Finally, I can backup my daughter's favorite videos!
Written: Jul 09 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cheap, easy to install
Cons: Only 2.4X DVD burning, DVD +R discs cost more
The Bottom Line: This is an easy to use burner with +R/RW compatibility and excellent software.
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| cvilly's Full Review: Verbatim (VBTDVRW1A) DVD+RW Burner |
I had been wanting a DVD burner for several months. This all started when my daughter, who is about 3, proceeded to destroy several of her favorite Disney DVDs. At about $30 a pop, this was starting to get expensive. The ones that weren't destroyed were scratched and dirty and would skip often. I thought that a DVD burner was a great solution. I could backup the discs and let her fiddle with the copies. Then a broken disc would cost me $3 instead of $30.
The problem was, DVD burners were expensive. I needed a cheap solution. I was also concerned about format. DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, which one should I choose? Well, I let price dictate that. I found the Verbatim DVD burner for well under $200 and I had a coupon for Staples, so that made the decision easy, DVD+R/RW it would be.
I was worried that the DVD+R format might not play in my DVD players. I have an old first-generation RCA and a new Cyber-Home. I wasn't too concerned about the new one, but would the old one work? I first burned a DVD+RW because it came with the drive. That disc played in the newer Cyber-Home, but not in the RCA, just as I had feared. But I thought that maybe I should try the DVD+R disc (not re-writable) to see if that was the problem. Sure enough, as soon as I used a DVD+R, the disc played fine in both players. Yippee!
So you're probably wondering where to get the software that lets you backup your DVDs. Well, as it turns out, you can find great software to do just that, absolutely free. A great site called Doom9.net has extensive tutorials on backing up DVDs. Go there to figure out how to do it and where to get the software. I use a great program called DVDShrink that lets me compress discs so that they fit on one burnable DVD (burnable DVDs don't hold as much data as DVD-ROMs). Plus, the Verbatim player comes with Ahead's Nero Burner Express. An excellent CD-R and DVD-R burning application.
Overall, I'd say that the product works very well for the price. I haven't had any problems with turning my discs into useless coasters.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 150?
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
cvilly
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Location: California
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 5 members
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