I am interested in getting a new DVD burner but I need to know if thier are new ones on the Horizon and if so I want to be able to match it and watch how much I need to go and where I need to go.. Especially if prices are going to drop or not..

Any info would be valuable..

i don't think theres anything new on the horizon, maybe dual layer dvd-r burners but not sure. Most new dvd burners are burning at the maximum speed allowed anyway (16x) for single layer dvds, and the speeds are increasing for dual layer dvd+r's.

If you have a DVD player one for TV's and you put in a Dual Layer DVD+R would it be able to read it? Dual Layer DVD+R's are they special media or would just regular DVD+R's work?

Your standalone dvd player should read dual layer because drives when writing have it set to booktype to dvd-rom...
dual layer holds about approx 2 times the capacity that single layer holds...

There are def new burners on the horizon... I'll post a little post I made in another forum

It would be interesting to see how things pan out. DVD +/- R SL is basically a siiting duck (don't expect to see anything new here). I suspect 8x DVD-RW is going to come soon. The question is, will higher speeds comes, for both + and - RW? We all know the way we saw things happen with CD-RW, where things were static for a while then there was quite a large increase (along with a new kind of CD-RW). Things are diff for +/-RW but it will be interesting to see whether 10, 12x and 16x +/- RW arrive and if they do, how long it takes.

The DL area is another interesting once. Samsung/Toshiba has claimed they may be able to add 5x (I suspect they meant 6x) support the their 552B (and probably 552U). They have already added 4x DL support along with increased +/- RW speed with the 552B.

Meanwhile, the Plextor has added 6x. I suspect it will be possible for all manufacturers to add increased spee although whether they will or not remains to be seen. Of course, a new drive with slightly better components might be better but this is hard to say. What next? 8x? 10x?

And what about DVD-R DL? Will the Samsung get it with firmware? What about the LG and the Philips/Benq? A lot of interesting things to see.

I had been thinking of getting a good DVD burner since I need a DVD reader and had thought even when the price of DVD writers comes down in the future, the difference between the combined price of DVD-rom that I bought and a DVD burner in the future compared to DVD burner now would mean it would be about the same amount I paid. But I am starting to change my mind and may get either a very cheap DVD burner (4x) or just a DVD rom since I think there is still a bit too much to come from DVD burners and it's not clear if we are going to get that with new firmware (which IMHO, is possible but manufacturers don't tend to do it) or we'll have to buy new drives

Nil Einne.....at this point 4x and 8x burners are the same price as 16x burners.....sometimes they are even more expensive because distributors and resellers paid more for them than the current crop of 16x are going for, and they don't want to lose money. you can find top notch 16x burners on newegg for less than $60.

Sorry I didn't explain very well as I mainly discussed this in a different thread.

Firstly I should say, as with a lot of people on this list, I DO NOT LIVE IN THE USA. I did not mention this, but it is always a bad idea to assume someone lives in the USA, or what is applicable in the USA is applicable here.

Also, the 4x reader, as I did say here, IS VERY CHEAP. I did not mention this, but it is about half the price of the next cheapest DVD burner. However, all this is moot as I have now abandoned the idea of getting the 4x burner and am just going to get a DVD-rom

lol...don't you know that like most americans i am an ethnocentic pig-dog? if you don't say where you are from, i will assume usa......