
Check out this recent poll

What DVD media do customers like the most?

Poll Question: Currently I prefer discs from the following manufacturer:

Answers:

Taiyo Yuden (749 votes - 39.82%)

MCC (309 votes - 16.43%)

Ritek (209 votes - 11.11%)

Other (86 votes - 4.57%)

Ricoh (85 votes - 4.52%)

CMC (81 votes - 4.31%)

Maxell (73 votes - 3.88%)

Fuji (63 votes - 3.35%)

Linkyo (59 votes -2.79%)


Brands that were voted most likely to have problems with playback, firmware upgrades or unstable playback

Optodisc (60 votes - 3.19%)

Prodisc (40 votes - 2.13%)

Daxon (26 votes - 1.38%)

Philips (24 votes - 1.28%)

Princo (20 votes - 1.06%)

Prodisc is now sourced from MCC/Verbatim, so they're the same discs now.

We have had quite a few new users online- New to trading, some older traders, but new to DVD.

SO I compiled a few things.
Consider it a "how to " Welcome Basket.
Although I bet it will be beneficial to more than just new burners!

I think it would be great it some other advice that I might have missed can be tossed in from some of our community, as there are a lot of people who can benefit from this right now.


***
Burning DVD/CD for a beginner can be very stressful and confusing. The DVD or CD burning process are unnecessarily complicate. Below are a few practical and easy tips that will help you in solving common DVD burning and playback problems.

* The Quality does matter.

Do you ever burn a CD that just keep skip songs itself on your cd player, or often your DVD Player won't even read the DVD-R that you just burn? Though there could be other reasons that might caused the DVD burning errors, but always burn DVD-R with good quality bands or buy them from a reliable merchant store.


* Examine every disc before burning.

Every now and then, defective discs can slip through the quality control inspection of even the most reputable manufacturers. Before burning, you might want to examine the underside of each DVD-R media for cracks, scratches, spots and blotches. Physical defects, especially those on the disc’s photosensitive layer, will cause burning errors and playback problems.
* Clean your DVD burner.

Burning DVD-R discs from unclean hardware or media can cause burning errors. Dust the external part of your DVD burner regularly to prevent contaminants from reaching the laser eye. Also handle and store discs with care. Keep them dust-free, and aside from grime or grease that may result in imperfect and unplayable DVD-Rs.
* Choose user-friendly software and hardware.

Think using a professional level of burning software and hardware will also brings your blank DVD-R disc professional playback quality? You may want to rethink on that, look for user-friendly software that you can easily follow through. If your software has a complicated interface, you will easily make mistakes that can interrupt the burning process. Also make sure that both your DVD burner and software have good technical support or warranty services. Then when things go wrong, it always helps to consult with the experts.
* Update software regularly.

Software does have expiration date too. Burning DVD-R errors are sometimes due to software's incompatibility. Most of time, the software designers will release the newer version that you need to check and install them regularly. If you register your burning application and regularly install updates, you could save yourself a lot of unnecessary trouble.
* Focus on one application.

For more efficient DVD burning, you may want to close all other programs, including anti virus software, internet browsers and even your screensavers. The burning process is resource sensitive. If you have other applications running at the same time with the burning application, the procedure may take longer than usual. By over loading your application systems, you also lead yourself open to all possible burning errors.
* Don’t speed up.

Don't rush up the burning process, burn DVD with slower speeds. Doing so will decrease the possibilities of recoding errors. If you’re willing to take few more minutes of waiting, burning at slower speeds can brings you more stable and higher quality DVDRs.
* Label with care.

Believe it or not, how you label your DVDs can also affect their performance. If you are plan to buy a new hardware that can print directly onto blank discs, you may want to choose the following alternatives.
o Write on your disc.

The quickest and easiest way to label your DVDs is to use an oil base marker pen to write, but be sure to write lightly. Sharp writing instruments may scrape through the topmost stratum of the disc and damage the fragile recordable layer underneath it.
o Use stick-up labels.

