My observation on DVD blank media

[dr_roberts49]

I'm still a newbie on this. As you might have seen in my other posts, I recently bought a NEC ND-2500A 8X DVD burner from Newegg. Going with the many recommendations of fellow board members, I went with DVD Shrink 3.1 and NERO 6 Ultimate Edition. This marriage of hardware and software is working beautifully for me. I've backed up several of my kid's movies, and my "Band of Brothers" box set. Not a single coaster, and the applications were extremely intuitive.

I started with some CompUSA +R cheapies running at 2.4X, but soon went to some Memorex 4X +Rs that were on sale. They didn't have anything faster in stock, but the 4X allow me to burn most of my backups in under 30 minutes, unless I use the deep analyzing option on DVD Shrink, then it runs closer to 50 minutes. I burn at the speed that is specified for each media. I've read that some media can be burned at faster speeds than what they are specked at.

I noticed that CompUSA (I also checked Best Buy) seems to stock more +R media than -R media. I also noticed that the -R media was a few dollars cheaper than the +R media. So far, I've only used the +R media, and have yet to try any of the +RW, -RW media. So far, the +R seems to do the trick. No coasters, and the backups run fine in our stand-alone DVD players (we have 2) My son was also able to play them in his PS/2. Should I even bother with -R? Just curious. I guess I could try a couple of the CompUSA cheapies and see if I get the same success as I've had with the +R, but I get the feeling, that -R is on it's way out. Anyone else have thoughts on this? My first VCR was a SONY Betamax, so I've been down this road before

Robert

[phenious]

Well, I dont see -R on its way out until we reach a new standard for DVD players in which both mediums will probably be thrown out. They seems to be very similar so its hard to support one while not supporting the other buy my knowledge on that actuall differences between the two isnt enough to tell you why some media works on some DVD players while not on others. I only use DVD-Rs and I havent hit any snags or burned coasters as of yet and I probably wont switch to any other format unless I have to. I say if the cheapest media works well with your hardware then use that. No reason to spend the extra money unless you are distributing the media. In each case its probably smart to send a test disk or ask for the model of DVD player to check compatability. I use DVD-R media for my College soccer games and have sold DVDs to about 20 different people and havent had one complaint of it not working. Only place I found my DVD-R media dosnt work was in my Old school DVD-ROM that I got with my first computer back in about 1997 or so. Other then that. Smooth sailing from the DVD-R side

-: phenious :-

[dr_roberts49]

I know what you mean phenious. It was just by chance that I tried +R first. I'm going to buy some -R and see how they do. Variety is the spice of life

Robert

[MDS]

I've burned both without a coaster and without any difference in the final product. Both type play in my set top DVD player's. If I were to guess the dual layer burners coming out really soon(I believe it is May of this year) will become a major role player in the DVD future. The philips & pioneer dual layer will be a -R and sony's is a +R.

also
"According to Santa Clara Consulting Group, the combined factory sales of —R and —RW blank media amounted to 61 per cent of the total worldwide market share in the third quarter. DVD+R and +RW blank media accounted for 37 per cent, while DVD-RAM media sales made up 2 per cent. Dash media's worldwide market share hovered at about 60 per cent for the first three quarters of the year, according to the research firm."

from
here