i know if you want to burn games then the -rw is the way to go. everywhere i read the pioneers are the best and i think the a105 (might not be the name but its very similar if not) and the a104 are the best you can get pretty much. ive got a link to a website a friend of mine bought a toshiba from for $250 if interested i can pm it to ya. said it works fine for xbox, ps2 and movies from what he's used it for so far.
i think the most you can get is the standard 4.whatever discs. usually to get a movie to burn right (one over the 4 gig mark) you have to strip out the extras and menus usually, downsample the audio and have only the movie on the disc.
get the sony DVD+-rw/+-R and you'll cover all the bases as far as format goes. The software you'll get is crap though, MyDVD and some UDF stuff. Just pick up Nero Burning Rom and some dvd descrabling software of the net. You won't be able to copy without the descrambling software anyways. If you're just authoring your own dvds MyDVD pack-in works fine. Also there is no way to make homemade dual layer discs. But there are 2 sided blank media so you can keep it on one physical disc at least.
Brand?
I suggest anything Pioneer, or rebadged Pioneer. DVD-R media over 2x rated speed is too expensive to bother with, so you can do without a 4x DVD-RW burner at the moment. The Pioneer 2x DVR-A04 (or DVR-104 for OEM), or the 4x DVR-A05 (or DVR-105), are what I recommend for good, cheap, & reliable burning. Cendyne sells rebadged Pioneer DVD-RW drives which are usually cheaper than the Pioneer brand, and work just the same. I own a DVR-104.
As for the Sony DVD-RW drive. I heard its OK, but a lot of people have said that drive is incredibly finicky with DVD-R/W media. It may or may not work with the discs you buy, so caveat emptor. All I know is, the Pioneer drive I own has worked with all 3 of the super cheap brands of DVD-Rs I've bought.
Price?
Around $200-$250 depending on where you get it from. I paid $246 for mine.
Sastifaction?
Very satisfied
Software?
Use either Nero or Record Now Max. Both are suitable, but I think Record Now Max does better for both DVD and data burning.
Location Bought?
Bought mine from http://www.esbuy.com . But you can find a Pioneer drive cheaper than that now. If you want a brick and mortar store, Officemax usually sells the cheaper Cendyne rebadged type.
For buying DVD-R media, I suggest http://www.allmediaoutlet.com . They have some nice/cheap Princo brand DVD-Rs which should work for most situations.
One of my good friends has gone through 3 of those Sony burners mentioned above in about 3 months. Not a good buy IMO. The DVD burners are a little too rich for my pocket books still.
So much ****ing semen.
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