Today I bought a DVD writer. One of those devices you plug into the USB port on your computer and hey presto you can make DVD movies.
There is no way I am ever taking the cover off a PC to install a device inside again. If it doesn't work via the USB port then I am not buying it.
So, I went up to my local computer superstore, conveniently located about a mile from where I live, and wandered up and down the aisles until I spotted the selection they had.
They had a fair few to choose from to be fair, most though were the internal type. As I said, I'm not doing that ever again.
So I picked one and went to the DVD discs section to buy some blank discs.
Dull aside:
Many years ago when I worked for a multimedia company, I actually sat down and read through the various format specification documents for what were known then as the Red Book (official specification for audio CDs), the White Book (official specification for video CDs), the Orange Book (official specification for so-called rainbow format or mixed mode CDs). It was a blast. One point I took from the exercise. If the format is optical, as all CDs and DVDs are then you always spell the media as disc (with a c) whereas if it's magnetic, such as the media inside a hard drive or inside a floppy drive, then you spell the media as disk (with a k at the end).
I digress.
I stood there looking at the vast array of discs on sale. DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RAM and so on. Then they have each in single layer and dual layer, others in 4x compatible with others in 8x and 16x compatible write capability.
Sheesh.
Where do you start?
I wanted to buy a disc that I could burn a movie onto that would then work in my Sony DVD player. It's an old DVD player and won't read re-writable discs or CD-audio tracks burned onto CD-R discs so it's a bit old on the inside.
Thank goodness the good people at Memorex had a handy little guide on the side of their pack. I bought DVD-R.
Unfortunately the Memorex discs, despite my new feeling of goodwill towards that company, only came in packs of 50. I thought "what if it doesn't work, what will I do with 49 useless discs?" so I bought 10 Panasonic discs.
I bought the lot and got a great deal. I am willing to make a recommendation if anyone is interested (and not scarred by my lack of follow-up re the shaving a few weeks ago.. bear with me)
I got home, installed the thing, burned the file on to disc and voilá. Worked perfectly first time.
So the point of this rambling text. It's easy to buy the drive. It's hard to choose a blank disc with so many formats. DVD media manufacturers of the world. Get together and sort this out quickly please.
Now where are those CHiPs tapes so I can start encoding them too?
Btw that was a joke. For now.
There is no way I am ever taking the cover off a PC to install a device inside again. If it doesn't work via the USB port then I am not buying it.
So, I went up to my local computer superstore, conveniently located about a mile from where I live, and wandered up and down the aisles until I spotted the selection they had.
They had a fair few to choose from to be fair, most though were the internal type. As I said, I'm not doing that ever again.
So I picked one and went to the DVD discs section to buy some blank discs.
Dull aside:
Many years ago when I worked for a multimedia company, I actually sat down and read through the various format specification documents for what were known then as the Red Book (official specification for audio CDs), the White Book (official specification for video CDs), the Orange Book (official specification for so-called rainbow format or mixed mode CDs). It was a blast. One point I took from the exercise. If the format is optical, as all CDs and DVDs are then you always spell the media as disc (with a c) whereas if it's magnetic, such as the media inside a hard drive or inside a floppy drive, then you spell the media as disk (with a k at the end).
I digress.
I stood there looking at the vast array of discs on sale. DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RAM and so on. Then they have each in single layer and dual layer, others in 4x compatible with others in 8x and 16x compatible write capability.
Sheesh.
Where do you start?
I wanted to buy a disc that I could burn a movie onto that would then work in my Sony DVD player. It's an old DVD player and won't read re-writable discs or CD-audio tracks burned onto CD-R discs so it's a bit old on the inside.
Thank goodness the good people at Memorex had a handy little guide on the side of their pack. I bought DVD-R.
Unfortunately the Memorex discs, despite my new feeling of goodwill towards that company, only came in packs of 50. I thought "what if it doesn't work, what will I do with 49 useless discs?" so I bought 10 Panasonic discs.
I bought the lot and got a great deal. I am willing to make a recommendation if anyone is interested (and not scarred by my lack of follow-up re the shaving a few weeks ago.. bear with me)
I got home, installed the thing, burned the file on to disc and voilá. Worked perfectly first time.
So the point of this rambling text. It's easy to buy the drive. It's hard to choose a blank disc with so many formats. DVD media manufacturers of the world. Get together and sort this out quickly please.
Now where are those CHiPs tapes so I can start encoding them too?
Btw that was a joke. For now.
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