As with all high-technology products, the first DVD duplicators ("burners") arrived on the scene with hefty price tags. They were purchased primarily by companies, and the only home users who were early adopters were either wealthy "buyaholics" or audio/video professionals. The a/v pros were creating interactive DVDs for business, storing huge audio and video files, and investigating the various possibilities of the new format. However, as usual with "tech stuff," the prices started an accelerating downward spiral. By 2009, DVD burners were commodity items costing as little as $39, and the format had been expanded to dual-layer (DL) discs that held up to 8.5GB of material-enough for two complete movies with all the navigational aids and extras. The price is so low that most new computers, even those at the entry-level price points ($299-349), have them, and even the budget PCs from two or three years ago have DVD readers, drives that can access written DVDs but not "burn" new ones. Interestingly, though, most people using older computers without DVD recording capabilities continue to think the devices are just for home moviemakers. Not so. Wide variety of uses With a low price and ever-less-costly media (DVD-R discs are routinely under a dollar) there is no reason that everyone shouldn't have a DVD burner. Every business that has multigigabyte databases needs the capability of backing up to DVD, whether it's medical data, inventories, spec sheets, marketing research, employee records or something else. For repetitive back-ups, of course, smart money managers may opt for the slightly more expensive DVD-RW ("RW" stands for "ReWritable") discs, whose cost is offset by the fact they are reusable. Even businesses that use external hard drives for backups-or tape drives, or Internet storage services-find that DVDs are incredibly useful in this regard. Smart businesspeople make sure to have at least one off-site backup, and DVD discs are the obvious choice because of their size, cost, portability and convenience. The advantages are many and the downside is almost non-existent. Perhaps when flash memory in the form of SecureDigital and MemorySticks is 1/10th of today's cost they will be an economical alternative, but for now, DVD is the king of the hill. Great for home, too Today's home users also need the backup capacities offered by DVD, what with the proliferation of low-cost, digital video cameras. Many of the handheld, one-button video cameras are now recording in HD (High Definition), creating files that only 10 years ago would have filled up a user's hard drive in short order. The files are even bigger when they are uncompressed. The mpeg-2 and mpeg-4 formats are smaller than the "raw" video files, which many people are beginning to prefer because of the better resolution. Instead of filling up hard drives, it is cheaper, faster and more organized to store this kind of data on DVDs, whether R-types for single use or RWs for multiple rewrites. Still cameras of the digital variety have evolved, as well, and the size of the files generated by 12 megapixel devices is many times that of older models. What with the proliferation of low- and no-cost photo cataloging software, from the Macintosh's bundled iPhoto to freebies from camera makers like Sony and Nikon, more and more people are taking more and more photos all the time. Once again, cost-effective DVD technology rides to the rescue, offering low storage cost per MB, along with durability, transportability and ease of use. Summing it all up You can get a good DVD burner in a broad price range, from under $50 to several hundred, depending on features and capabilities. If you are "technomechanically" inclined, you can save money by buying an internal unit that you install in an open bay in your PC or Mac. Even if you have never done such a thing, if you are comfortable taking apart a toaster or taking the case off an old VHS player to unjam some videotape, you can install a DVD drive. It's just a matter of following the directions and looking at the pictures-really! If you don't think you're up to it, you can pay for installation, or simply add a few bucks to your budget and get an external DVD burner. Most connect via USB, although there are Firewire models and a few other types of connections possible. Modern computers built since about 2004 or so will have no problem recognizing the DVD unit, and if any special drivers are needed they will be on a disc that comes with the product. In fact, the drivers and user manuals, and any bundled software, will most likely be included in the package-on a DVD!
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As with all high-technology products, the first DVD duplicators ("burners") arrived on the scene with hefty price tags. They were purchased primarily by companies, and the only home users who...
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