A mate has offeref me a brand new sony dru 500ax that came by mistake-they sent two.they are hard to find and support bothminus and plus formats of writing.however,they are also £290.at frst i thought that included discs but it doesnt-just one rewritable dvdr.
so,do i really need both formats as i know you can but the minus only format machines from about£160-but are they as good as the dru?
i need help cos i have to let him know by tonight(sunday)at the latest as he has to arrange the return if i dont want it.
what do i do?
i really want o be backing up my own discs-is there anything you can do with a plus format that you cant with a minus?ima newbie-what is the difference-god,this is difficult!!!!
any advice appreciated guys!!!!!!
coley
dcole@dandtcole.fsnet.co.uk

I guess you missed the sticky "The differences between the various recordable DVD formats".

Anyway, I'm moving this to CoOp.

get it you really need both formats cuz right now nobody knows which format will win they say + will prevail but right now - is winning cuz the media is cheaper

By the time one format wins out over the other (especially in the UK) DVD burners will be quite a bit cheaper. The sony is an awesome burner but if you are able to get a - only burner of a reputable brand then you would be just as well off. I bought a - format burner simply because the price on it was about half that of a sony and by the time one format wins out over the other the sony and it's 4x burns will be slow and I will have paid twice as much for it. I would imagine that even if the - format fades away in the next year or so I would still get my moneys worth out of my dvd burner and be able to pick up a faster + format burner for a lot cheaper then they are right now. Just a thought

i think im gonna leave it as price IS a factor and if speeds get better in line with a price decreaqe,whats 6-12 months?
cheers everyone(though i still reckon ill be kicking myself for not getting it!)

the dru5oo has been sold for around the £200 mark someware, i think it was at mesh com ?

Yeah but for the bare OEM I think. I have heard some people having trouble getting the Sony OEMs up and running.

i believe the probs lie with the dru500-a,this is the new 500 ax but ive passed it up for now-these things HAVE to come down in price!!

The Sony DWU10A is the oem.People have had trouble with its firmware.I have had the 500A since october,and have close to 700 burns on it!I keep reading where people say they HEARD there were troubles with the 500A.Well I can say out of the 9 drives at work,and mine,there have been zero problems.There was a recall of UNSOLD drives,to update the firmware,There was no problem with the drives.I would like to know how many other dvd burners have 700 burns,with a total of 5 coasters!All of those were my fault.

Yes I was refering to the DWU10A and not the DRU500A