Topic: DVD recordable newbie questions

[shaggy]

I bot one of these SONY external firewire DVD+/-RW drives and have a few questions:

Which format is the most reliable (+ or -), what are the advantages of one over another?

Freeware suggestions for ripping movie DVDs?

Cheap reliable DVD Rs, which brand and where to buy (retail store)?

I know there is a difference of speed between USB2.0 and iLink (IEEE1394 but) does that limit that speed in which I write?  I ask only b/c on the SONY manual they specify speeds that are different for the same format, the only diffference mentioned is a note of 'high speed' on a write speed of 4X vs 2.4X.  Does thqat mean the 4X is the USB write speed and 2.4X for iLink?

[the yokel]

Which format is the most reliable (+ or -), what are the advantages of one over another?

-R is slightly more likely to play back on a greater # of stand alone dvd players.  +R's are genearlly rated to  burn @ a higher speed than -R.  Meaning it's harder to find 8X DVD-R's apposed to 8X DVD+R's.  They also write @ slightly different speeds.  DVD-R 1X,2X,4X,8X - DVD+R 1X,2.4X,4X,8X,16X, & DL's.  That being said, i've never really had any complaints about either & usually will buy whichever is on sale. 

Freeware suggestions for ripping movie DVDs?

DVD decrypter to rip DVD's:  http://fileforum.betanews.com/sendfile/1011845169/1/SetupDVDDecrypter_3.5.1.0.exe
DVD shrink to copy a DVD-9 to a DVD-5 :  http://dl.euronet-bz.com/dvdshrink/dvdshrink32setup.zip

I know there is a difference of speed between USB2.0 and iLink (IEEE1394 but) does that limit that speed in which I write?  I ask only b/c on the SONY manual they specify speeds that are different for the same format, the only diffference mentioned is a note of 'high speed' on a write speed of 4X vs 2.4X.  Does thqat mean the 4X is the USB write speed and 2.4X for iLink?

??As long as USB 2.0 is enabled (if running XP you'll need SP 1 installed) there shouldn't be enough difference in throughput between them to need to write @ a slower speed.   

A few other sharewares that come in handy for removing coming attractions, screeners, fbi warmings, etc.   they work pretty seamlessly with dvd decrypter & dvd shrink.   You'll need to register to the forum to download dvd stripper.

IFO edit: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd-r_tools/ifoedit.cfm

DVD stripper: http://www.dvdrbase.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9422
DVD stripper tutorial: http://www.mpegit.net/dvdstripper.php

VOBrator:  http://www.videohelp.com/download/vobrator02b.zip

edited to add links