DVD Blanks......Which one to use...???

[CalGrunt]

I did a search on a bunch of threads here but still couldn't get a handle to my question.

I want to do a back up to DVD's. The software that I'm going to use is Impressions. My computer is a new iSight iMac 20".

I want to use RW's. Questions:

Should I use + or - RW's. Also if I use Dual Layered DVD's, are the Dual Layer DVD's available in + and -. And what about the speeds. Is there such a thing as 8x DVD+RW DL ??

From what I've read so far, DVD- are the better way to go than the + formats because more DVD players will accept them, but as of now, that's not my concern being that I only want to use these for incremental backups.

This all very confusing.......Any help to explain all this would be much appreciated.

 

[ezekielrage_99]

+ and - it's more or an issue of preference, I personally go for the DVD R- and RW-, so far I 've had less problems burning and playing the DVD on other computers and DVD players.

From what I've heard there's really not that much difference between + and - R and RW DVDs, apparently the - is more geared towards the DVD players whilest the + format is better for data back ups.

Speed wise, I've had no problems burning a DVD at 1x, 2x, 4x,or 8x DL or SL, so to answer that question burn at any speed you want (but remember some 8x DVD RW+ or - don't always work with some cheaper DVD players).

+ vs - kind of like the Beta vs VHS wars of the 80's...... the funniest thing is that the cheaper crappier standard won that battle.

 

[Artful Dodger]

Hi, if your doing backups then you may want -RW to start (until you get the hang of things) but most players play -R more than +R. My set-top player won't play +R anything, only -R so that's what I use. Can I ask why that program for backing up? Just wondered since most use Mac The Ripper, DVD2oneX or Popcorn then Toast (Toast 7 has Popcorn) or the free program with the Mac (make a disc image). This may all be not what you mean as far as backing up on dvd and if so sorry for the long post

 

[grapes911]

You really should look into getting a external firewire drive. You can use programs such as Super Duper, Carbon Copy Cloner, or others to make complete bootable backups. I know it costs more this way, but I really recomend it.