[iLabmAn]

Hi!

I've seen DVD-R drives advertised at our local Best Buy at considerably lower prices than most competitors. There are two drives advertised now at the $140 range. However, one drive is a DVD/+RW and the other is a +/- RW.

What's the difference?

 

[Akai]

Its because of the "format wars" there were two DVD formats fighting for power...-R/W VS +R/W

-R can only use -R disks, and +R can only use +R Discs. Certain DVD players only support certain formats. Well in the end neither format really won out. Instead most Drive makers chose to adapt BOTH technologies creating -/+ RW drives capable of using both types of media.

The +R model you see is likely an older model, I would recommend the -/+ for the most choice of compatibility with set top players

 

[(( p g ))]

The short answer to your question is that Macs with SuperDrives are designed to support DVD-R exclusively (but that may be changing). If you buy these, you can't go wrong.

There are other competing standards, here's a summary, courtesy of dvdrhelp.com

DVD-R and DVD-RW

DVD-R/W was the first DVD recording format released that was compatible with standalone DVD Players.

DVD-R is a non-rewriteable format and it is compatible with about 91% of all DVD Players and most DVD-ROMs.

DVD-RW is a rewriteable format and it is compatible with about 74% of all DVD Players and most DVD-ROMs.

DVD-R/W supports single side 4.7 GB *DVDs(called DVD-5 ) and double side 9.4 GB *DVDs(called DVD-10 ).


DVD+R and DVD+RW

DVD+R/W has some better features than DVD-R/W such as lossless linking and both CAV and CLV writing.

DVD+R is a non-rewritable format and it is compatible with about 86% of all DVD Players and most DVD-ROMs.

DVD+RW is a rewritable format and is compatible with about 74% of all DVD Players and most DVD-ROMs.

DVD+R/W supports single side 4.7 GB *DVDs(called DVD-5 ) and double side 9.4 GB *DVDs(called DVD-10 ).

[ October 10, 2003, 09:11 PM: Message edited by: PGant ]