DVD-RW vs DVD+RW

[Shaorin]

I went shopping today and I saw DVD+RW cheaper than DVD-RW they both do the same speed 4x and they're both the same brand Verbatim. So why's the DVD-RW more expensive? What's the difference between the two?

[SingSing]

The difference between DVD-RW and DVD+RW is how their address marks are setup. DVD-RW has laser pits, and DVD+RW burns its own servo pattern.

DVD+RW was first on the market, to capture the PC backup market. It becomes the only format that most offices use. This captured market alone makes the production of DVD+RW has a bigger volume, and a lower cost.

[MozartMan]

DVD+RW doesn't have to be finalized when used in stand alone DVD recorders like DVD-RW.

[Paul_G]

+RW offers more than -RW, so they sell more and cheaper to us buyers.

I wish -R/-RW would just die out.

[SingSing]

One of the area that DVD-RW is popular is with miniDVD camcorders. I assume if the camcorder write is shaken, you lost a few frames with the mini DVD-RW that uses the hard laser pits. Mini DVD+RW write in a shaking camcorder will loose much more frames, since the reader is loosing both the servo and data.

According to media stores, Sony, Hitachi, Panasonic, Canon, and Samsung DVD Camcorders use mini DVD-RW.

[lordsmurf]

There really is no reason. Sometimes DVD+RW is more, sometimes DVD-RW is more. It depends on the store and brands, not really the disc type.