Can someone enlighten me - I have a NEC DVD RW drive which I thought was -R
compatible. When you insert a DVD -R into the drive it says there is
nothing in the drive. By chance I had a DVD +R handy, inserted that & it
seems to work.

Question is - here in the UK, which drive format should use +R or -R?

Dave

dt wrote:
> Can someone enlighten me - I have a NEC DVD RW drive which I thought
> was -R compatible. When you insert a DVD -R into the drive it says
> there is nothing in the drive. By chance I had a DVD +R handy,
> inserted that & it seems to work.
>
> Question is - here in the UK, which drive format should use +R or -R?

How about looking up the model number of your drive on the manufacturer's
web page?
You can find out which one you have a little easier by using either of these
applications:

Belarc Advisor
http://belarc.com/free_download.html

EVEREST Home Edition
http://www.lavalys.com/products/down...?pid=1&lang=en

--
<- Shenan ->
--
The information is provided "as is", it is suggested you research for
yourself before you take any advice - you are the one ultimately
responsible for your actions/problems/solutions. Know what you are
getting into before you jump in with both feet.

Both standards exist in the UK.
You need to use a tool to find out what model it is if you don't know.

I think Region Info at www.remoteselector.com will tell you!

--
Electronic Punk
OSNN Administrator
http://www.osnn.net
"dt" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
> Can someone enlighten me - I have a NEC DVD RW drive which I thought
> was -R compatible. When you insert a DVD -R into the drive it says there
> is nothing in the drive. By chance I had a DVD +R handy, inserted that &
> it seems to work.
>
> Question is - here in the UK, which drive format should use +R or -R?
>
> Dave
>

What NEC model is it? (Device Manager ought to tell you, if you're using
Windows.)

If it's an 1100, then it's a DVD+R/RW (only) drive.

I'm in the US, not the UK, but I know of no regional preference for either
format.

I use DVD+R, as my ancient (more than 1 year old) Plextor PX-708a supports
8X only on +R.

HTH.

Bob Knowlden

Address may be scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

"dt" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
> Can someone enlighten me - I have a NEC DVD RW drive which I thought
> was -R compatible. When you insert a DVD -R into the drive it says there
> is nothing in the drive. By chance I had a DVD +R handy, inserted that &
> it seems to work.
>
> Question is - here in the UK, which drive format should use +R or -R?
>
> Dave
>

Bob Knowlden wrote:
>
> What NEC model is it? (Device Manager ought to tell you, if you're using
> Windows.)
>
> If it's an 1100, then it's a DVD+R/RW (only) drive.
>
> I'm in the US, not the UK, but I know of no regional preference for either
> format.
>
> I use DVD+R, as my ancient (more than 1 year old) Plextor PX-708a supports
> 8X only on +R.
>
> HTH.
>
> Bob Knowlden
>
sorry if I sound a bit stupid but what's the difference and which is
it better to go for? I've been looking at some home dvd recorders and
note most cheap ones are +R +RW, does that mean it's substandard?

--
Paul (Demanding Billy Dolls, And other friends of mine)
------------------------------------------------------
Stop and Look
http://www.geocities.com/dreamst8me/

Paul Heslop wrote:
> sorry if I sound a bit stupid but what's the difference and which is
> it better to go for? I've been looking at some home dvd recorders and
> note most cheap ones are +R +RW, does that mean it's substandard?

They are still battling over standards.. It is better to get a burner that
does them all and then find out what your standalone DVD Players will read.

--
<- Shenan ->
--
The information is provided "as is", it is suggested you research for
yourself before you take any advice - you are the one ultimately
responsible for your actions/problems/solutions. Know what you are
getting into before you jump in with both feet.

