Is a Dual-Layer Superdrive really that great?

[eidrunner247]

Sure, it burns twice as much info, which obviously more is better, but for the majority of people, is dual-layer worth it? It seems only the high-end Macs have them (for now at least), for for the average user, how important is it to you?
Even with video stuff, most of it fits on a normal disk. Granted, it would be easier to back up files, but for the majority of people, is it needed? Even long videos it seems tend to stay on one single layer disk (correct?)

 

[generik]

The disgraceful thing is only the highest end Macs have these, but these are very common on PCs.

In fact a desktop can get a dual layer drive for little more than $40, yet Apple sees fit to use this to distinguish their overpriced $2500 workstations.

 

[NJuul]

I seem to remember that the reason the laptops don't have dual layer burners was that there wasn't a thin enough dual layer drive available when they were introduced.

Anyway, dual layer would be great, if only dual layer discs were cheaper. Personally I have never burned a dual layer disc, they are just too expensive, and they have been so since they were first sold.
So in short, don't make dual layer capabilities a buying factor.

 

[dextertangocci]

I was trying to find DL disks the other day for my iMac G5. Not a single shop had them I eventually just bought normal DVD's. I don't think DL DVD's are that great. Most of them can only support 4X or 8X speeds anyway

 

[combatcolin]

DL DVD's have not really caught on.

Unless you have a monstor file that you don't want to split up then a few DVD-R's are cheaper and easier to use.

 

[Magnus Reftel]

Sure, it burns twice as much info, which obviously more is better, but for the majority of people, is dual-layer worth it? It seems only the high-end Macs have them (for now at least), for for the average user, how important is it to you?

Not at all. I've had a DL burner for over a year, I've burned exactly one DL disc - and that was mostly for testing it =)
The only real use I can think of is for making backups of other DL discs, and I don't think most people have a strong need for that.

 

[w_parietti22]

I seem to remember that the reason the laptops don't have dual layer burners was that there wasn't a thin enough dual layer drive available when they were introduced.

For the 15" MBP and MB. This is because in the 15" the optical drive has to go underneath the trackpad and keyboard. Therefore, a slimmer drive is used so that the 15" is 1" thin. Currently the highest end slimmer drive is a 4x SL (for now). In the 17" MBP there is enough space for the optical drive so it doesnt have to go underneath the keyboard. That means that the thicker drive can be used. (an 8x DL)

If you were ever wondering why in the 15" the optical drive slot is centered on the case and on the 17" the optical drive in along the top of the case this is the reason.

 

[xfiftyfour]

DL DVD's have not really caught on.

Unless you have a monstor file that you don't want to split up then a few DVD-R's are cheaper and easier to use.

in our house, as well as among our friends, DL DVD's are actually very popular, because we burn so many movies.

to the OP: a DL Superdrive isn't very important to me in a laptop. We have an external one as well as one in our pc desktop, and I can't really think of a reason to necessitate the ability to burn a DL disk when on the go. That said, I do agree with the argument that it seems a bit ridiculous of Apple to make them exclusive to high-end, when they're relatively cheap to come by these days.

For the 15" MBP and MB. This is because in the 15" the optical drive has to go underneath the trackpad and keyboard. Therefore, a slimmer drive is used so that the 15" is 1" thin. Currently the highest end slimmer drive is a 4x SL (for now). In the 17" MBP there is enough space for the optical drive so it doesnt have to go underneath the keyboard. That means that the thicker drive can be used. (an 8x DL)

I don't know about the MB, but 15" MBP should certainly fit the DL considering the last revision 15" PB had one...

 

[Kace]

in our house, as well as among our friends, DL DVD's are actually very popular, because we burn so many movies.

to the OP: a DL Superdrive isn't very important to me in a laptop. We have an external one as well as one in our pc desktop, and I can't really think of a reason to necessitate the ability to burn a DL disk when on the go. That said, I do agree with the argument that it seems a bit ridiculous of Apple to make them exclusive to high-end, when they're relatively cheap to come by these days.



I don't know about the MB, but 15" MBP should certainly fit the DL considering the last revision 15" PB had one...

last rev powerbooks had them as they used a slightly narrower/smaller trackpad.

anyway. i use DL discs too, but as they are considerably more expensive, i only use em for movie projects.

 

[xfiftyfour]

last rev powerbooks had them as they used a slightly narrower/smaller trackpad.

ah.. that makes sense. i wonder, though, how many users would have preferred a DL in the 15" MBP as opposed to the bigger trackpad..

 

[Mord]

nothing to do with the trackpad, it's the thickness, the 15" mbp is 1" thick, the 17" can fit one as it is not under the keyboard.

 

[w_parietti22]

nothing to do with the trackpad, it's the thickness, the 15" mbp is 1" thick, the 17" can fit one as it is not under the keyboard.

Exactly. As you can see in this picture the optical drive has to go underneath the keyboard and trackpad.


But the trackpad is not the issue. As you can see in this picture the battery is just hair slimmer than the MBP.


You can also see in this picture that the battery itself does not go underneath the keyboard.

 

[dextertangocci]

I don't know about the MB, but 15" MBP should certainly fit the DL considering the last revision 15" PB had one...

You must remember that the 15" MBP is thinner than the 15" PB, and a thinner superdrive for the MBP was not available at the time of manufacture. The 17" model could fit one in, because even though it is the same thickness as the 15" MBP, the 17" model has more volume inside

 

[nutmac]

The main reason is high cost of blank DVD+R DL media, which costs between $1.75 to $4 each. In comparison, blank DVD-/+R costs well under $1 each, typically in the range of $0.30 to $0.60 each.