Make the full, donut-style stickers that cover the entire DVDs. Avoid small piece of stickers (such as mailing labels) which will affect the balance and performance of your DVDs as it spins in your player. Small labels can also easily come loose and damage your player during playback.

DVD burning problems are often the result of a compendium of mistakes, many of which can be avoided using good old common sense. As the above steps mention, if you don’t overlook the obvious, burning can be a really easy and stress-free.




DVD glossary

1. Difference between DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM and other formats.

What format does your burner burn on? DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, or DVD-RAM? [Download DVD-Identifier to Check]

DVD-R Media definition:

A write-once, recordable format. DVD-R drives can write DVD-R discs, which can be written only once, as opposed to a DVD-RW drive, which can write and rewrite to RW media. The authoring use drive (635nm laser) was introduced in 1998 by Pioneer, and the general use format (650nm laser) was authorized in 2000. DVD-R offers a write-once, read-many storage format akin to CD-R and is used to master DVD-Video and DVD-ROM discs.

DVD-RW Media definition:

DVD ReWritable. A rewritable DVD format that is similar to DVD+RW, but its capability to work as a random access device is not as good as +RW. It has a read-write capacity of 4.7 GB.

DVD+R Media definition:

Short for DVD+Recordable, a recordable DVD format similar to CD-R. A DVD+R can only record data once and then the data becomes permanent on the disc. The disc can not be recorded onto a second time. DVD+R and DVD+RW formats are supported by Philips, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha and others.

DVD+RW Media definition:

The DVD plus RW Alliance is a group of companies, including Philips and Sony proposing a standard of recordable and rewritable DVDs

DVD+R DUAL/DOUBLE DL LAYER Media definition:

Double Layer DVD+R media has an amazing 8.5GB of storage capacity. This incredible capacity is enough for up to 4 hours of DVD quality video, 16 hours of VHS quality video or over 120 hours of MP3 audio. Compatible with all current DVD video players and DVD-ROM drives as well as new DVD+R DL drives, the disc is ideal for virtually any business or household application.

Dual-layer DVD-R media offers genuine advantage over the current single layer 4.7GB DVD. The new dual-layer recordable DVD-R disc allows users to read, write or view almost twice the amount of data that is currently possible with the single layer and the advanced technology means that material can be read or recorded on one layer without affecting the other. No need to flip sides or change discs.

DVD-RAM Media definition:

DVD Random Access Memory. A rewritable DVD disc endorsed by Panasonic, Hitachi and Toshiba. It is a cartridge-based, and more recently, bare disc technology for data recording and playback. DVD-RAM bare discs are fragile and do not guarantee data integrity. The first DVD-RAM drives had a capacity of 2.6GB (single sided) or 5.2GB (double sided). DVD-RAM Version 2 discs have double-sided 9.4GB discs. DVD-RAM drives typically read DVD-Video, DVD-ROM and CD media. The current installed base of DVD-ROM drives and DVD-Video players cannot read DVD-RAM media.



Expanded Glossary-Everything you might come across

Matte Finish:

Dull finish on coated surface, which lacks gloss or luster. No fingerprints.

Silver Matte:

Same as Matte Finish - Dull finish on coated surface, which lacks gloss or luster. No fingerprints.

Shiny Silver:

Surface is of a reflective, lustrous white, ductile, malleable metallic element.

Inkjet Printable:

Surface is capable of being printed on using inkjet printers that have the capability to load CD/DVD's.

Thermal Printable:

Surface is capable of being printed using high end Printing Hardware where dots are selectively heated and cooled and impressed on a heat sensitive surface

Hub Printable:

That means you can print all the way to the center hub of the disc and personalize your CD/DVD in a more stylish and unique way!

