cd-r help

[cdrfreak2003]

Is there a way to make a regular cd burner be able to read DVD's?

[BuddhaTB]

Is there a way to make a regular cd burner be able to read DVD's?

No. The only way a CD-RW drive can read DVD's is if it's a combo CD-RW/DVD drive.

[BuddhaTB]

Here are some reviews on CD-RW/DVD combo drives if you were curious to see how well they perform to other CD-RW drives.

LG GCC-4120B 12/8/32/8 CD-RW/DVD-ROM
LG GCC-4320B 32/10/40/16 CD-RW/DVD-ROM
Plextor PlexCombo PX-320A 20/10/40-12A CD-RW/DVD-ROM
Samsung SM-348B 48/24/48/16 CD-RW/DVD-ROM
Samsung SM-332B 32/10/40/12 CD-RW/DVD-ROM

In addition to CD-RW/DVD combo drives, DVD writers also have the ability to read and write DVD's as well as read and write CD's too. One of these drives is the Sony DRU-500A.

Sony DRU-500A Dual RW DVD±RW Review

[coolestnitish]

By the way what does that software which advertises "Copy any DVD with a CD burner " do? I am sure you all have seen that one. I have never clicked on it. Recently Tech TV said that was the most popular software on the internet .

[cfitz]

By the way what does that software which advertises "Copy any DVD with a CD burner " do?

Relieves you of your hard-earned cash...

Actually these packages are typically, at best, bundles of freeware that you can download yourself from the web. If you are lucky you are paying for someone to have assembled the pieces for you and maybe written a little guide on how to use them. If you are unlucky you are just paying for the privilege of having been spammed. The fact that these things are advertised via spam should speak for itself regarding the worth of these packages.

The software itself, if it works at all, will be software that lets you rip the DVD and convert the resultant files to VCD, SVCD, XVCD, DivX, etc. formats that can be burned on a CD-R (with varying degrees of quality and functionality loss). You still need a DVD-ROM drive to read the DVD in the first place.

Overall, you are better off heading on over to www.vcdhelp.com and educating yourself on the various free and retail software packages that are available.

cfitz

[coolestnitish]

Relieves you of your hard-earned cash...

You are saying it works??

[cfitz]

Relieves you of your hard-earned cash...

You are saying it works??

See my edited post above. I decided to be less of a smart-ass ( ) and actually explain a little about these things, and apparently was in the middle of editing my reply when you posted. Sorry.

cfitz

[coolestnitish]

I know there are many packages available, which as you said have freeware bundled, I happen to have a couple too . Well I was wondering about that spammer company which says "Copy any DVD with a CD-RW drive. I was wondering how that was possible as that would question the need for DVD-ROMs and combo drives. But when I went to the site I found the answer.
The site at the bottom said "All you need is a computer with a CD-R or CD-RW drive, and a DVD drive installed (standard on most computers out today)." Now everything is clear, I knew about the packages but these companies are actually doing false advertising. They are saying copy any dvd using cd-rw drive. That means put the DVD in the burner and it will be copied. Whereas what they are probably doing is ripping the DVD on the hard drive and then converting the ripped files to Mpeg-1 using normal Encoders like TMPGEnc and then burning it as a VCD.
In short, spammers are lying big time

[cfitz]

In short, spammers are lying big time

This is a surprise?

By the way, the implication of "Relieves you of your hard-earned cash..." is that it is a total rip-off, stealing your money without giving you any (significant) value in return. I thought that those who are fluent in English would understand, but there may be a cultural barrier to understanding as well. Anyway, as I mentioned, I thought twice and decided that there could be a lot people reading this forum who would miss the full implication, so I decided to edit my post and explain more clearly.

cfitz

[coolestnitish]

By the way, the implication of "Relieves you of your hard-earned cash..." is that it is a total rip-off, stealing your money without giving you any (significant) value in return.
cfitz

I think I only got a bit of it the first time. lol.

[cdrfreak2003]

What's "firmware"
The only thing you can do is make the speed faster?....
What else can you do?

[BuddhaTB]

What's "firmware"
The only thing you can do is make the speed faster?....
What else can you do?

Firmware is the software that is embedded in a hardware device that allows reading and executing the software, but does not allow modification, e.g., writing or deleting data by an end user. Note 1: An example of firmware is a computer program in a read-only memory (ROM) integrated circuit chip. A hardware configuration is usually used to represent the software. Note 2: Another example of firmware is a program embedded in an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) chip, which program may be modified by special external hardware, but not by an application program. In a simple sense, firmware is the software that programs the hardware and tells it what to do.

Firmware updates usually increase media compatibility and in some cases increases the write/re-write speeds available on a certain drive. For example, The TDK 48x drive comes with 16x re-write when you first purchase it, but with a firmware update from TDK, the drive will now support 24x re-write speeds. Increased drive speeds is not available on all drives and only in a select few.

[cfitz]

What's "firmware"

In the FAQ's forum:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6571

cfitz