1. Im planning to get the new 8x pioneer dvd burner at ebay for about $145.00, an OEM, brand new and no box...any opinions on purchasing an OEM ?
2. Are Pioneer dvd burners also compatible with AMD processors , since the requirements are Pentium processors...debating either to get a medium end AMD pc or PENTIUM pc ...
3. Also want to start to transfer VHS to DVD, any recommendations on device or unit to use such as ADS technologies or DAZZLE products.
Need advice and PC specs for this type of project..
There is nothing wrong with buying an OEM - all you lose is the RETAIL box, a version of Nero, and a blank DVD - its not worth the money to buy the retail version.
As for the PC - I always say stick with Intel and you wont go wrong. If you have problems down the road, you will never know if its the CPU if you buy AMD, you wont ever have to worry if you buy Intel - thats just my opinion - just my two cents.
Never believe all that you read in the papers. Pioneer mention Pentium because it's good for business in that it keeps their Japanese colleagues happy. Penny for penny and pound for pound the AMD Athlon is a far superior processor. By all means take up Mayor's offer if you like but you will be missing the Nero DVD burning software which Pioneer will have found best suited to their kit and this will cost you extra. The dazzle kit has its advantages but the criteria for getting the best quality video into your PC without dropping frames is a large capacity, fast Hard Disk (7200 rpm min with the best seek time available) - a fast processor helps but better to spend your cash on additional memory. My setup is Athlon XP2600+, 1.5 Gb memory, and a dedicated 80Gig 7200 HDD and I capture both Composite/S-VHS through a Leadtek A280 Ultra 128Mb ViVo graphics card. Pulls in 768x576 PAL raw video without droppping a frame.
Cheers
