quick question regarding dvd burners

[tuan209]

i just got the tdk 8x burner. question is should i cancel the order and wait for dual layer dvd burners? i havent kept up w/ comp hardware for awhile then did some reseach, and now im questioning my purchase. wht do the EXPERTS in here think ? :D

[aviationwiz]

I'd keep the drive. Chances are that Dual Layer drives won't be out until around April, with the media maybe in July. At that, it's also going to be VERY expensive.

[burninfool]

IMO dual layer drives won't be out til late '04 or early '05 and the rumor of a firmware update is just that...I would like to be wrong though.

[integspec]

I'd keep the drive. Chances are that Dual Layer drives won't be out until around April, with the media maybe in July. At that, it's also going to be VERY expensive.

Aviationwiz, have you seen any credible press releases from manufacturers? Wonder how the pricing would be?

[Ian]

Aviationwiz, have you seen any credible press releases from manufacturers? Wonder how the pricing would be?

integspec, there hasn't been any concrete info yet. The specs haven't been finalized yet and the best guesstimate Philips has given the industry is april. As far as media pricing goes, you can bet it will not be cheap.

[integspec]

Ian, thanks for the answer. Think I will not hold my breath for the DLDs. Maybe even even if they release the first wave of drives in April, they wouldn't be optimized and it might take until end of the year for this format to get stabilized, speed to go up and prices to come down.

Burninfool, What's this firmware upgrade story? Did anyone speculate that the current DVD writers could be upgraded to read / write Dual Layer Media with firmware hack?

Cheers.

[MonteLDS]

i would say go w/ the 8x drive if you need it, or will use it. and it has some sort of value. Dual Layer is going be a long wait. and won't be worth the price IMHO. Everything that is nice comes at a price.... and Dual Layer will come at that co$t.

don't buy stuff cause everyone has one..

[burninfool]

"Burninfool, What's this firmware upgrade story? Did anyone speculate that the current DVD writers could be upgraded to read / write Dual Layer Media with firmware hack?"

Yeah there are rumors floating around the internet that some drives(Pioneer,BenQ,NuTech) can be made dual layer capable with a firmware update.

[Noua]

The rumour about the BenQ drive has already been clarified with an official statment that the drive is and will not be upgradable with dual layer capability.
Has for the rest, they probably wont be upgradable either, so wait for a dual layer drive...