DVD-R DL worth waiting for?

[hara-kiri]

Starting to hear talk about the new sony drive that will be able to burn dvd-r dual layers. And manufacturies gearing up dvd-r dl blank discs.
Is it worth holding out for this drive rather then getting a "normal" dvd-r drive?

If it burns at 2.4x (so says the literature) how long will that be on a dvd-r dl?

Any other manufaturies in the process of making these drives (plextor for example)?

I Say plextor cause i paid £200 for my 12x many many years ago and its still going along fine.

Thanks HK

[Jesterrace]

Well first of all the Sony will be DVD+R ONLY for D/L. There is a difference between the - and the +. I would say it is not worth holding out for the first run dual-layered burners. Several reasons for this. 1. At least in the case of the Sony it will be + format only for D/L and I will personally not touch any dual/layered burner that doesn't do DVD-R (tends to be a little more compatible for all applications). 2. The media is going to cost $5-$6 a disc. 3. There will be firmware media issues to be sorted out for at least the first few months 4. The writing time for a full D/L disc will be at least 45 minutes. I guess the point I am trying to make is that dual-layered burners will be worth it but I would wait another year or so before buying into the technology. So it depends on if you want to buy a single layered burner now and get a year or two out of it before upgrading to D/L or just holding out for a year or so and waiting for D/L burners to be faster, cheaper media, technical issues sorted out. In regaurds to Plextor, well I think most will agree that while Plextor produces outstanding CD-RW drives, their DVD-ROM and DVD Burners are overpriced considering thier track record so far. Not saying that the drives are crap but they certainly don't have the versatility that thier CD-RW drives had and are definitely not worth the price.