If a drive defaults to DVD-ROM already...

[HatchetMan]

...then is that writer better off with +R media than it is for -R media? Anybody have experience with this that they'd like to share?

[lordsmurf]

I would have to say "no".

That only affects how it interacts with DVD+R or DVD+R DL media.

It would have zero effect on the DVD-R media.

[HatchetMan]

I was curious because drives you cannot bitset like my pioneer 108 are supposedly better off with -R while drives that you can bitset like NEC and LiteOn are supposedly better off with +R media. I've never bitset and only use -R media, but if DVD-ROM turns out to be more compatible, then I'd like to look into it. thx

[FulciLives]

I had a NEC ND1300A 4x multiformat burner and it worked most excellent with DVD-R but I (for the most part) only used MADE IN JAPAN Taiyo Yuden or Maxell DVD-R discs.

Of course this burner did not do bitsetting by default but I think there are hacked firmwares for it (not sure) that allow that for +R media.

I only ever used the official firmwares on it.

I only gave it up because I bought a new computer that came with an 8X multiformat burner.

Girlfriend dumped water on the old on though I'm sure the NEC DVD burner still works ... the comptuer however does not

My point is I'm not sure if a multiformat burner with +R bitsetting capabilites has lower quality DVD-R burning. I just don't see any connection to suggest that.

DVD-R is generally better than DVD+R with bitsetting to DVD-ROM anyways though I can see the concern for DVD-ROM bitsetting when it comes to DVD +R DL discs.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Skith]

If you are talking about quality, different burners (manufactures) often "prefer" one type of media - in regards to quality/speed.

For example, Pioneer drives are known to favor -R media (no supprise, since pioneer was behind the devolopement of the -R format).

BenQ (Phillipls) drives seem to prefer +R media (again, no supprise since phillipls was a backer/devoper of the +RW alliance).

My NEC 3500A drive seems to do better with -R media, though only by a small margine.

So the manufacturer of the drive (and chipset in the drive) often favor a type of media. Firmware can also affect the quality and compatability discs.

As far as "compatability" - as in stand alone players - it seems to be the consensus that a +R/RW disc bitset to -ROM is at least as compatable as the -R format. I can say that I have never heard of an instance where bitsetting a +R/RW/DL disc to -ROM has had a negative impact.

In addittion to videohelp.com, www.cdfreaks.com and www.cdrinfo.com have quite a bit of info about bitsetting. (Chech the forums there too!)

[Quantum]

I was curious because drives you cannot bitset like my pioneer 108 are supposedly better off with -R while drives that you can bitset like NEC and LiteOn are supposedly better off with +R media. I've never bitset and only use -R media, but if DVD-ROM turns out to be more compatible, then I'd like to look into it. thx

Your Pioneer DVR-108 can bitset if you use the Piodata firmware. Piodata drives are the same hardware with a Pioneer supplied firmware that automatically bitsets.