How do DVD-RW recorders compare to DVD+RW?

[markw]

Okay, I recently bought a DVDR985 from Philips but have not yet opened it and have 30 days to return it if desired. I have a DVD+RW drive in my PC so my idea is I should stick to one type. I take home video from my camcorder and use Studio 8 to put it onto DVD+RW DVD's. As well I likely would use my standalone recorder to record from my camcorder.

My main concern is on the dvdrw.org web site people are complaining about problems with Philips dvd+rw drives. I know more companies are coming out with recorders but it appears the large majority of them are Philips. Most of the companies coming out with dvd+rw recorders as well aren't big companies where with DVD-RW I see companies such as Panasonic, Pioneer, Toshiba, Sharp, Samsung. Even when I look for DVD+R media online I see far more places selling DVD-R rather than DVD+R. Also, DVD-R media is cheaper although DVD+R seems to be getting close.

As well, I know many people will say as long as it plays in a dvd-video player it doesn't matter if it's +R or -R. I see that and maybe there never will be one standard. I know if one does go far ahead though the other will be harder to buy media for and media may become more expensive. I know within 4-5 years we may all be looking at blu-ray so I'm mainly concerned with something that will last until then. I just think dvd recordables may be catching on by the end of this year around the holidays and with what's available it just seems that dvd-r is what people will be buying.

When reading up it seems dvd+r has the technological advantage though. Plus like I said I wanted something that is compatible with my pc but yet I may find myself rarely editing what i record on my recorder. I know no one can simply tell me the correct answer of which to go with but I'm kind of looking at the future and wondering which is the safest bet. What really made me start looking elsewhere is after using dvdrw.org I see constant complaints about quality problems with philips dvd+rw recorders. Then again I don't know how true they are and I haven't looked at a dvd-rw board heavily so maybe I'd see them same about those machines. I would mainly use the dvd's on 3 machines, 2 in this house, one in another. I know dvd+r works in all 3 machines. I haven't used dvd-r in any but was told it doesn't work in at least one, a Sanyo combo dvd/vcr machine.

It seems the Toshiba unit is very expensive and I dont' want to pay the extra for a hard drive now so would likely rule out the Panasonic model with a hard drive. I have a TIVO system now so don't really have use for that. As well I couldn't find much from Pioneer but Sharp's new machine looks nice. As well I like the panasonic recorders, mainly the DMR-50 and DMR-60 but maybe even the DMR-30. I will read up on Samsung's DVD-R2000 and DVD-R3000. I would appreciate any advice on whether to stay with dvd+r or look into dvd-r and as well about any dvd-r recorders I should look into. Thanks.

[markw]

One question, I thought of the advantage of having a DVD-R Recorder. If I'm right whenever I do run into a problem with a DVD-R not working can I simply put it in my PC in the DVD-ROM drive and copy it to my DVD+RW drive (HP200i) using a regular DVD copy program such as Nero. If so then I see having the advantage of having both formats except the later is probably a little more work. Also, I'm not sure if my PC drive (a BenQ DVD-ROM) reads DVD-R but I know that would be cheap to replace.

Of course I know I can wait for the Sony recorders coming out that will support both DVD-R and DVD+RW but I know it won't support DVD+R from what I have heard.


The main player I have is a Sony DVP-S360. It's important that it works with that but the 2nd player in the house is a combo vcr/dvd that is a Goldstar DC596M. Also, a friend that I may write some dvd's for has a combo dvd/vcr that is made by Sanyo. I unfortunately can't find compatibility for any of these so if anyone knows let me know. Thanks.

[MOVIEGEEK]

I have the Sony DRU-500A and use -R exclusively because of media price and player compatibilty but what is most important is what works in your player.Look in "DVD Players" for compatibilty.
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[vitualis]

Both DVD-R and DVD+R have similar compatibility on stand-alone players and there is little "technical advantage" of one over the other if you are making video discs on your computer.

You will tend to find more officially "DVD-R/W compatible" drives (e.g., most newer DVD players and drives) as the DVD forum supports DVD-R/W but not DVD+R/W.

Regards.

[Gil T Pleasure]

If you go with a DVD+ recorder then you'd be able to use the same discs on your existing DVD+ drive.

How urgent is your need for a standalone DVD recorder? If you can, wait for a few months until the new models from RCA, Sony, Pioneer, etc become available.

[txpharoah]

Read my post here:
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=152616

It's about DVD-R vs DVD+R. Tells the facts (and at the bottom has my opinion too).

[markw]

I checked your other msg. and agree 100%. I bought the pc drive last fall. I did so much research and almost went with dvd-r/-rw. It seemed to be more compatible with dvd players. The media was more common and cheaper and I liked the idea it was supported by the dvd forum. Then dvd+r had just come out. DVD+R was dropping in price and Microsoft was saying they'd support it in Windows and it seemed +R/+RW is more advanced. I finally made the choice and was happy with it after. It seemed like +R media went down in price and whenever I went to CompUSA, Best Buy, etc. 80% of drives for PC's seemed to be +R. Yet when I started looking for a standalone recorder it seems everything is -R. Several new +R recorders are coming out this year but Philips is the main maker and it seems to be full of bugs. For -R though so many are coming out. The media is still cheaper and I just think when more people start buying dvd recorders they will go with that. I do see it being at the p oint that +R is for computers, -R for recorders. Maybe multi format drives will become common in PC's. I kind of wanted to stay with the same format for both the pc and standalone but this should work out. I can play +R dvd's in all the players I use. I am worried if -r will work on one of the players I have. I will find out but if not I'm guessing I can make them on my computer by just putting the -r in the dvd-rom, using a copy program like Nero and then writing the new dvd on my dvd+r recorders on my PC. I may at times make videos from my camcorder on my pc using studio 8. In that case I'd write to dvd+r and if I want to put onto -r from +r maybe it's more of a problem. I'd have to get a multi-format drive or put a -r into my other pc or into the main pc in place of the dvd-rom. It would be far simpler if it's one format but I feel right with how I'm going, use +r for pc, -r for standalone. I feel like in 3-5 years blu ray recorders will be big and I'll go to that. I almost tried to stay out of the whole thing until then. with blu-ray the only big advantage really is more storage space. Of cousre it's important for HDTV which by then maybe finally start coming in. Still though I felt going from videotape to dvd was a big step. I hate dealing with rewinding, the quality isn't that good, and I have had too many tapes break. I know dvd's can be scratched but I figured at least for the next 3-5 years I can convert my collection to dvd to help it last and as well anything new I record is going to be high quality. Of course now they say with blu-ray there will be two competing standards so here we go again!

[Gil T Pleasure]

I may at times make videos from my camcorder on my pc using studio 8. In that case I'd write to dvd+r and if I want to put onto -r from +r maybe it's more of a problem.

If you get a standalone DVD- recorder with i.Link DV input, then you can go directly from computer to DVD- recorder.

[markw]

I never had thought of that. Unfortunately the two aren't that close but is there a limit on how far a firewire cable could run from my computer to the standalone?