Cheaper is not always better.
Written: Aug 07 '02
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Pros: Easy to setup, use. DVD+RW format highly compatible with existing DVD players.
Cons: DVD+R/W media more expensive than DVD-R/W.
The Bottom Line: DVD+RW is a flexible, recordable DVD format, compatible in most stand-alone DVD players. Look into it, you won't regret it!
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| richlt's Full Review: Hewlett Packard HP DVD 200i (Q2101A#ABA) DVD+RW Bu... |
I began researching a DVD recorder purchase late 2001. At the time I was strictly focused on the DVD-R and DVD-RW units, as the media and drives appeared to be less expensive. I was also led to believe that the DVD-R media would be more compatible with older DVD players. I was wrong.
Last weekend an office supply store had a sale on the HP DVD200i. The price was just below my target for buying a 'name brand' DVD writer. However I was concerned because my 2001 investigations seemed to indicate that there were compatibility issues with DVD+RW and the media was very expensive. Summer 2002 brings a very different story. I found a great website called http://www.dvdplusrw.org that spelled out the many advantages of the DVD+RW format. I didn't realize how flexible this medium is. Plus, a visit to http://www.vcdhelp.com made me see the light. There's not much difference in compatibility for standalone DVD players anymore! In fact my first 'test' DVD played just fine in my 'old' Pioneer DV414 DVD player.
OPERATION. I've seen some gripes about the included software for the HP product line. True, most of it is fluff. If you are interested in using a DVD as a removable hard drive (about 4 and a half gigabytes) the 'DLA' software allows you to incrementally add files to a DVD easily. The MyDVD software did give me some errors with files I thought I had to re-encode to the Mpeg-2 DVD format. However, this evening I learned that all I had to do was import the files as is! I added some DV AVI files I created with a Matrox RT2500 and it had no problem with the separate video and audio files that I use for that capture card. In addition, some highly compressed MPEG1 files also worked fine. There are a few templates to help you make some easy menus for your DVD Video - nothing fancy, but it was very easy to use.
MEDIA. True, you might pay more for the DVD+RW media, but there's not that much of a difference anymore. At a local electronics store I saw DVD+RW blanks for $10. I found a vendor online that sells them for around 5 bucks! DVD-RW can be found for as low as 1 or 2 dollars, but...look into the DVD+RW format anyway. I have no regrets about my purchase; I just hope media prices will drop another dollar or two now that a good DVD+RW drive can be had for $300.
SUPPORT. HP's electronic support is pretty good. I also have a G85 printer so I have used their support email before. I logged into a webpage, identified my product, entered a brief description of a problem, and waited. The next morning I had an email with a complete description of steps required to solve my issue. (I was trying to upgrade the 'firmware' and was having trouble getting it to work. The solution was easy to understand and worked!)
Before betting on the cheap (DVD-R/W) solution, take a closer look...what are you losing by paying less? The DVD200i makes it easy to consider DVD+R/W!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 299
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
richlt
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Member: Richard Thomsen
Reviews written: 50
Trusted by: 11 members
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