No Stack Ring:

Always in conjunction with Hub Printable - No stack ring means that the center of the CD/DVD ring is not present, which means you can print all the way to the center. The stacking ring refers to the small ridge around the inner plastic center ring on the disc. Its purpose is to keep the discs slightly separated when stacked on a spindle. If you look at a standard disc, you will see the stacking ring. When a disc is to be hub printable, there is no stacking ring so that the printable surface can be applied all the way to the center hub. Also, for discs that are to be thermal printed, there is an advantage to not having a stacking ring. The stacking ring sticks up and interferes with the thermal printer head. A thermal printer cannot print any closer than 1/4" or so from the stacking ring. When there is no stacking ring there is no restriction on the thermal printing area.


5. What does the DVD Media speeds mean? 4X, 8X, Dual Layer, etc.

This is the speed in which the DVD Media can burn up to. For example 8X media, means it can burn at speeds of 1X, 2X, 4X, to 8X. Dual Layer media are media that can store up to 8.5GB of Data (called DVD9 format), doubling the size of regular DVD5 formats discs.

Curious what Brands peopel prefer?
Check out this recent poll

What DVD media do customers like the most?

Poll Question: Currently I prefer discs from the following manufacturer:

Answers:

Taiyo Yuden (749 votes - 39.82%)

MCC (309 votes - 16.43%)

Ritek (209 votes - 11.11%)

Other (86 votes - 4.57%)

Ricoh (85 votes - 4.52%)

CMC (81 votes - 4.31%)

Maxell (73 votes - 3.88%)

Fuji (63 votes - 3.35%)

Linkyo (59 votes -2.79%)


Brands that were voted most likely to have problems with playback, firmware upgrades or unstable playback

Optodisc (60 votes - 3.19%)

Prodisc (40 votes - 2.13%)

Daxon (26 votes - 1.38%)

Philips (24 votes - 1.28%)

Princo (20 votes - 1.06%)



After reading all of this, I rather just copy DVD's REAL TIME once I get my recorder-lol

thanks for posting that. I usualy but Fuju but after reading that I think I will start getting Taiyo Yuden, I read about how good those are.

After reading all of this, I rather just copy DVD's REAL TIME once I get my recorder-lol


burning dvds in real time is a realllll bad choice

1. if u want to trade 3 copies of a 2 hour disc, then u have to burn for 6 hours for 3 discs? VS popping the master disc into a duplicator, wait 8 mins and POP out come the 3 discs--- 6 hours vs 3 minutes

2. if u use a dvd recorder to make a copy of a vhs, EVERY time u play the vhs tape it degrades slightly, NOT A LOT but its like those vhs tapes u get from a rental store that have been watched 100X, they are nowhere near as good as they should be-- vhs degrades over time, i have some vhs tapes from the 80s that are all messed up from time

3. u can buy a cheap dvd recorder from walmart for like $90, and u can get a duplicator a 1 target for only a couple hundred, i have seen them on ebay used for $125 or so

4. if u have a computer u can get cheap dvd burner drives for about $35, and then duplicate on the computer

so its your call, but doing everything real time is a real obstacle

thanks for posting that. I usualy but Fuju but after reading that I think I will start getting Taiyo Yuden, I read about how good those are.

good choice

i have used ty a majority of the time

they cost more, but its not a problem in my book

note that some fuji and some sony are actualy ty as well

but packages on the same store shelf may vary from one to the next, as to manufacture,

After reading all of this, I rather just copy DVD's REAL TIME once I get my recorder-lol


the speed you burn at is totaly up to you

but from my minor experiences, theres no difference in the final result , if you use high quality media

ill run all day long on my 3540 and 3550 nec burners, with 4x and 8x taiyo yuden blanks, and run them at 16x, with no problems

just make sure the firmware is current for the discs you use, and no just becasue you have a new machine, doesnt mean the firmware is correct and current

there is a little messing around on these machines at times, unlike the old vhs machines where you just jam a tape in and press the button

Well - I was going to Sams Club
Getting 100 blank 16dvd fors 41.00 after tax.

