Today's DVD's
1- are not universal if you record on "minus" or "plus" mode and many units throw fits, even then
Another problem, at least with the unit I have, is that if I want to record a program (frex) from 8 to 9 on channel m followed by one from 9 to 10 on channel n onto VHS, it works fine and I get both programs in full (assuming my clock is sufficiently in sync with the clock the station is using). If I try to do the same thing to record to DVD±RW, when it finishes recording the first program instead of changing channels and recording the second program it spends anywhere from about 30 seconds to 2 minutes displaying "Writing to disc . . . " and a status bar and so I miss the beginning of the second program. (Or the end of the first if I try to compensate for that "feature" by setting the first recording to end at 8:58 or 8:59 . . .)
Is that the case with all DVD±R/RW machines, or just the [relatively] cheap one I got in order to have something in place before the end of analog broadcasts?
2- fast-forward and reverse are a mess. They are twichy and over and undershoot like mad.
3- menu navigation is often torment
4- You cannot copy incrementally, onto the end of a segment of DVD that you already recorded some before.
Seems to work OK when I use a DVD±RW disc. Or do you mean that if frex I was masochistic enough to record Part I of "Meteor" one recent Sunday night and then Part II on the same disc the next week when I put the disc in later to watch it the menu would show two separate entries on the disc and playback would stop and go back to the menu at the end of the first part rather than running that whole disaster [of a] movie seamlessly, or what?
5- Very few computers let you use a DVD as an optical mass storage device, even though it is the perfect medium for making your monthly hard-disk backup. They insist it can only be used AS a DVD-video storage device.
What kind of DVD drive do you have on your computer? Mine is a Sony brand (don't recall the model number, but it dates back to 2005 or so) which takes all four types of DVD±R/RWs (as well as CD-R/RWs) and works just fine for recording data, except for using enough resources to slow things down enough to notice when it's burning a disc.
6 - Even with new hacks and machines, there is still collusion between manufacturers and studios, meant to diminish and hinder copying of anything you legitimately own. Yes, there are reasons for this. But clearly the market is not functioning, or some company would simply be selling units that do what the customer wants.
Or maybe it's just that the consumer "wants" something he's not supposed to want . . . :D
_______________________________________________ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
