Dvd(+/-)rw

[Mist]

Well this is my first post and i'm looking for a little help and chopper always seems like a nice guy so I thought i'd pop over here for a little advice .

Now, I just purchased my first laptop. It has a dvd rewriter in the minus format.

Now i wasn't aware that there were even plus and minus rewriters until now. I always assumed the dash was to connect the two abbreviations

Well the guy at the store said that it would be fine for backing up data but when I went to copy movies (for my personal use of course ) for example, then sometimes my dvd-rw would not be compatible and therefor I wouldn't be able to do the copy. He said that basically at the moment they don't have the facility to offer a plus and minus dvd rewriter.

So what are my options. It's really bugging me?

All the best,
- Dean

 

[exit12]

Hello

This link may give you some useful Info.
http://peripherals.about.com/cs/cddvdcdwriters/a/aa062303a.htm

 

[dethangel]

i have yet to see a +/- dvd rw for a laptop yet, but they do have external ones, thats an option too

 

[Apokalipse]

what is different about them? they said about the price and speed but what is the real difference? is it just the materials used?

 

[ekÆsine]

plus is supposed to be more compatible but i have a dvd minus r/rw pioneer A03 drive.with boh my sony & panasonic home dvd players the movies that i burn work good. if your movies work on the dvd players you use, there is not reason to get plus.

for help with burning movies dvdrhelp.com is a great place. some software you should research are dvddecrypter and clonedvd

http://www.dvdrhelp.com
http://www.elby.ch/en/products/clone_dvd/
http://www.dvddecrypter.com

 

[g5orbust]

Heres some things Ive found on DVD-R/RW versus DVD+R/RW.

DVD-R/RW:
More compatable with set top DVD players. It is an approved DVD spec of the DVD Forum. You are in good shape with a DVD-R/RW burner if you wish to view your burnt DVDs (IE: if they are video). The only disadvantage is that DVD-R/RW has been known to take longer to format than the DVD+R/RW spec, but higher speed DVD-R/RW media and burners has all but made this problem disappear.

DVD+R/RW:
Much less compatable with set top DVD players than DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW is mainly tailored as a gross data holding disk; though it can and is used frequently by users for video purposes. It is only said it is not a great video disk because DVD+R/RW has a higher instence of not playing on DVD set top players than DVD-R/RW. It is the approved media of the DVD Alliance .
An advantage of DVD+R is that the media is a bit cheaper than DVD-R media;
on Newegg.com, I found a 3 pack of Memorex DVD-R media that cost a bit more than a 5 pack of DVD+R media (the DVD+R also have jewel cases).

So, if your laptop has a built in rewritiable drive, I bet it is a DVD-R/RW drive. (Note: Laptop DVD±R/RW drives exist and are wuite common on higher end and media oriented models.) This is good. Be happy with it because it will serve you well in the future should you desire to make DVD movies. Also, I suggest you reconsider buying from that computer store again if the sales people are giving you false information.

 

[newindy4130]

sony has a externel................

 

[ekÆsine]

g5orbust i think i read somewhere on dvdrhelp.com that it is the exact opposite of what you just said. plus burners are supposed to be more compatible with home dvd players AND they are more expensive than minus media. can anyone set it straight for me?

 

[g5orbust]

g5orbust i think i read somewhere on dvdrhelp.com that it is the exact opposite of what you just said. plus burners are supposed to be more compatible with home dvd players AND they are more expensive than minus media. can anyone set it straight for me?

Well, the CD Rewritable Media Organization just performed a test of compatability for DVD Media.

DVD-R got 96.74% compatability

DVD+R got 87.32% compatability.

So, for clarification, DVD-R is more compatable.

Heres the link: http://www.cd-rw.org/news/archive/4284.cfm

full article on the test here: http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Art...Headline=DVD Media Format Compatibility Tests