DVD-RW or DVD+RW?

[Jugernot]

I recently bought a Cendyne A05 (aka Pioneer 105) 4x DVDRW drive and have been burning discs happily with it for a couple of weeks. Both DVD-R and DVD-RW work fine in my Toshiba DVD Player, which is the main reason I bought this drive. With Microsoft's announcement today that they will be supporting DVD+RW and not DVD-RW, I can see the +RW technologies gaining more acceptance faster than -RW technology.

I am going to be buying a new drive pretty soon for another computer and I'm not sure which to buy now...

I've always thought that DVD-R was more compatibly than DVD+R, but I've seen reports both ways.

What do you guys think? Which has a better future?

 

[Sid59]

if i were to buy a dvd drive, it's gonna be +R/+RW. I think it's gonna outpace and set the standard.

 

[QTPie]

Sony has a combo drive. IMO, DVD-R is more popular now. DVD-R disc is cheaper too.

 

[Morph]

I have a feeling DVD+RW is going to become the more mainstream choice. It has some technical advantages and of course the backing from Microsoft. But I'll keep using my A05 with $.80 DVD-R media until the DVD+RW drives and media come down in price.

 

[Eug]

Microsoft has long since said that they would be supporting Mt. Rainier on +RW in future OSes, so this announcement is no surprise.

However, you should remember that Longhorn isn't here yet and current drives don't support Mt. Rainier on DVD. So basically just whatever you're happy with and upgrade later if you want the data support. (Actually if you want read/write OS-level data support now the technology of choice is DVD-RAM, and this is one place where the multi-format drives come in.)

 

[jagr10]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but i think Sony has a drive that reads all dvd formats, but i don't think it burns all formats.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: jagr10
Correct me if i'm wrong, but i think Sony has a drive that reads all dvd formats, but i don't think it burns all formats.

The 500a/500ax reads and burns + & - media.

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: jagr10
Correct me if i'm wrong, but i think Sony has a drive that reads all dvd formats, but i don't think it burns all formats.

Sony's drive burns DVD-R/W, and +R/W. It does not read or write DVD-RAM.

Panasonic has one that does DVD-R/W and DVD-RAM, but no +R/W.

LG's yet unreleased GMA-4040B will burn them all. Dunno when it's out though.

 

[AU Tiger]

Originally posted by: Morph
I have a feeling DVD+RW is going to become the more mainstream choice. It has some technical advantages and of course the backing from Microsoft. But I'll keep using my A05 with $.80 DVD-R media until the DVD+RW drives and media come down in price.

Missed your opportunity last week. Office Max was selling the HP 300i for $199 and lower (got mine for $125 after coupon and $50 rebate credit). Now just waiting on the media prices to drop. $2 a disc is about the best that can be found right now.

 

[Imyourzero]

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: jagr10
Correct me if i'm wrong, but i think Sony has a drive that reads all dvd formats, but i don't think it burns all formats.

The 500a/500ax reads and burns + & - media.

Yep, I read about that one...you can pretty much buy it and be safe. You don't have to worry much with the different standards because it supports almost all of the current formats--at least the most popular ones! 🙂

If/when I get a DVD writer, the Sony 500A will be on my short list...