On Thu, 2005-07-28 at 22:31 -0500, Paul wrote: > OK same tech as the Panasonic PD drives that stored 650MB/side ... Yes, hence why DVD-RAM support in Linux was almost since day 1. > of course I'm starting to wonder about my memory now. Either way you > can't stick them in a normal DVD drive and read them. Some drives you can, but yes, they are limited to Masushita/Panasonic data drive licenses. A lot of that has to do with the advanced error correction and MO design, things that are _not_ in CD-RW, DVD-RW and DVD +RW. The error rates are much lower in comparison, hence why I still recommend DVD-RAM. FYI, +R/+RW compatibility wasn't very good until recently, especially on consumer players. Yes, better than -RAM, but -RAM was designed for optical archiving and longevity, and it does it well. People forget that +R/+RW/-RW do _not_ physically look like -ROM/-R at all, so there are compatibility issues as well. And yes, -R is the ultimately compatible format when written in Disc-At- Once (DaO) mode, which requires byte-by-byte (character) record. And since DVD-R(G) came out, I adopted it as well. But for prior archiving, as well as some archiving since, DVD-RAM gets the call. I avoid DVD+RW/-RW like I did CD-RW (and CAV/zone-CLV CD-RW, or what I retroactively call CD+RW). The error rates are too high. DVD+R isn't like DVD-R either, so I avoid it, especially with the fact that it wasn't until late 2003 that even Sony/Philips players/licenses weren't always DVD+R compatible. -- Bryan J. Smith b.j.smith@xxxxxxxx --------------------------------------------------------------------- It is mathematically impossible for someone who makes more than you to be anything but richer than you. Any tax rate that penalizes them will also penalize you similarly (to those below you, and then below them). Linear algebra, let alone differential calculus or even ele- mentary concepts of limits, is mutually exclusive with US journalism. So forget even attempting to explain how tax cuts work. ;->