Which machines will play 'dvd-ram' disks

richardbees

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I made trhe mistake of buying my first dvd recorder from ebay - having no idea what I was buying. As a result I bought a Panasonic recorder that only recorded on 'dvd-ram' discs.

It's finally bust (hallelujah) and I want to buy a replacement that will also be able to play my library of >40 'dvd-ram' discs - but none ever list these in their playback range.
Here's one on offer on ebay I like, does anyone know if it will play my ram discs?:

Philips DVDR3480 DVD Recorder

Any help will be welcomed!

Richard

 
I would stick with Panasonic, even though one of mine just went wrong!

I'm not up with the current range numbers, but I'm sure someone will come and help us!!

40 RAM disks would have been relatively expensive, I have 5! You don't say if the stuff on the RAM disks is for keeps? I would say get a DVD/HDD recorder (if you haven't a PC to read the RAM disks) so you could copy the RAM's to the new Panasonic's HDD and reburn them to DVD-R. A Panasonic would probably do this without re-encoding so no loss of quality.

You could keep or re-use the RAM disks then, and keep a copy on the HDD? (I'm a bit paranoid about loosing memories at present - I'm going to get another external PC HDD to back up all my home movies to as well!)

(I prefer Panasonic manuals to Sony's!)

I usually ask the questions - so hopefully I haven't got anything wrong! - I'm sure someone will be along soon to back me up or shoot me down!! :D
 
I made trhe mistake of buying my first dvd recorder from ebay - having no idea what I was buying. As a result I bought a Panasonic recorder that only recorded on 'dvd-ram' discs.

It's finally bust (hallelujah) and I want to buy a replacement that will also be able to play my library of >40 'dvd-ram' discs - but none ever list these in their playback range.
Here's one on offer on ebay I like, does anyone know if it will play my ram discs?:

Philips DVDR3480 DVD Recorder

Any help will be welcomed!

Richard


Welcome to the forum Richard.

This unit will neither burn nor play RAM discs.

You will have to look at Panasonic units which can burn and play ALL disc formats ... or Sony units which can at least play your RAM discs.... but not record to them.
 
My experience of Panasonic was not trouble free ( sorry guys, I know a lot of folks here swear by Pana but you have you have to take as you find ). Aside from the freeview issues I used DVD RAM all the time on mine and after 18 months or so ( addmittedly hardish use ) it became temperemental reading RAM discs.
Replaced it with a Sony HDD recorder -- it's in a different league.
I also recently got a Samsung SR270 DVD recorder and that is DVD RAM compatible. The recorded picture quality is also significantly better than the Panasonic. The Samsung SR150 is always being sold off ( new and boxed ) at www.cpc.co.uk for around £75 +VAT.
 
Thanks for your replies and suggestions.....that's everything I wanted to know.

What a great bb!
 
I am not sure why you have amassed so many dvd-ram disks myself

I would probably have dubbed them on a pc using a suitable pioneer dvd burner that can read ram disks , over to the HDD and re-authored a single layer dvdr from the resulting footage

then I would probably have re-used the dvd-ram disks over and over again

so for long term storage I would recommend you get those disks over to sibgle or dual layer dvdr,s , possibly using a panasonic hdd/dvd recorder , or by using a suitably equipped pc
 
ramjet

"I would probably have dubbed them on a pc using a suitable pioneer dvd burner that can read ram disks , over to the HDD and re-authored a single layer dvdr from the resulting footage"

....no doubt you might have done but I haven't got a pioneer wotsit and...what's HDD? The key problem is that, as an absolute novice, it's only recently that I realised how relatively expensive the ram discs were

richard
 
ramjet

"I would probably have dubbed them on a pc using a suitable pioneer dvd burner that can read ram disks , over to the HDD and re-authored a single layer dvdr from the resulting footage"

....no doubt you might have done but I haven't got a pioneer wotsit and...what's HDD? The key problem is that, as an absolute novice, it's only recently that I realised how relatively expensive the ram discs were

richard

my point here is that you obviously have a pc as you are on this forum , and a pc contains a HDD ( Hard Disk Drive ) , and usually they have a dvd reader/writer as well.

a typical pioneer dvd burner for a pc is probably about £20 , and you may already have a suitable burner inside your pc , or you may be able to add one quite cheaply , and you will have a HDD inside the pc , so a few simple pc parts gives you the ability to reauthor your disks on a pc , from ram disks to dvdr disks

a panasonic dvdr recorder that has a HDD inside it may also let you do the same tasks , possibly an ex78

you can check videohelp.com if you want more details , and check places like svp or aria for burners , disks and suchlike

Pioneer DVR-116DBK 20x Internal DVDRW Black Bare Quickcode: #33801 £18.35p from aria would appear to read ram disks
 
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hey thanks ram! yes, I see now how that could work, unfortunately my dell only has a cd drive. Anyway, as they're only films from TV over the last 5 years they'll all be shown again over the next few years!

thanks again
 
well , you can possibly replace the cd writer with a dvd writer , or use an external usb dvd rewriter , as long as it can read a ram disk it should work

but , if you are buying a replacement panasonic unit , then get one with a hdd fitted internally and you can then transfer from dvd-ram to the hdd , then burn back to a cheap dvdr disk and keep these films on a dvdr for say 20p to 50p on average , and re-use the ram disks you have amassed , as mentioned in posts 2 and 3 in the replies there

I use a pc all the time for transferring recordings and making a dvdr , but I have never owned or needed a ram disk as I havent owned a panasonic and never needed them for anything else I have owned

so if you are replacing the broken dvd recorder , a panasonic hdd/dvd recorder would seem to fit your purposes , assuming you have got freeeview in your area
 
I would even say irrespective of the DVDRam issue to definitely go for a DVD Recorder with inbuild hard drive.

The top two makers of DVD Recorders, arguably, are Pioneer and Panasonic, so you will not be doing any problems if you re-buy a new Panasonic.

The reason why DVD Hard Drive recorders are so good is because they make editing out adverts and unwanted segmets so easy. Its also the thing where you can just push record 50 minutes before the program starts and just leave it in the knowlege you can just edit out all that 50 minutes later (yes you can use the timer record, but I am just lazy to do the setup).

With regards to the DVD Ram issue, I myself would just do the PC re-edit.

You can however very easily swap out that CD burner for the Pioneer DVR-116D if you so wished.

Another problem is that DVD-Ram usually records to a different format than the standard Vob files.

Meaning you will need to find a specific converting app to convert it to vob files.

However I am guessing if your PC only currently has a CD Burner in there it is of an extremely low spec, as PC's sold since about 2000 usually come with at the very least DVD-Rom drive. So I do not think possibly your PC would be powerful enough for the conversion process.

Therefore if this turns out to be the case then the DVD-Ram to DVD Recorders Hard Drive then to DVD+R/-R will be your only option.
 
You can however very easily swap out that CD burner for the Pioneer DVR-116D if you so wished.

Please note that the DVR 116D can only read RAMs but not write to them.

Given that RAM write support is only a few pence extra it makes sense if replacing a drive to get one that has RAM support.


To the OP:

The other important parameter is getting a unit that matches the interface of the PC into which it will fit - Serial or Parallel [ SATA or PATA ]

Pioneer drives are known to be the best when using RAM discs - causing the fewest problems.

The big problem with choosing Pioneer drives is that they have several variations of the same model numbers with different variations of disc support.

Some only read RAMs but not write to them so check the specs very carefully.

It is the suffix that matters.
I think you require a unit with a BK suffix [ which doesn't mean black!]

It seems daft having such variation when the additional disc support only costs pennies.



Range HERE
 

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