<p>I'm facing a dilemma of whether buying a DVD or CD-ROM drive before I enter college. Burning CD ROM's is probably important for backups and other purposes, but I am not sure about DVD's. Do you get to watch DVD's often in collge and do they have to be played on your computer? Or do you have to burn DVD's instead for backups? </p>
<p>My computer does not have an internal DVD or CD-ROM drive, so I would appreciate any advice on this topic. Thank you in advance!</p>
<p>get a dvd burner, they're cheap enough now that it's worth it, as they can burn cds and dvds</p>
<p>each dvd+rw can backup almost 5gb, or ~9gb for dual layer (as opposed to the 0.7 gb of a CD), so with a dvd burner, full hard drive backups actually become feasible</p>
<p>DVD burners are dirt cheap now so you may as well spring for one. I got one of the best available (Benq DW1640) for $50 Canadian.</p>
<p>Thank you for the replies. It seems like getting a DVD burner is a better option. I currently live in Japan and will move into college in mid-September. Because I think US and Japan use differnet DVD standards, do you think I should buy one in the US rather than in Japan? I know that the read-only DVD's have different standards, but are the DVD's for burning all the same? Thank you again for all the advice!</p>
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I'm facing a dilemma of whether buying a DVD or CD-ROM drive before I enter college. Burning CD ROM's is probably important for backups and other purposes, but I am not sure about DVD's. Do you get to watch DVD's often in collge and do they have to be played on your computer?
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<p>It's up to you if you want to watch DVDs and where you want to watch it. You can play it on a tv if you wished.</p>
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Or do you have to burn DVD's instead for backups?
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<p>Your preference. Of course, a DVD greatly increases the capacity and makes backing up large amounts of data useful.</p>
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My computer does not have an internal DVD or CD-ROM drive, so I would appreciate any advice on this topic. Thank you in advance!
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</p>
<p>
[quote]
Thank you for the replies. It seems like getting a DVD burner is a better option. I currently live in Japan and will move into college in mid-September. Because I think US and Japan use differnet DVD standards, do you think I should buy one in the US rather than in Japan? I know that the read-only DVD's have different standards, but are the DVD's for burning all the same? Thank you again for all the advice!
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<p>I don't know for sure. But it's probably a safe idea to just get it in the US since the price isn't going to be that much different is it? </p>
<p>By the way, your profile says that you're from France... ?</p>
<p>Yes my house is in France, but I am Japanese, so I'm now back in Japan just for the summer. Some complicated story.=)</p>
<p>Safer to buy it in the U.S. I think. You never know what weird differences there are. However, you might not be able to play DVDs from Japan.</p>
<p>There are several DVD systems. Make sure you get an NTSC one from the U.S.</p>
<p>By the way, what type of computer do you have? It must be ancient since nowadays you can't get a computer without it.</p>
<p>Um, most computers don't come standard with DVD burners. The option usually is around 70-100+ dollars. DVD's are going to become obsolete in the near future with the emergence of Blu-Ray, which can hold upwards of 100 GB on a four-layer disc. CD's and DVD's are burned using a red laser, but Blu-Ray uses a blue laser so you obviously won't be able to use your current DVD burner to make Blu-Ray discs.</p>
<p>Both the US and Japan use the NTSC standard. Because of pricing, you're better off buying a DVD burner here in the US than in Japan. You're only problem will be playing back Japanese dvd discs which are Region 2 coded. The US and Canada is Region 1. Your dvd burner will recognize the disc, but your dvd playback software may ask you to select Region 2 before starting the movie...</p>
<p>Any quality computer now comes with a DVD burner. Show me one that doesn't. :P</p>
<p>Also, Blu-Ray isn't coming out for a long time (a couple years probaly). The technology is still being drafted out. Plus, we don't know whether Blu-Ray or HD-DVD (the other standard competing with Blu-Ray) will become the new standard. There's no point in waiting for the "next great technology" because there's always something new in the pipeline. It will be years before consumers can burn Blu-Ray or HD-DVD discs.</p>
<p>Sorry, you are wrong. Blu-Ray discs will be emerging later this year via video (Twentieth Century Fox Entertainment will be releasing movies and television shows), and the PS3 will have a Blu-Ray disc reader in it (which is scheduled to be released towards the end of the year). I don't know who was feeding you this stuff about '06-'07, but it will definitely be emerging within the next 3-4 months. And it is safe to say that Blu-Ray will be the standard as it has higher capacity, better security, and a much larger backing by the major tech companies. Also, a recent poll showed that consumers prefer Blu-Ray over HD DVD.</p>
<p>It will be quite a long time before DVDs become obsolete. Neither Blu-Ray nor HD-DVD has been introduced yet, so it will still be several years before one of the two becomes established among consumers. Add a few more years after that for Blu-Ray/HD-DVD burners to be widely available. Even after that, DVDs still may be around. After all, CDs are technically obsolete, but they're still very popular.</p>
<p>Yes, the US and Japan have different regional settings, but that can be changed (usually it limits the change to like 5 times - check the model). There are also ways around the region settings with the right programs, but you might just want to get the burner in the US.</p>
<p>Well I certainly did not say to wait, but I am suggesting that you be ready for Blu-Ray in the future. A Blu-Ray recorder is being introduced in Japan this year, and they will be introduced in in the U.S. in 2006. So the timeline is this: playable media this year, and recordable media next year. If you need proof then just go to <a href="http://www.blu-ray.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.blu-ray.com</a></p>
<p>"Any quality computer now comes with a DVD burner. Show me one that doesn't. :P"</p>
<p>well some of the really portable/light laptops don't have any optical drives...</p>
<p>but some do. for example, my wonderful 12" powerbook has a dvd burner.</p>
<p>Powerbooks don't originally come with a DVD burner though. It is a seperate option that you have to check.</p>
<p>no there are two types of 12" powerbooks. one has a dvd burner; the other doesn't.</p>
<p>"combo drive" vs. "superdrive"
The superdrive also has a higher processing power, at least for the 15" </p>
<p>The SUPER portable computers only weight like 2.5lbs and don't come with drives.</p>