DVD Burner reccomendation

[gamerscircle]

Hi all -

I am still very new to thie PVR, but having fun. I have been successful in capturing TV programs to my PC using GBPVR.

The files are huge, like 1 hr is almost 3gigs...

So what are my next steps to crunch this down (without loosing a whole lot of quality) and burning to a DVD?

[reboot]

Load up the file in an editor. Nanopeg works, but is tedious, there are others.
Cut out your commercials.
Load the finished (edited) file into the bundled Ulead software, and follow the onscreen instructions.
Author it to your hard drive (this creates the VIDEO_TS folder with the appropriate files in it).
If it's too large to fit on a blank disk, get DVDShrink (it's free).
Load the VIDEO_TS folder, and select Full Backup.
This will shrink it down so it just fits perfectly on a disk.
Burn with the software that came with your burner.

[gamerscircle]

Okay.. sure.. I can do all of that....thanks...

Not for the near final question, which DVD Burner is good out there? I have one, but it is like 3 years old and I paid like $300 for it.

Looking for something that can burn pretty good and that has good support.

Thanks in advance, great support I get from these forums, btw.

[reboot]

Lite-on is very popular. LG and Benq are also reasonable. There are too many others to list.

[ddrawley]

I just bought an NEC ND-3540A. I have had good luck with it so far.
It got good reviews from several sites.
Plextor is hard to go wrong with too, just a lot more expensive.

[herbs]

You cannot go far wrong with the pioneer or NEC dvd writers.

[Vish]

I have been using a NEC ND3520A for a while. I bought it because it was cheap and could write DVDs, but i guess it can do dual-layered and DVD+R or DVD-R...who knew :o

For most my hardware reviews, I like to go to http://www.newegg.com and see what people say about it. Even if I dont buy from newegg, their user reviews are often quite good. So you might want to check out what people say about DVD drives there.

Also, DVD Shrink is a great piece of software. And if you have Nero, you can get Shrink to automatically burn your disc once its done shrinking.

One question I have: Is there an easy way to make a DVD menu and/or separate long shows into chapters...say by commercial breaks or something? I know I would most likely have to set the chapters manually...I haven't really tried, so this could be a stupid question :p

[LilY0da]

For most my hardware reviews, I like to go to http://www.newegg.com and see what people say about it. Even if I dont buy from newegg, their user reviews are often quite good. So you might want to check out what people say about DVD drives there.

About that, be very careful, as there has been countless reports of Newegg pulling out negative reviews of its products. Don't base your decision solely on Newegg reviews. Check out other sites (Tom's hardware comes to my mind, but there may be a ton of others)

[darisb]

I have the NEC ND-3540A also. I haven't used it a great deal, but it works great. It's quiet, the Memorex DVD-R disc that I use work in all stand alone DVD players that I've tried them in, and I have not burned a single coaster yet.

Daris

[kayleigh]

I loaded a Plextor 716A in mine, and I love it. I had a TDK 440N, but it burnt out after 2 years

For editing, I've been using ReJig to demux files and Cuttermaran to edit out commercials. It's the only editor I've found that allows you to cut on non-I frames.