I don't own a DVD (video) recorder. I have the impression that the high-end
video recorders use DVD-RAM. (I've seen DVD-RAM used for data recording.) I
don't recall the numbers, but I believe that DVD+RW or DVD-RW media can be
re-written about 1000 times, and that DVD-RAM is good for 10 or 100 times
that. However, if you wish to use DVD-RAM, you might want to check
compatibility. I think that most DVD-ROM drives and DVD burners can't use
DVD-RAM media. (At least one burner can handle all three types, but I don't
recall its maker.) I mainly use DVD+R, although I have a few DVD+RW disks.

There was almost religious discussion for DVD+R versus DVD-R a year or so
ago, but at least in PC burners, most can now do both. I regard the NEC
ND-3500A as the current mainstream drive:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...152-031&depa=1

I wonder whether dual layer (8.5 GB) media will become readily available
before it is superseded by newer technology (such as one of the blue laser
formats).

Bob Kn.

"Paul Heslop" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
(snip)
> sorry if I sound a bit stupid but what's the difference and which is
> it better to go for? I've been looking at some home dvd recorders and
> note most cheap ones are +R +RW, does that mean it's substandard?
>
> --
> Paul (Demanding Billy Dolls, And other friends of mine)
> ------------------------------------------------------
> Stop and Look
> http://www.geocities.com/dreamst8me/

"does that mean it's substandard?" - No, not at all.

See the following and make your choice. Remember that DVD+R disks can be
burned to read as DVDRoms (Bitsetting/Booktype) and "should" be read by most
DVD set top players. My LG DVD+/-RW, RAM burns DVD+R's (Booktype set to
DVDRom) that can be read in my DVDRom which specs say only reads DVD-R,
DVD-RW, and DVD Video.

http://www.dvdforum.org/forum.shtml

http://www.dvdrw.com/

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/

r.




"Shenan Stanley" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Paul Heslop wrote:
>> sorry if I sound a bit stupid but what's the difference and which is
>> it better to go for? I've been looking at some home dvd recorders and
>> note most cheap ones are +R +RW, does that mean it's substandard?
>
> They are still battling over standards.. It is better to get a burner that
> does them all and then find out what your standalone DVD Players will
> read.
>
> --
> <- Shenan ->
> --
> The information is provided "as is", it is suggested you research for
> yourself before you take any advice - you are the one ultimately
> responsible for your actions/problems/solutions. Know what you are
> getting into before you jump in with both feet.
>

"Bob Knowlden" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I don't own a DVD (video) recorder. I have the impression that the high-end
>video recorders use DVD-RAM. (I've seen DVD-RAM used for data recording.) I
>don't recall the numbers, but I believe that DVD+RW or DVD-RW media can be
>re-written about 1000 times, and that DVD-RAM is good for 10 or 100 times
>that. However, if you wish to use DVD-RAM, you might want to check
>compatibility.

It sounds as if DVD-RAM is a good idea for data (ie business). Most users
probably won't be writing (there home movies / commercial DVD backups) to
there DVD's more than once anyway.

> I think that most DVD-ROM drives and DVD burners can't use DVD-RAM media.
> (At least one burner can handle all three types, but I don't recall its
> maker.)

Shameless plug for LG here:

http://us.lge.com/Product/prodlist.d...tegory_level=4

> I mainly use DVD+R, although I have a few DVD+RW disks.
>
> There was almost religious discussion for DVD+R versus DVD-R a year or so
> ago, but at least in PC burners, most can now do both. I regard the NEC
> ND-3500A as the current mainstream drive:
>
> http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...152-031&depa=1
>
> I wonder whether dual layer (8.5 GB) media will become readily available
> before it is superseded by newer technology (such as one of the blue laser
> formats).
>
> Bob Kn.
>
> "Paul Heslop" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> (snip)
>> sorry if I sound a bit stupid but what's the difference and which is
>> it better to go for? I've been looking at some home dvd recorders and
>> note most cheap ones are +R +RW, does that mean it's substandard?
>>
>> --
>> Paul (Demanding Billy Dolls, And other friends of mine)
>> ------------------------------------------------------
>> Stop and Look
>> http://www.geocities.com/dreamst8me/
>
>