I suppose if one is into pirating movies, DVD DL is worth the extra cost, but the added expenses often do not justify higher cost. Not many of us have the need to burn home movies with contents longer than an hour.

 

[OldCorpse]

FWIW, I have a lot of use for DL discs... I just finished editing my video project, came in at 140 min. and I wanted to fit it all on one disc, people don't like to switch discs while watching movies. Since I had to do many different versions (PAL, NTSC, with subtitles and without subtitles), I've been burning a ton of discs. Yes, they are expensive, but you can get them online, as cheaply as $1.50 each... watch for sales on meritline.com.

Since I'm on a G4 iBook, I had to buy an external DVD burner, which I did (OWC). I'm not sure I'd have a huge need for a DL burner in a laptop, since if I'm burning many discs in a row, I think an external burner is less fragile. I've also burned a few data DL discs. Bottom line, yes, people definitely find use for DL discs, especially those working with video/film, but the utility of that in a laptop is a different issue. YMMV.

 

[celebrian23]

Expense is the main issue. I don't burn anything important enough that I hate to split it over 2 DVDs. DL discs are just more expensive when I could buy 2 (well more than 2) for a lot cheaper than 1 DL disc. A computer's superdrive really isn't the greatest if you're a hardcore burner anyways- you should have an external. I've found 9/10 times 4.7GB is more than adequate for space.

 

[Squareball]

Here is what I do

Load up my netflix queue with TV show seasons I want to see.
I have the 4 disc plan
I get in 4 discs, I rip the DVDs to the computer (the dvds seem to all be dual layer these days)
I burn them to dual layer dvds and I ship back the dvds.

I have almost cleared my queue of over 100 DVDs (of course I don't burn ALL of them to DVD just some)

This is great if you don't want to hook up your comptuer to the TV to watch and you don't have any other means to get it on the TV.

Dual layer has been soooo worth it for me this summer.

 

[zap2]

How can you say only high end Macs have it? My Mac Mini has it, as do iMac, both which are ''consumer" Macs. If you talking about laptop, well few people need them in laptop(the 15'' MBP should have them , and i would think they soon will) but the MacBook are fine with out it

 

[Electro Funk]

The disgraceful thing is only the highest end Macs have these, but these are very common on PCs.

In fact a desktop can get a dual layer drive for little more than $40, yet Apple sees fit to use this to distinguish their overpriced $2500 workstations.

oh really my consumer iMac core duo has one... it is hardly a pro machine...

 

[w_parietti22]

Here is what I do

Load up my netflix queue with TV show seasons I want to see.
I have the 4 disc plan
I get in 4 discs, I rip the DVDs to the computer (the dvds seem to all be dual layer these days)
I burn them to dual layer dvds and I ship back the dvds.

I have almost cleared my queue of over 100 DVDs (of course I don't burn ALL of them to DVD just some)

This is great if you don't want to hook up your comptuer to the TV to watch and you don't have any other means to get it on the TV.

Dual layer has been soooo worth it for me this summer.

Yeah... thats just kind of illegal.

 

[trishw2006]

Ok so this might sound illegal or whatever but its a legitiment question because a lot of people do it. Can you copy DVD's onto a single layer DVD? or would you have to split it up onto like two DVD's?

 

[w_parietti22]

Ok so this might sound illegal or whatever but its a legitiment question because a lot of people do it. Can you copy DVD's onto a single layer DVD? or would you have to split it up onto like two DVD's?

Copying a DVD that you own is not illegal as long as your not selling it. (I think) Yes, you could do that but you would have to reduce the quality.

 

[GFLPraxis]

The disgraceful thing is only the highest end Macs have these, but these are very common on PCs.

In fact a desktop can get a dual layer drive for little more than $40, yet Apple sees fit to use this to distinguish their overpriced $2500 workstations.

What are you talking about? The high end Mac Mini has one. The standard iMac has one. In fact, every system in Apple's lineup has a dual layer Superdrive except the MacBook, a consumer laptop.

Now, I think dual layer disks are great- I see zero disadvantages to them. Takes a tad longer to burn but has double the data on a disk. Beautiful.

However, IIRC iDVD doesn't use it. You can't put four hours of video instead of 2 on a dual layer disk. I don't know why Apple bothers to put dual layer superdrives in consumer products if the consumer software for it doesn't use it.

 

[GFLPraxis]

Copying a DVD that you own is not illegal as long as your not selling it. (I think) Yes, you could do that but you would have to reduce the quality.

It is illegal to copy the DVD if it is encrypted, merely because it is illegal to break encryption.

If the movie is unencrypted or you find a way to rip it without cracking the encryption, then it is a legal backup copy as long as you do not give it to anyone but yourself.

 

[GFLPraxis]

Here is what I do

Load up my netflix queue with TV show seasons I want to see.
I have the 4 disc plan
I get in 4 discs, I rip the DVDs to the computer (the dvds seem to all be dual layer these days)
I burn them to dual layer dvds and I ship back the dvds.

I have almost cleared my queue of over 100 DVDs (of course I don't burn ALL of them to DVD just some)

This is great if you don't want to hook up your comptuer to the TV to watch and you don't have any other means to get it on the TV.

Dual layer has been soooo worth it for me this summer.

Filthy pirate.