DVD-R/DVD-RW or DVD+RW

Doodee

Wiv all this new techomonology how can some1 really keep up,
Anyways, just wondering which is actually better and if yee know any good places where I can buy one?
Help appreciiated.

Winters

Look on the peats web site: http://www.peats.com for them. They have good prices and you can order them online

Doodee

Peats r spensive for stuff, especially DVD+RW drives.

rymus

Got myself a nice SCSI DVD-RAM drive there a few months ago... great for backing stuff up.. and for other things I shouldnt discuss....

but you didnt ask about dvd-ram so I'll get back into my cave

_CreeD_

DVD+RW is the better choice. It's backed by more OEM's and already has more drives/upcoming drives than the other formats. Also a number of the companies backing it (Sony/Philips etc) have a huge market share in set top DVD players so you're gauranteed better future compatibility.
HP is releasing their 2nd generation drive in early may, supposedly it will handle the new DVD+R disks so it's worth waiting.

www.komplett.ie have decent prices on DVD+RW disks too, but not the drives (Clever....).

Doodee

That Pioneer one on Complete for 517 was the one I was thinking o buying.. is it worf buying atm for the price or will the HP be better, however wouldnt the HP one be a tad more spensive?

pete

I've been using a Pioneer DVR-A03 for a few months now and it's pretty good - it reads & writes DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R & CD-RW disks.

It does everything i need. I can stuff 4.7gb of data on a DVD disk & I can make home made DVD movies that i can watch on all living room players i've tried - that's to say personally I've not run into any problems, as I'm sure neither DVD-R or DVD+R will play on all drives - apart from PS2's, which just won't play recordables on purpose for copy protection purposes.

[opinion]I wouldn't get too hung up on format vs. format - just because DVD+RW has more OEM / companies supporting it doesn't mean that DVD-R disks will suddenly stop working [/opinion]

The only thing I've noticed is that the drive seems to be sensitive to vibrations.. maybe my case is just shaky, I dunno.

_CreeD_

DVD+RW is being pushed a lot more though. As far as I know the Pioneer is the only consumer DVD-R drive available. Whereas there are quite a few +RW drives out already.
Also the first set-top recorder is DVD+RW.

halfab

Have a look at http://www.dvdplusrw.org beforce you part with your moola..

pete

I think panasonic also have a DVD-R drive out & as far as i know Apple went for DVD-R in their high end systems (they used a variation of the pioneer drives, i believe)

Plenty of info on recordable DVD is available here:

http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#4.3

Hope this helps.

Shinji

Go for the Pioneer - either the A03 or the A04 drive. Simple reason; it's fast, reliable, very commonly used, and uses DVD-R/RW... Which works in all modern DVDROM drives. DVD+RW has more compatability issues with DVDROM drives.

Software companies producing DVD masters use the Pioneer AO3. You can't get a stronger recommendation than that.

Doodee

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?action=info&p=22696&t=1226&l=1&AvdID=1&CatID=3&GrpID=6&s=pl

thats the one I was thinking of getting..
it ok?

pete

Yup - I'm pretty pleased with the A03, and that 104 is the latest model I think...

But i'd shop around a bit - that price seems expensive... actually no, now that i look that seems ok - they're stg £318 from http://www.insight.com/uk

_CreeD_

Originally posted by Shinji

Software companies producing DVD masters use the Pioneer AO3. You can't get a stronger recommendation than that.

Wouldn't have anything to do with the Pioneer having been out for over a year and the DVD+RWs for just a few months though....;).

DVD+RW has better error correction/tolerance and slightly faster burn speeds.
As for compatibility issues, they both have them. DVD-R adheres less strictly to the Video DVD standard than DVD+RW. Any incompatibilities at the moment are due to Drive/set top manufacturers not being as stringent as they should have been in testing their drives tolerances. Which means they're more likely to provide DVD+RW compatible drives in the future than focus on DVD-R.
Anyway. The best thing is to look at DVDPLUSRW.ORG, see if your players are on the compatibility list and if they are get one. If they're not then it's a wee bit useless regardless of everythind said so far...

pete

Originally posted by _CreeD_


Wouldn't have anything to do with the Pioneer having been out for over a year and the DVD+RWs for just a few months though....;).

I'm not about to get into a betamax vs VHS, DCC vs minidisc, c64 vs spectrum, atari ST vs amiga style dick measuring contest with you over this, but I believe what you have just referred to is known as having "an established foothold in the market".

