DVD-/+R(RW) Compatibility - Help!

I really hope someone can help me. I have a business that ultimately involves the sale of a DVD Recordable Disk product. I currently have an old HP100i DVD+RW burner, and I use Ritek blank media, and sometimes Verbatim, which both seem to work great. I've searched this forum and I still haven't quite worked out a good understanding of the DVD burners that are both -/+. If the burner supports both formats, does that mean that it burns in both at the same time? Or, do you simply have to choose to burn in one mode (-) or the other (+) based on what you know about each and every player? The problem is, I don't always know or have a way to find out what type of player my customers have, because sometimes my product is a gift for someone they want to surprise. At this point, even with HP's DVD disk & drive compatibility utilities and endless player compatitbility lists, I am frankly worn-out of all the research required just to bring some sense of standard to my product. If I give a demo video to a prospective customer, I have to explain to them that it may not play in their player, and this story is getting old, and it makes being perceived as a reliable business a real hardship. So, aside from addressing the previous questions in this post, if any geniouses in this forum could extend to me his/her opinion as to the absolute best DVD burner on the market today that I could buy, in terms of achieving maximum compatibility, regardless of expense. In other words, what is the magic formula for optimal compatibility (i.e. burner & media)? Thanks so much for any help you can offer! Thank you.

 

If a burner says it uses + or - r it means you can use a + or - r disk in it to record on. The people you give your disks to should play either in their players.( i myself find -r more reliable , but i have a -r recorder so i am not up-to-date on +r )

 

The burner you use really doesn't have anything to do with compatibility. Media has a little to do with it, crappy media means crappy results (Your choice of media is fine). The only real compatibility issue is if the player can actually play + or - discs. Some players won't play either (old ones), some just -R, and some will play both.

 

Look into the Pioneer DVR-AO5, I hear it's great does it all.

 

Well + and - ar two different formats and you need different media to burn them. Fortunately dual format burners are out, so you will not have to get two burners. I suggest Pioneer DVR-A06 (or 106D at the bulk version) and not A05, which my friend toygirl said and it's only a - burner.

With that burner you can burn both formats as long as you have both media. You can check out what player plays what format at http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdplayers but you should know that generally DVD-R is better.

 

To understand +/- formats, go here: http://www.geocities.com/simpleguides/Info_dvdformats.htm

or here:http://www.chrismccann.co.uk/dvd_formats.htm

Also, best to get a duel DVD writer these days as you get the best of both worlds then!

 

HI EVERYBODY...READING THE DEBATE ON DVD -/+ IS INTERESTING BUT LOSES ME...AS I AM VERY NEW TO THE DVD GAME....I HAVE A SONY DWU10A DVD RW AND ON A U.S SITE IT TELLS ME THAT IT WILL DO BOTH -/+ IS THIS CORRECT...AND ALSO AM I RIGHT IN THINKING THAT THE -/+ IS ONLY TO DO WITH THE BURNING SPEEDS.

 

After a long fights with some of the most known brands of DVD burners (all of them are resting in pease), the only thing that I have to notify is to agree with the other persons of the forum. For your infirmation I'm including (once more) the following items:
(1). All DVD-ROMs (computer depending or stand alone devices) are able to reproduce the +/- R format.
(2). The +/- R format has to do only about how the DVD disc itself has been compiled (constant angle velocity for -R or constant linear velocity for +R format.
(3). The firmware of each DVD disk may not be supported by your burner (not all discs +/-R are recognized by all DVD burners.
(4). Decide which compatibility you must select for burning your discs (DVD file format or UDF - for older stand alone devices-). DVD-ROMs supporting both formats.

 

Thanks Oracle i will bear that in mind...i am new to this DVD stuff and just wanted to know what all this stuff was about..Many Thanks

 

I thought the Ao5-RW was the newest, so my retailers tell me...so I bought that one. Apparently it has been flawless, I have not installed it yet, but now I'm wondering about the A06?????? OMG! What to do now??