Which burnable DVD discs?

Just opened me up a new LG (Super-Multi) DVD burner for XMas today which appears to be a good working drive at the moment (aside from the fact it wouldn't work with my pre-existing IDE cable, that took a good hour to figure out >.>), I'm now curious as to the writable media which I can use on it....

Basically, the whole DVD +R +RW -R -RW -RAM thing, I've no clue what abouts it means in the grand scheme of things.

Been trying to read about them over at the good ol' Wiki, and I'm still confused as to what's the more optimum choice regarding use for backup storage and regarding disc-accessibility/pricing.

My main purpose for this drive anyways was to prevent having to use 5+ CD-Rs for backing up my artwork, random crap from the internet, game saves, app data, etc... The idea of having all my crap backed up to a single-layed DVD seemed much more appealing/convenient.


From what I'm reading, it appears the +R formats aren't exactly an officially recognized DVD or something like that, with -R being the officially recognized writable disc, that should be recognized by all DVD devices?


-RAM appeared interesting as it has error correction and the sort for more reliable storage of data over long-term, but I decided to dismiss them as I've never seen any of this format in town, and according the Wiki, are more expensive.




So, anyone got some wisdom regarding these formats to share, or opinions regarding them? Currently wanting to go boxing-day shopping tomorrow for a couple of them Maxtor (I've never had a problem with their CD-Rs) stacks of 100 DVD±Rs.

Just don't want to make a bad choice I may regret later and all..
(may as well pick me up a longer IDE cable while I'm at it regarding shopping, the one this drive came with won't reach my top storage tray, had to shift the drive itself down 3 spots -.-)

With modern recorders it really does not matter what media (+ or -) you are using. If you are going to create DVD movies I would go for "-" media as it appears slightly more compatible with various DVD players, especially the older ones. Again, if you are using a modern DVD player you don't have to worry about the media type.

Regarding the IDE cable, be warned that IDE cable length is actually limited and I think that the limit is 60 cm (2 ft). Anything longer will work but may introduce errors into the data stream. Also make sure you use 80 wires cable.

Barney

Minus R's are *marginally* more compatible. I've only come across a few devices which can't read plus r's and none that can't read minus r's, but I've read extensively on the formats and minus R's are just ahead. It's only like 1% more compatible or something though, so I wouldn't worry much either way.

Unless you plan on using them to backup console games or for using in standalone DVD recorders ( the kind you use instead of a VCR ) then it really won't matter much.

I don't use +RW's and -RW's much because they're too expensive. I can buy incredibly high quality Riteks for less than 20p each, so I may as well keep the older backups too.

I don't think there's any difference in price between Minus and Plus. I'd just get some good quality -R's and be done with it, personally.

My previous IDE cable was around the 50cm point, the one that came with the drive was a good 10cm shorter, so I should be fine if I can grab a new one that seems to work.
(pretty sure my previous cable was 80wires as it was hooked up to my DVD/CD-RW combo drive prior to installation of my new drive, although I do want both hooked up in the end)

May stick to - format for the meanwhile then since I do infact (regrettably) own an older-model dvd-drive (was a hand-me-down from a friend of my mother), no clue as to why we've never purchased a proper new one yet, but then again, I'm not really sure if I would even bother burning DVD movies in the first place.
(all I ever purchase these days movie-wise are DVD-season collections of my fav shows ;/)


Quite peculiar that WinXP names the thing a DVD-RAM, guess it takes priority over -R in their list of labels? ;/
(it doesn't even beep me when there's no disc inserted either when double-clicking it)

My DVD player can't play R- so I use R+ for movies. For backups it doesn't really matter. If your writer can do double layer DVDs (9 GB) then you may configure your C drive in a way that fits on the DVD for quick OS reinstall.

DVD-Ram seems to be nice, if your writer suports it then you should use it for backups IMHO.

I usually use -R but my laptop (which I'm using for typing this) supports only +R DVDs... so I have to have both anyways. My gut feeling is that -R is more compatible.

Few links:

http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/2003/DVDFormatsExplained.asp

http://www.proactionmedia.com/dvd_media_formats.htm

For me -R is the choice for pretty much everything, except for the DVD players which you use to record off the TV and such, those are best to be +R.

Thanks all, picked me up a stand of 50 DVD-Rs from the local WalMart for a measly $24, gotta love that boxing day!
(now if only I had $400 on me at the time also, they had the premium XBX360s for $100 off, stupid Wii is eating all my money!)

Off to find something to test-burn now....

[EDIT] Never realized it takes *that* much longer to prepare 4.4gb's worth of rar'd up data.

I recomment -R by a reputable brand. TDK seem to work best for compatibility, whilst others can be a bit hit and miss.

I typicaly get TDK DVD-R 16x discs. The higher the speed supported the more reliable the disks tend to be, and the more expensive.

Also burn the disks as the slowest speed you are comfortable with. Mine doesn't record at slower than 4x, which is what I use if I want the disk as readable as possible over a broad range of Hardware.

I just picked up Sony brand just because of the pricing, if they aint too reliable, 'eh, make double backups, they were cheap regardless, although I normally prefer Maxtor brand discs since I've haven't had any bad experiences with them for a few years now in terms of CD-Rs.

This drive can write DVD-Rs @ 16x speed apparently, but like CD-Rs @ their 56x speed, it's not worth having the thing burn the data at full blown speeds for reliability purposes..
(don't even think my HD can even buffer that much data to burn at 16x DVD speed with its current defrag-needing status)


[EDIT] Ah, nice, a good 4.5gb I can now rid from my HD, now to see what else I can squeeze onto another disc.
(should pick me up some DVD-R9s some time)

Quite nice not having to zip/rar everything up for it to fit on a disc, unlike my 5+ CD-R backups which *need* it to make things actually fit.

Took a grand total of 20min to burn/verify the data, which isn't all that bad (to me anyways) considering I burned the thing at 4x speed (16x speed being my max as mentioned earlier), and was only the one disc, no hot-swapping crap around.

I think I'll be enjoying this DVD writer well in future months to come when it comes to a full backup-session for the annual WinXP format/reinstall.
(possibly order me some of them "Lightscribe" discs also to show my hatred for needing to clean-wipe my system with the labeller)