SuperMediaStore has TY for about 35.00 PER 100, and most of the time if you buy at least 100 shipping is free, ground shipping.

Right now, they have a Memorial Day special 10 percent off any order.

Either way, my average DVD bill for 200 a month is about 60.00 after shipping.
Which is way cheaper than most stores, for lower quality media.

No tax, usually on internet orders
and their shipping- i always get my stuff within 7 days.

the speed you burn at is totaly up to you

but from my minor experiences, theres no difference in the final result , if you use high quality media

ill run all day long on my 3540 and 3550 nec burners, with 4x and 8x taiyo yuden blanks, and run them at 16x, with no problems

just make sure the firmware is current for the discs you use, and no just becasue you have a new machine, doesnt mean the firmware is correct and current

there is a little messing around on these machines at times, unlike the old vhs machines where you just jam a tape in and press the button



Looks like there should be a Course for DVD Burning-lol

Looks like there should be a Course for DVD Burning-lol

when i first started this mess

i read a lot

i read that equipment and media could make all the difference in end results

i spent the extra funds and went with nec equipment, and used ritek and ty discs for the most part

i learned that my sony vaio computer came with a junk pioneer 107 burner

that also told me that sony wasnt a good burner either, since why wouldnt sony use their own product in their top of the line vaio desktop computer

interesting question i thought

i also found that you keep learning all the time,

thanks for posting that. I usualy but Fuju but after reading that I think I will start getting Taiyo Yuden, I read about how good those are.


Fuji discs typically are Taiyo Yudens. Check the media code on your comp to see.

I have the First season of 8 Simple Rules on VCD. Is there a way I can transfer those episodes to DVD?

Fuji discs typically are Taiyo Yudens. Check the media code on your comp to see.

how do you do that?

DVDInfoPro, or even DVD Decrypter will show you the Manufacturer code.

Fuji discs typically are Taiyo Yudens. Check the media code on your comp to see.

They WERE using TY for alot of their OEM dvd-r and dvd+r , but not much anymore.

How To Identify DVDs...

You start by selecting the drive that is going to be used for disc identification. The 'Drive selection'-box will only list DVD writers since these are the only devices that are capable of reliably returning the information that is required for identification. Each entry in the 'Drive selection'-box consists out of following fields : the drive letter, the drive's manufacturer ID and product ID, and its firmware revision.

At all times the 'Device capability'-indicator will reflect what types of DVDs the selected drive is capable of writing (and thus indentifying). This will most likely be one of combinations below. Note that the suffix DL inidcates double-layer writing capabilities.

After a drive has been selected simply insert a DVD (a DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD+RW, DVD-R or DVD-RW, depending on the capabilities of the selected drive) and press the 'Identify'-button. This will instruct 'DVD Identifier' to retrieve the pre-recorded information from the disc and analyze it.

DVD medium information is reported in the 'Medium'-tabs. The first tab is for reporting DVD+R/+RW info while the other one is used for displaying DVD-R/-RW information. 'DVD Identifier' will automatically switch to the correct tab when you click on the 'Identify'-button.

Both tabs contain identical fields with the only exception that in the case of DVD+R/+RW two extra fields are available : Media Type ID and Product Revision.

The 'Unique disc identifier' defines the disc by combining all relevant parameters for disc identification to form a single parameter that uniquely identifies the disc. It is easier and more efficient to refer to a specific disc by using this 'Unique disc identifier'.

Note that the reported write speeds are always related to the disc's capabilities and not to the drive's capabilities. This is because these write speeds are determined by interpreting the write strategy parameters that are present on the disc. Whether or not you will be able to write a particular disc at the reported speeds depends on the drive's capabilities (which depends on the type of drive and its firmware). If you require to know at which speeds the drive is capable of writing on this disc you should take a look at the 'Drive capabilities'-tab. This tab will be explained in more detail later on.