Anyway. The best thing is to look at DVDPLUSRW.ORG, see if your players are on the compatibility list and if they are get one. If they're not then it's a wee bit useless regardless of everythind said so far...

Hmm - not entirely sure about referring someone to a site "...dedicated to the DVD+RW and DVD+R format..." for an objective opinion on which is best suited to their needs.

VCDHelp.com has basic info on the different formats at http://www.vcdhelp.com/dvd.htm with a comprehensive list of players giving details of compatability with DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, CD-R & CD-RW (amongst other things) available at http://www.vcdhelp.com/dvdplayers.php

As posted yesterday, the DVD Demystfied FAQ has (non-partisan!) information on all recordable DVD formats available at http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#4.3

edit: This http://www.tech-report.com/reviews/2002q1/dvdrw/index.x?pg=1 also makes an interesting read - it touches on the positives and negatives of both formats This other related article http://www.tech-report.com/onearticle.x/3478 might be worth bearing in mind too - especially if you're only interested in DVD+RW and not DVD+R, and fancy getting a drive for free!

Doodee

I'm considering getting a pioneer A104 drive , its £269STR which is teh best price ive seen so far for the drive.Im not sure but if thet price is vat inclusive then it is teh best price I've seen for a drive of that quality,
As reguards DVD+rw they are , although new, a quite bit more expensive.
Thanks for yer help.
now wheres the best place to buy blank DVD-R and DVD-RW discs?

pete

Originally posted by Doodee
I'm considering getting a pioneer A104 drive , its £269STR which is teh best price ive seen so far for the drive.Im not sure but if thet price is vat inclusive then it is teh best price I've seen for a drive of that quality,
As reguards DVD+rw they are , although new, a quite bit more expensive.
Thanks for yer help.
now wheres the best place to buy blank DVD-R and DVD-RW discs?

The pioneer 104 seems to be quite a bit faster than mine ....

Pioneer branded DVD-R & DVD-RW disks are ridiculously expensive (£20 each in PC World!!!). Mine came with 2 DVD-R's and some CD-R's, but i'd recommend getting a DVD-RW disk for playing around with - you do not want to be experimenting on DVD-R disks!!!

You should be able to pick up unbranded DVD-R disks from a few places - try www.insight.com/uk or www.pless.co.uk

I've imported some from hong kong in the past and they work out at a few euro each.

Oh and the other thing to bear in mind is that if you're working with video then you'll need as much hard disk space as you can manage.

Shinji

I picked up a spindle of DVD-R media for £130 - 100pcs, so £1.30 a disc. CDRs cost more than that a couple of years back. Unbranded, admittedly, but I've not had a dud yet (and at that price I don't really mind that much if I end up with one).


DVD+RW is technically a nicer standard in some ways, although it has its faults too. However, ultimately for DVDROM use, the DVD-R standard is fine. It works in the vast majority of players, media is cheap, drives are available and it's got a proven track record and an established market foothold. Even if DVD+RW becomes more popular in the long run, DVD-R will not cease to work.

(It's not like it's difficult to manufacture a drive that reads both DVD-R and DVD+RW, since DVD-R reading is genuinely just a matter of laser tolerances and all modern drives are fine with it; unlike say, DVD-RAM which required a fair bit of extra kit to read.)

_CreeD_

Originally posted by pete

Hmm - not entirely sure about referring someone to a site "...dedicated to the DVD+RW and DVD+R format..." for an objective opinion on which is best suited to their needs.

And there's me thinking I just referred them to the Compatibility list so that they could work out if it was even worth considering in the first place....;).
I never mentioned it as a source for objective oppinions, just some important facts on that media.

pete

Originally posted by Shinji
I picked up a spindle of DVD-R media for £130 - 100pcs, so £1.30 a disc. CDRs cost more than that a couple of years back. Unbranded, admittedly, but I've not had a dud yet (and at that price I don't really mind that much if I end up with one).

From where?!??

vAWOL

all i'm gonna say is "blue-ray", ie the single format being brought in to unify the different formats. It won't be out for a while at afforable prices but it ill be the accepted format.

_CreeD_

As in Blue Laser - High density DVD?
It's years off. It was hard enough to try and get a new technology agreed upong an implemented as smoothly as DVD has gone in general, I can't see the emergence of Blue Laser doing much in the consumer market, at least until existing players begin to fail and they're available as the standard set top box at the time.

pete

I'm just sorry I didn't wait for holo-cubes meself.

_CreeD_

Pffft...Data crystals, the only way to fly....