Simple question really, what discs should I be buying for my DVD re-writer?

It says it supports +R, -R +/-R, +/-RW etc etc.

Which is best? all the non-RW (re-writable i'm guessing) discs seem to be the same capacity and price, I've just been in Tesco and they are 20p a disc at the mo, (5 pack for

Hi

The only diference is compatibility with other machines, such as consumer dvd players.

If you are just backing up data, the I wouldn't worry, but if you are burning your home movies for your mates, for example, then you might run into some problems.

I suggest using -R discs for playback in consumer dvd players.

Hope this helps?

RW allows for Read/Write, R is read-only (more correct would be WORM which is Write Once Read Many times, but that's even more of a mouthfull )

Media won't be + and - at the same time, but many burners these days can cope with all standards so you can chuck in anything that's on that special offer

As Josh says though - it's important to check if your DVD player will play the disc.

My laptot takes +, Eldest Lads takes -, The main commputer takes both..

Hi

I'd suggest buying a small number as a test batch generally and checking each to ensure they've done what you expected.

We had some cheapos that were either faulty or just not very good - i.e. wouldn't replay. That wasted a lot of time and effort before we found out :thumbdwn:

Given the number of discs we use in a month, the extra monthly cost for quality is acceptable IMO, even allowing for making two backups of important stuff,

Might want to take a look here, which seems to answer almost every conceivable question about discs... http://www.cdrfaq.org/

Best

Mo

Hi

I'd suggest buying a small number as a test batch generally and checking each to ensure they've done what you expected.

We had some cheapos that were either faulty or just not very good - i.e. wouldn't replay. That wasted a lot of time and effort before we found out :thumbdwn:

Given the number of discs we use in a month' date=' the extra monthly cost for quality is acceptable IMO, even allowing for making two backups of important stuff,

Might want to take a look here, which seems to answer almost every conceivable question about discs... http://www.cdrfaq.org/

Best

Mo

I find the best way to test a Disc is to hold it up to the light If you can see through it , it's no good .. The laser thing that burns the disc shines straight through....I try and get one's with thickish lables on them to prevent this..It works for me..

Ok, cheers guys, appreciate the advice, I think I probably will buy better quality discs in future, but as I have only just got the DVD writer I thought i'd get some cheapies to play with first, i'll try putting something on them and playing in all the DVD players in the house to see which is most compatible!

No doubt i'll end up using the wrong standard though - guess who bought a Betamax VCR!!

I think you will find that most modern DVD players will play both + and - Some will even play American ones.....It's all down to the channal numbers I think Anyway happy playing

I find the best way to test a Disc is to hold it up to the light If you can see through it , it's no good .. The laser thing that burns the disc shines straight through....I try and get one's with thickish lables on them to prevent this..It works for me..

Coo-er - never heard that one. Mind you. it works with pound notes

Thanks for the heads-up

Mo

...guess who bought a Betamax VCR!!

Saaaah! Tuesday joke! :hilarius: Luv it! Mo

I find the best way to test a Disc is to hold it up to the light If you can see through it , it's no good .. The laser thing that burns the disc shines straight through....I try and get one's with thickish lables on them to prevent this..It works for me..

Is that just true for DVD's or does that apply to CD's too?

Chris

Buy some RW discs so you can try using the burner without ending up with too many coasters

Btw which is the most popular for consumer DVD players + or -, I thought it was - but a friend says its +. To be honest it's the same guy you tried to tell me that a TT came with a 2.2 litre engine, the job I had telling him otherwise

It apply's to CD also. Try it Chris Hold one up to the light , some of them are so thin and transparent you can see straight through them.

Btw which is the most popular for consumer DVD players + or -, I thought it was - but a friend says its +. To be honest it's the same guy you tried to tell me that a TT came with a 2.2 litre engine, the job I had telling him otherwise

http://www.videohelp.com/dvd

The figures have been the same for a while though, so I'm not sure on the accuracy! I originally started out with the + discs as they were cheaper and supposedly better, but now with dual format drives, I just get whichever discs are cheapest

Chris

It apply's to CD also. Try it Chris Hold one up to the light , some of them are so thin and transparent you can see straight through them.

The CD's I use are like that and I've never had a problem with burning them at max speed or getting them to play in even the dodgiest CD player..... Does make working out which side to put face down a bit of a pain though

The DVD's I use all have printable labels on though so I can't tell how thick they are

Chris

http://www.videohelp.com/dvd

The figures have been the same for a while though' date=' so I'm not sure on the accuracy! I originally started out with the + discs as they were cheaper and supposedly better, but now with dual format drives, I just get whichever discs are cheapest

Chris[/quote']

Maybe I should have say which was the original + or -

Maybe I should have say which was the original + or -

DVD-R by the looks of it.....

http://www.proactionmedia.com/dvd_media_formats.htm

Chris

DVD-R by the looks of it.....

http://www.proactionmedia.com/dvd_media_formats.htm

Chris

Just the thing to settle the discussion with my mate

dvd-r's I started off with a drive that would only burn these and since getting a dual format one have stuck with them due to the fact that I have never put one in any machine that hasnt been able to read them.

As for disc quality I would only buy datawrite titaniums now after using them not one single write failure to over 100 of them and they are virtually indestructible under normal usage.

stay away from any silver top discs as they tend to flake away after 6 months to a year - normally while spinning around in a drive too (ohh the mess)

for cheap discs check out www.ukdvdr.com

I like datawrite yellows, as the titaniums are a bit too dark to write legibly on. plus, the yellows look happy

I like datawrite yellows, as the titaniums are a bit too dark to write legibly on. plus, the yellows look happy

you just need a better pen.

I ALWAYS by +r. Not had much luck in the past with -r as they are supposed to be more "sensitive" and prone to write errors (told by someone once) I by in 50spindle for 18p each from www.cdr-media.co.uk but, if you want, you can get -r for 17p each.

This

http://www.btinternet.com/~james_lancaster/whichdvd.HTML

is a very good read on all this DVD recording stuff...