Whats the best thing to do? (To start backing up DVDs)

[se00ld]

I have a failry high spec computer (recently upgraded). I have been looking at DVD writers for a while. But there is always something newer and better coming out, and I can't decide which to get. I would like to be able to back-up my DVD collection (region 1 and 2 discs) fairly quick and easily. Which drive is the best for the job?

Also I don't have a DVD player in the computer at the moment, is this necessary? Or can the drive read the information, store it on the hard drive then write it to a blank? If so what is the speed difference if any?

I also need to buy another home DVD player (one which can play the backups reliably) has anyone got any suggestions on what I should buy.

one last quiry. When you back-up DVD's to DVD-R is everything copied (DTS format etc)?

A lot of questions from a layman, but please could someone guide me to a decision. Thanks.

[HyperYagami]

Also I don't have a DVD player in the computer at the moment, is this necessary? Or can the drive read the information, store it on the hard drive then write it to a blank? If so what is the speed difference if any?

you have a lot more to learn just by looking at the way you asked that question...

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/5540

[vbl117]

I am not sure . Perhaps he wants to buy a DVD writer and use it to back up data on the hard drive , then he could burn the data with the DVD writer .
But in all cases he should better have a DVD ROM drive .
DVD ROM drives doesn't cost a lot and some are pretty good ( u could go for Toshiba or Lite-On/JLMS for example ) .
Also it would be better to buy a DVD+R/+RW writer or a burner able to burn both DVD-R/DVD-RW and DVD+R/+RW .

Incoming Ricoh DVD+R/+RW burners are able to burn multisession DVD+R ( u'll not use your burner only for movies i assume ) .

DVD players are more and more compatible .

[se00ld]

Well thanks for the links guys. I now realise how much I will have to wise up before I start to dabble. P.S. Movies are my main incentives for buying the drive because I have about 100 DVD's and I lend them out to my mates and they come back in a worse condition than when they went. So it is sort of a failsafe. I will also use it to back up my hard drives as well for 4GB is a lot biger than the 750Mb Zips I'm using at the moment. Thanks again..

[cfitz]

If movies are your main interest, then you should definitely check out http://www.dvdrhelp.com.

cfitz

[BoGMan1a]

I am quite the newbie at this recordable DVD drive stuff, but I have had some pretty gratifying results using DVDShrink, a freeware program that lets you just pull the movie off of a DVD (non-copyrighted, of course ) without all the extraneous stuff. It even lets you re-encode the resulting rip at a lower rate which allows you to fit a longer movie on a single disc (still quite serviceable quality too). Along with my new DRU-500AX and NERO 5.5.10.20, this little program has allowed me to back-up my whole library of DVD's. By the way, I started off with some Khypermedia DVD-R's(25/$49.99) and just today picked up the Fuji DVD+R deal at BestBuy(50/$79). Do yourself a favor and get some quality media, I probably "coastered" the first 3 Khypermedia discs by burning them at their rated 2x before realizing that I had to burn them at 1x for them to even have a chance on my stand-alone players (Apex AD-3201, Go-Video DVR-4100, and Zenith DVC2550). I must say that I have had a much better time using the Fuji DVD+R's at their rated 2.4x though. Anyway, good luck with your foray into the recordable DVD world and do some research on the net to find out what your players will be most compatible with or get the Sony and figure it out later.