Great Scott

Going to upgrade the DVD/CDRW drive on my laptop with a DVDR/RW drive. This will now be my first experience with recordable DVD. The question now is what to get, a plus or a minus drive? Does either one have worse compatibility issues or is either one a more accepted format. Is one in danger of becoming obsolete? The only thing I have heard is that the minus is better for documents? Well I don't think I shall ever have that many documents that I'd need more than a CD or 2, so that should not be a factor. Just for movies and backups I suppose. Any opinions?

MahlerIsGod

Why limit yourself when you can do both and quite cheaply.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...=BROWSE&depa=1

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gowingnut007

are there any advantages of one format over the other?

charliex

dvd-r tends to be more compatible with dvd players etc higher reliabilty

dvd+R can hold more data but its not generally made available to consumers

Silvy

I know there are many DVD drives that will write both, but I'm not sure they are manufactured in laptop sizes though.

the plus/minus issue is mainly focussed on compatibility with other drives (mainly stand-alone). Some stand-alones will only read minus, others will only read plus.
If possible I would go for a drive that can write both, that way you could easily try which format works for you.

edited for readability

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MahlerIsGod

My bad. I just kind've glossed over the whole "lap-top" part. Silvy are correct are correct on all counts.

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"But a work of art is a conscious human effort that has to do with communication. It is that or its nothing. When an accident is applauded as a work of art, when a cult grows up around the deliciousness of inadvertent beauty, we are in the presence of the greatest decadence the West has known in its history."

brandon11983

Either side will tell you that their format is more compatible. I work in a consumer electronics store. Philips is a supporter of the Plus format and they say that Plus is the most compatible. Pioneer is a supporter of the Minus format, they say Minus is more compatible. The dual format drives are cool, and your best bet all around.

If you don't want to go the dual format route, look at what your other DVD players or drives support and go that route.

How do you come to this conclusion? Both sides will tell you they are the most compatible. What do you mean by DVD+R being able to hold more data? Double layered discs, maybe? I have yet to see any, doesn't mean they aren't out there by any means, though. And I have no idea what you are talking about when you say that DVD+R is generally not made available to consumers.... You can go to any Best Buy, Staples, etc and pick up drives or media.

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charliex

brandon11983: simply because of the methods used to burn the data, one allows the disk to be burnt to the inner tracks, thus allows more data to be burnt.
oops a sentence disappeared there. they often limit the tracks in the firmware for consumer hardware to make it hard for them to do bit copies.

I meant the more data part isn't made available to consumers, obviously DVD+R is readily available.

I came to the conclusion DVD-R is a more compatible format purely by researching field tests and the method it uses to actually burn the data, thats the whole point, not by listening to OEMS or best buy/staples etc. Current figures suggest DVD-R in the lead by about 10-15% market penetration wise.


Of course on top of that theres DVD-R(A) and DVD-R(G) A was typically used for mastering and authoring, and thats the one generally accepted when doing submissions for CMF processes, G's use a different wavelength and better (cheaper) for general purpose use.

Also DVD+R/RW is not an approved format by the DVD Forum, which does have some effect on the industry for major leaguers, but not for a lot of the smaller houses.

Sunrise

Get one that does both.
Pioneer dvd burners are the best.

Scorpion23

I would have to agree with charliex.
I had to do some research on this for work because they wanted to start making instructional DVD's. From what I saw about 60-65% of standalone DVD players support the DVD-R format, with pretty much all of the newer one's supporting it. The DVD+R was around 40% on compatability.

It really depends on the end use of the disc you burn.

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Atomsk

i think the only advantage is market penetration right now. although i heard if your copying games or movies the dvd-r works better. i guess ps2's hate dvd+r's so remember that if thats your goal. i guess dvd+r are good for data storage. basically market penetration is dvd-r nowadays since all apples come with them and so do most pc's you'll buy nowadays. dvd+r's seem to be catching up though. just get a combo drive and hedge your bets is what i say. combo drives arn't really all that more expensive than single type units it seems nowadays.

sailor

I guess it depends on what you are doing with it. If you are backing up data for your own purposes, I guess it doesnt matter. If you are making movies, get the most supported format (-R I believe).

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blockmaan2000

Biggest difference is - is a one time thing. +'s you can have multiple sessions. Get a burner that does both. That way you can have either media, whichever is cheaper.


block