DVD-o-philes! Is +R/+RW OR -R/-RW the wave of the future???

[joeybee12]

I had decided to get a DVD recorder, and figured I'd get a -R/-RW since my two older DVD players only support this.

THEN, when I went shopping tonight, the vast majority of recorders were +R/+RW, and even the cheaper ones were only (+)!!!

Does this mean (-) is going the way of BETA video recorders?

Enquiring minds want to know! Thanks!

[Endangered Specie]

1. -R/-RW is still more compatible with older drives

I think they will both stay... sorta like metric and imperial, one will dominate (+), but there will be followers of the other (-)...

Many will burn/read both.

[frylock]

2. you should have bought a combo writer..

I bought the SONY, just in case one format gets phased out.

[tridim]

3. I bought a combo burner too

They're so cheap it's really not worth taking the risk with the separate formats.

[frylock]

5. of course, two weeks after i bought mine..

the faster, external model was selling for about the same price. BASTAGES!!

[Salviati]

4. definately go with a combo burner...

then you can pick up whatever media is cheaper at the time!

[Rosco T.]

6. DVD Recording 101

ok.. here's the skinny.

DISCLAIMER: Worked in video about 15 years. Have three standalone recorders and about 6 burners in various PC's. Over 500 hours of TV
edited/archived to disc. I speak from experience.

DVD-R/-RW is the only APPROVED recordable format (along with DVD-Ram).

www.dvdforum.org is the LICENSING AND STANDARDS BODY that oversees the -R/-RW/-RAM/-VIDEO (ie. pre-recorded) formats. From their front page..

"Please note that the "+RW" format, also known as DVD+RW was neither developed nor approved by the DVD Forum. The approved recordable formats are DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM."

+R/+RW is a 'splinter' format that was devloped by Sony/Philips and others to avoid paying the -R/-RW licensing fees.

THAT BEING SAID. -R/-RW is the MORE COMPATIBLE FORMAT (several tests out there... GOOGLE is your friend). +RW is the LEAST compatible.

The STANDALONE RECORDERS will generally swing only one way (-R/+R). PC based recorders will generally do them ALL.

FOR THE STANDALONE RECORDER: for Ghod's sake, get one WITH A HARDDRIVE. My PERSONAL favorite is the Panasonic E80/E85 (if you can find an E80 somewhere on clearance, it's a steal). You can record, set timers, and edit commercials, et.al ALL ON THE STANDALONE. Then once you get it the way you want (menus, chapters) you can burn multiple copies. Look to spend between $350-$450 (www.pricegrabber.com is your friend also).

FOR A PC RECORDER: Pioneer A08. Period. I've been thru several brands and it's the most reliable, most durable. It will do -R/+R/-RW/+RW/+R-DL (I'll get there in a minute). It will also read DVD-RAM.

second choice (or first if you want to do fancy editing, see below): Panasonic SW-9572-CYY (<< CYY IMPORTANT) aka. LF-M621, LF-D660. I will do -R/-RW/-RAM in carts (see below).

Advanced topic DVD-RAM: DVD-RAM has been around A WHILE and (contrary to propaganda from the +R/+RW group) is NOT dying off. Think of a DVD-RAM as a 4.7gb Harddrive. The E80/E85 will record directly to RAM, and can HIGHSPEED COPY from RAM<>HARDDRIVE. It's also a 'selectively' erasable format. (for example) You can record four 30 minute programs, copy #1 and #3 from DVD-RAM > PC Harddrive (using the Panasonic drive mentioned above) and then erase JUST those two programs and REUSE the space to record more programs (one long 60 minute if you wish) and the RAM will use it as one seamless chunck of space. Record/Erase about 100,000 times. All (newer) Panasonic players will play RAM, many PC Drives will read/write ram (Pioneer, Iomega, LiteOn).

Advanced topic: +R DL: Dual later recording. a DVD-R blank with the same capacity of a dual layer commerical disc. New, blanks are still expensive, ($8-10 each) but they will come down. The Pioneer A08 will record them. With the proper tools you can make your own backups.

Anything else I can answer?

[joeybee12]

7. Thanks! You know, I read something earlier about +R not being developed

by the "forum" but didn't have a clue as to what the "forum" was! So, it all comes down to money--those cheap bastards not wanting to pay licensing fees!

Thanks for the great info!