Also note that the reported blank disc capacity is not related to the disc's content. This field always shows the total amount of sectors present on the disc regardless of anything that might have already been written on the disc. First the capacity is shown as binary GB (1GB = 1024 MB, ...) and is then followed by the decimal GB (1GB = 1000 MB, ...) that is shown between brackets.

All fields are retrieved from the disc except for the 'Manufacturer name'. On start-up a database is loaded that contains a list of manufacturer IDs together with the manufacturer's full name. This information is used to clarify the sometimes cryptic manufacturer IDs : e.g. the manufacturer ID 'MKM' wil also be shown as 'Mitsubishi Kagaku Media'.

This database is kept up-to-date every time an internet version check is performed. You can either allow 'DVD Identifier' to automatically initiate a version check each time on start-up or you can manually perform one whenever you like. Refer to the 'On-line'-menu for more information regarding this feature.
Finally, pressing the 'More info'-button will launch your web browser and you will be redirected to an on-line resource that contains additional information.
When a disc has been identified you can easily copy the disc's information to any application you like. Simply press the 'Clipboard'-button and the information is copied to the clipboard. Once it's on the clipboard you can paste it in any application you like such as Word, Outlook, etc.

Below an example of disc information that has been copied to the clipboard :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD+R:MCC-003-000]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc Type : [DVD+R]
Manufacturer ID : [MCC]
Manufacturer Name : [Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.]
Media Type ID : [003]
Product Revision : [Not Specified]
Disc Application Code : [General Purpose]
Recording Speeds : [1x , 2.4x , 4x , 6x-8x]
Blank Disc Capacity : [2,295,104 Sectors = 4,482.6 MB = 4.38 GB]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[DVD Identifier - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The amount of information that is copied to the clipboard can be selected in the 'Settings'-Menu. By default only the standard medium information as shown above is copied to the clipboard. If desired, you can also copy additional information regarding the disc and drive to the clipboard. Another section of this Help will cover the tabs that report the 'Media code'-block and the 'Drive capabilities' information.

I would like to add some Less technical BUT still important tidbits about trading and burning

1. KNOW WHAT U ARE BURNING! if u get a new set in that is supposed to be CRAPOLA THEATRE disc 1-10, CHECK IT TO BE SURE-- b/c sometimes people get a set (like from collinwood2003) where some of the discs are wrong, EVEN the complete wrong series--- so dont just ASSUME it is all right, TAKE 5 minutes and check the discs first--- NOTHING WORSE than duping 10 sets of a show, and all 10 are all messed up

2. REALIZE that even brand new equipment will be obsolete in a year or so! if u buy a new duper today and its great and 16X and gorgeous--- in a year it will be a dinosaur! last year most people were burning 8X and now its 16X and in a year or so it will be 32 X or whatever

EVEN if it doesnt get outdated that fast, DRIVES go bad, and need to be replaced, sometimes it lasts a year, sometimes 6 months BUT THEY ALL GO BAD IN TIME so be prepared to shell out more $$$ to keep things up and running

3. when u start trading--- REALIZE that NOONE owes u anything, JUST BECAUSE u ask to trade--- does NOT mean that people have to say yes!!! I know a lot of us here get asked A LOT to do trades, and many times the person has NOTHING AT ALL that we want, and more often than not, people get offended when u say No! BUT i am not gonna trade with you, just to be a nice guy! if u have nothing i want or need, its stupid for me to trade with u for a copy of THE SMURFS or DIPSTICK ISLAND just to pacify your end of it

so dont get an attitude b/c someone says no to you, just try to go out and build up your list and ask again when u get new stuff in

just my 2 cents worth!:wave:

A good way to see if you are getting good discs at retail outlets is to see where they are made from. If they are made in Japan they are usually pretty good. You can still find some Maxell, Sony (Yuden +Rs) discs made in Japan out there but you have you look.