# DVD-R or DVD+R?



## phil (May 7, 2002)

Have decided that DVD burners are cheap enough to justify buying one, and give up on the SVCDs. So I'm going to suffer the B.O fumes at the computer fair (hope it's not hot tomorrow) and buy one.

I'm totally foxed as to whether to get a DVD-R or DVD+R. Media seems to be cheaper for the former, but my standalone DVD player will play them both anyway. I'm hoping to get one of the Sony ones what'll burn both, but not if they're a lot more expensive.

So does anyone know what the future holds? Which format's going to win?


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

Diff q that one - atm its a bit like the old Betamax VHS dilema.

DVD-R though slightly slower than DVD+R is a better and more compatible format (esp with standalone DVDs). However with MS recently backing on the side of DVD+R DVD-r will have a fight on its hands to survive.

I personally atm have both - ;D - Aopen DVD+R which does 1 full 4.7gb disk in about 20 to 30 mins (yawn). I also have a Pioneer DVD-R the AO5 which does a disk in 15 mins ).

Until the formats are sorted out the current drives don't make you decision any easier 'cos they won't be about for too long.

I recommend the Pioneer AO5 as its Â£200 and decently speedy.

Avoid splashing cash out for slower DVD+r and really avoid the Sony DVD-/+R as its firmware sux and the units have been on recall for ages.

As to the future - there will soon be 9gb disks etc and that is when you will see the drive changes and probably the format change too. So as i say go for the better bit of kit atm and forget the format it is on.


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## phil (May 7, 2002)

> Diff q that one - atm its a bit like the old Betamax VHS dilema.
> 
> DVD-R though slightly slower than DVD+R is a better and more compatible format (esp with standalone DVDs). However with MS recently backing on the side of DVD+R DVD-r will have a fight on its hands to survive.
> 
> ...


Yeah I heard about the dodgy firmware on the Sonys. I thought that had been sorted out though.
So what's the difference in price on media?


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

Not alot now - however dif media works better with diff drives. Check out www.blankdiscshop.co.uk for all types of media brands and info (very useful)


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## head_ed (Dec 10, 2002)

-R, been told by people in the know..

going to be buying myself a Panasoinc E-30 for <Â£300 next week..


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

If its DVD-R then go for the Pioneer - it is the best one available - but get the retail box version rather than OEM.


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## phil (May 7, 2002)

> If its DVD-R then go for the Pioneer - it is the best one available - but get the retail box version rather than OEM.


why?


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

I take it you mean why retail - reason being is that the Firmware of most Pioneer drives differ from OEM to Retail package - you are mostly assured more frequent and better updates on a retail firmware than OEM.
You also get better software - OEM usually comes as just a bare drive and anyway there is only about Â£30 of a dif between packages.


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## phil (May 7, 2002)

> I take it you mean why retail - reason being is that the Firmware of most Pioneer drives differ from OEM to Retail package - you are mostly assured more frequent and better updates on a retail firmware than OEM.
> You also get better software - OEM usually comes as just a bare drive and anyway there is only about Â£30 of a dif between packages.


Yeah I did mean that, and thanks for the swift reponse. 
I'm not too bothered about the software. Got a copy of nero, and they usually bundle it anyway.
Didn't know about the firmware though. Don't know why they would bother making 2 versions.


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## nutts (May 8, 2002)

Been considering one myself, but am a little confused...

If I see this on the advert for a DVD writer



> Media/Modes supported - DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW


does it mean it will read or write these formats? My guess from what'd been said above is read all, write only one?


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

OEMs are primarily for the likes of Dell, Compaq etc to include in systems - the drive manufs will offer a diff support package to those companies. Retails is obviously expected to be bought by us lot and hence we need a diff type of support.


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## phil (May 7, 2002)

> Been considering one myself, but am a little confused...
> 
> If I see this on the advert for a DVD writer
> 
> does it mean it will read or write these formats? My guess from what'd been said above is read all, write only one?


Most DVD players will read them all. There's a good list of burners here

Saint. Yeah I heard about Dell having a lot of problems. But I don't see why they'd give one set of firmware out to them and another to the general public. Surely you could just download the latest firmware anyway?


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

Not exactly - firmware is only the software to control chip functions etc. OEM drives and Retail can use completely different controller chips thus then rendering a simple cross firmware update impossible.


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## phil (May 7, 2002)

Yeah I know all about firmware. I assumed that the only difference would be the fact that the updates were going via Dell, and were taking longer to get to the drives than those who had bought the packaged product. 
It wouldn't make sense for a company to produce 2 different sets of hardware which do the same thing, especially if it meant suporting 2 different sets of microcode, including development teams, functional test etc.
But I could be wrong. I'll have a look around and see if I can get any more info.


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

As an example all you have to do is look up the Pioneer website for the firmware updates for their 1st DVD-R. A firmware update was available to retail drives to enable the use of faster dvd media - however this same update was not available to OEm drives.


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## phil (May 7, 2002)

really? that's sneaky. I bet you anything the firmware's identical, but with a different version string, so that the update utility only updates what they want it to. 
Oh well. I'll see what I can get anyway. thanks for the info


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## l3ett (May 6, 2002)

One thing to point out to anyone considering a DVD burner is that IMHO - tha actual media is the most limiting and frustrating factor! 

Unless you want to buy major brand blank dvds at Â£2+ a throw, you will be buying less well known brands, which seem to change their dye almost weekly! Which means finding one that is compatable with your standalone DVD player is difficult! :-/

Make sure to try a few different brands before buying a bulk load of blanks, to make sure your standalone likes those discs.


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

Or as i have already given -

www.blankdiscshop.co.uk

They give all the details for dvd media etc


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## mike_bailey (May 7, 2002)

The other annoying thing about the all-singing Sony DVD re-writers is that they are just not available. I ordered a DRU-500A from Dabs on 07/01/03 and they are still waiting for stock - this is the same for all suppliers as I've surfed several times to see if anybody has one. Still, I'm not in too much of a hurry at the moment although I've used up almost 100gb of me hard disk because I can't offload me movies.

Perhaps I'll take the advice given here, I just love Sony kit and this writer seemed Betamax proof.


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

Mike - forget it cancel that Dabs order - if you must have Sony order it from the USA - they still seem to have limited stock over there.
Other than that - all I can do is repeat what has already been posted.


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## l3ett (May 6, 2002)

> Or as i have already given -
> 
> www.blankdiscshop.co.uk
> 
> They give all the details for dvd media etc


Thats where I buy my blanks from. This is exactly what I was talking about. The blanks they sell from manufacturers such as Bulkpaq, Datawrite, Princo etc.. all vary their dyes and finding one that is compatible with your player is not easy.

My advice so far is to avoid the bulkpaq stuff - never seems to work with any of my hardware.


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## mike_bailey (May 7, 2002)

> - if you must have Sony order it from the USA - they still seem to have limited stock over there.


Do you have any supplier in mind that has stock and could ship it to the UK?


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

MB - its fairly simple - www.compusa.com or some similar will do - but plz check stock levels and their overseas order policy first.
From what I hear over there it is increasing more diff to get the Sony. (You honestly don't want one anyway)


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