DVD+/-RW - What's the difference?

Myosin

What is the difference between DVD+ and DVD- discs?

I have a laptop on order which has a DVD+/-RW Drive and I need to buy some DVDRWs so I can reuse them instead of the DVDRs where I'll only be able to write on the disc once.

I have a DVD player at home which is a standard Goodmans DVD Player, and seeing as I may buy a USB TV Tuner for my laptop, may record TV Progs to watch on DVD player at home. For this, would DVD+ or DVD- be better? And would it be ok to use a DVDRW as opposed to a DVDR or wouldn't it matter?

Also, where would you recommend to buy these discs? They seem pretty pricey if you ask me

rogerramjet

DVD - and + are different formats of discs. The RW just means they are re-writeable. basically you hace a DVD writer which can use either format. -R are can usually write a little faster than +R.

Either will work in a stand alone DVD player, however, they may need to be finalised before they will play (a lot depends on how old your DVD player is)

-/+RW are ideal to use if you don't intend keeping whatever you record as you can use them again -/+R are write once (unless multi-sessional) and once finalised you cannot write anything else to them.

With regard to purchasing, avoid PC world/comet/dixons/currys as they are over priced. I purchased some DVD-R from Tescos recently for £4.99 for 25 which was very competatively priced (haven't used any yet so cannot comment on quality)

wolfman

It depends on what you want to play them on, but DVD "-" is generally the more compatible format.

My advise would be to find a decent brand of disc that works for you and stick with it. I've been using Verbatim (top brand) for a couple of years now and never had any problems. They retail at about £8 for a 25 spindle (I can remember when I was paying £50 for that many!).

Have a look on https://www.ebuyer.co.uk and https://www.blankshop.com

Jonni2bad

SVP.co.uk seem quite good for prices - I recently got a bundle deal, which is still on, of 100 8x "-R" discs plus 100 single disc DVD cases for £22.12 These discs are printable, even though I don't use that option!

No failures yet, and Ive used about 30. This works out at approx 25p for one disc with its own case (once postage is added)

mike_paterson

Check your local staples too. A couple of times they have had a BOGOF deal on Samsung 50 DVD+R on a spindle for £8.99 (i.e you get 100 for £8.99).

The first I tried didn't work so I was worried that they were sub standard, but the next 10 I have used have all been perfect !

Myosin

Thanks for those replies - most helpful

Are DVDRW's easy to find then? And how much more expensive are they? I'd only want it to burn data to and also burn recorded tv programmes for viewing on the dvd player at home.

coolagarry

You can get them in most of the Big stores... Morrisons, Sainsburys etc although not at the best prices. Then again if you are getting rw's you will not be getting many as you will re-use them

arealhighlander

DVD-RWs are about 60-70p each.

Check that your DVD player is compatible for reading or recording onto DVD-RW disks, not all are.

SVP.co.uk are the ones I have always used to buy disks. There are LOADS of different types. Buying the really chead blank DVDs are not worth it, you will end up with lots that dont burn properly or skip.

I have found that Ritek disks to be very compatible and no problems with, about 22-24p each.

DVD+ is not quite as compatible between all DVD players or readers as DVD-