From what I’ve read “plus” has more companies behind it, a few more software advantages to it, and will be the format that will eventually survive.
I’ve also read that same exact thing for “minus”
Any advice?
I’m buying next week.
Pioneer A05 - 4x DVD write R- $189.99
or
HP DVD300i - 4x DVD write R+ $229.99
They seem almost identical, 'cept one is minus and one is plus.
Help!
This site will answer most of your questions.
http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvd.htm
Here is the new multi-format Sony drive for the best web price currently available at www.livewarehouse.com - $ 197 with free shipping - http://store.yahoo.com/livewarehouse/dvso25950.html
For God’s sake, don’t put one of each in the same computer, or your machine will be mutually annhiliated!
My understanding is that DVD-R is faster to write and more compatible with players than DVD+R. On the other hand, DVD**+RW** is faster to write and more compatible than DVD**-RW**.
I suggest the multi-format drive so you can use the advantages of both formats, and so that if the industry actually chooses one over the other, you won’t be left in the dark.
+r is about twice that of -r for blank disks.
How about from spoofee.com a +R for $112 with a bunch of other stuff, after rebate…major brand too, a Pioneer repacked.
I think +RW will dominate.
Why?
Because I bought a -RW drive last week.
It always happens. I got an Atari ST when the big alternative computer system of the time was the Amiga. I bought a SyJet 135, and shortly afterwards Syquest went bankrupt; Iomega’s Zip won out. If I was born ten years earlier, I’d probably have an Elcaset deck floating around the house.
Lol Elmwood.
Yeah this is kind of strange, what’s up with the media pricing? The minus is a hell of a lot cheaper.
I like the model Astro suggested, it almost seems a little too good to be true.
I still can’t find any really good comparisons, just a quick gloss of over each standard.
Only +rw drives are pretty much out of the picture. HP made one called a 100i & it only did +rw. You must be thinking of +r/+rw which is more common.
You can get a dual format writer for about $205 (pioneer 106) & be able to use which of these two formats wins. You can also have a +r and then a -r & copy between them, one is the reader, one the writer.
There’s a Sony drive, the DRU500AX, that records all four common formats: DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW. It doesn’t do DVD-RAM though. And it’s an expensive little bugger.
Oh crud. That’s pretty much the one Astro mentioned.
This is from the link I gave you
Multi Drives, like the Sony, will dominate the market. In fact, most of the new drives are multi-drives.
Know that all formats, except DVD-RAM, write to disks sequentially. DVD-RAM provides random access to discs. Price wise -RW and +RW are about the same $3-4. +R and -R are about the same, $1.50 in quantity. DVD-RAM discs run between $7 and $30.
RAM is the superior format, but it’s like BETA. Those of us who care about quality own it. What you’ll probably end up with is a drive the reads and writes R+/R- and one of the two RW formats. Panasonic is the primary pusher of RAM. Their stand alone recorders all use RAM or R- discs. If you want to record TV to a DVD this is a real alternative because it rewrites and has the other nice quality of letting you watch from the beginning while the program is still recording. Toshiba’s stand alone also supports this format.
The bottom line is choose what you want. They’re all going to go away in the relatively near future. A new format will be necessary once HDTV takes over. Blue Ray is currently the leader in that field (Sony supported) but it’s not backward compatible with the discs we all already own.