Hey i guys i know this is a very heavily posted topic and i'll try to be brief-

I see many of the people here recommend the pioneer 105/A05- does the lack of + burning mean much- i was thinking of getting the NEC nd1300- because of +/- burning capabilities- and its way cheaper than the sony (at least thats what i've noticed)

Its mainly going to be for playing games, movies & audio on my xbox- and i guess for dvd rips on my dvd players

I would go with a 105 - £145.99 from www.blankdiscshop.co.uk right now. It will cover all your needs listed. The A06/106 is out next month and will essentially be an A05/105 with "+R/RW" support but I'm sure the price will be a lot higher than the current 105 price listed.

The Sony does both but is almost twice the price, if you can find one that is. I've burned several hundered discs on my A05 without a single coaster and I'm very happy with it, the 2X for all 1X discs firmware works great too! :tup:

what kind of computer you have?

I agree with Lazza that it would be good for you to get the 105 nimbles. As mentioned the price tag is quite a bit cheaper (as long as you are using decent quality media you won't miss the + format at all). The 2x4all firmware hack is awesome and will allow you to burn cheap 1x media at 2x (It is probably the most comprehensive 2x4all firmware out there but of course it only works on the Pioneer/Cendyne 105/A05). The Philips and Thomson XBOX DVD drives like both DVD-R and DVD+R but the Samsung can be picky with DVD+R and most will recommend going with DVD-R with a Samsung. So DVD-R will work just as well as DVD+R on the Philips and Thomson XBOX DVD drives and DVD-R will actually work better if you have a Samsung drive. I hope this helps.

Thanks jesterace- i actually have a samsung drive on my xbox- so i think i'll take your advice-

handyguy- its an athlon 2200xp machine- with an asus a7v333 mobo

How long do you guys think it'll be before the 106/A06 comes out? i may sit tight till then and get an a05/105.

Other than the pickiness of dvd players/ consoles and writer you can use is there anything inherently different between the two dvd formats- e.g. does either hold more data etc?

A06/106 is due for release the middle of June 2003.

True but I don't see Pioneer jumping on giving the 106/A06 the option to burn 1x discs at 2x and I would imagine it would be a while longer to hack the bios and get a hacked firmware option that is as stable as the 2x4all firmware hack is for the 105/A05. BTW can anyone confirm if the 106/A06 is supposed to be dual format or not. I heard a rumor on another site that this was supposed to be the case but I wasn't sure since it seems kind of odd for such a staunch supporter of the - format to suddenly make a drive that supports both.

Yep it is dual format m8. See:- http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-1007520.html?tag=fd_top

Thanks again Lazza. I'm still holding on to my Cendyne105 though (can't beat the $180 price tag or the 2x4all firmware hack *heh heh*)