DVD burning with a 2010 iMac

Hey folks,

I realise DVD burning is as old as the hills, but despite having owned five computers in the past ten years, I've never actually done it. Even once!

I understand there are many different standards of disc (DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW etc.). Can someone please advise as to which I should buy, and which program I should use to do the burning (I assume there's something in OS X...?).

Anything else that you think is relevant, please feel free. Cheers,



DH.

 

Thanks for the reply.

Purely data. Although learning how to write discs to run in DVD players wouldn't do any harm.


As for which type of disc, any thoughts?

 

Excellent. Thank you.

 

One question to add to this, please: which speed should I use for writing?

These blanks that I have (Verbatim DVD+R DL) claim to be 'x8 speed', and it seems that my SuperDrive is capable of writing at a maximum of x6 (according to Windows 7).

Am I okay to use x6 write-speed, or should I use a lower speed to play it safe? These data backups are going to be shelved as soon as they're burned - I certainly won't have time to test them all.

Cheers.

 

Really?! Hm. That's odd. I guess that's just Windows being a "sorry, no" git, as usual...

... so, do you think using x6 will be reliable, then? The other options are x4, and x2.4.

Reliability is my key concern.


EDIT: Ah, mate... I just checked that link, and the SuperDrive writes at x8 for single-layer discs, and x4 for dual-layer. These are dual-layer.

 

Thanks.

Do you concur with my learned friend, that writing at x4 should be reliable?

 

Right. Looks like the Windows 7 default burning software doesn't do this.

Is there a burning program (ideally free) that you could recommend for doing this?