I'm thinking about getting blank media, which is better dvdR+, or R-?

Question

I'm thinking about getting blank media, which is better dvdR+, or R-?

Answer 1

Actually, it's not dvdR+ or dvdR-.  It's DVD+R and DVD-R.  That's important when you think of CD-R.  The DVD-R and CD-R, or as you where trying to say, the -R group, are in traditional formats that play in your DVD player and CD player and have been around as long as either of those devices.  The new +R is exclusive to DVD's.  The only difference is that the DVD+R uses multi layer technology to store more information.  THis is only useful on your computer and won't allow you to store more movie for your DVD player on your TV.  It's only usefull if you have a DVD writer that can write in +R multi layer format, otherwise your DVD recorder only burns in singal layer format like it was a -R anyhow.  So for that reason it's kind of a non issue, you either don't need it or can't use it or it's only helpful in storing huge freaking files on your pc.  For that reason I buy DVD+R's because it's better to have it and not need it then it is to need it and not have it.  But odd's are you'll never use the difference.  They're even priced the same these days.

Answer 2

If we're talking media for a home theater recorder (stand-alone DVD recorder like a VCR), I've noticed a big difference in the + and - versions when it comes to the rewirtable (RW) media.

Just like when you create a music CD, DVD-R discs and DVD+R discs (as well as the RW versions) allow you to add recordings one at a time until the disc is full.  But until you finalize the disc, you can't play it in another DVD player (or give it to a friend to watch).  Once you've closed the disc, you can't add any more recordings.

DVD-RW is similar to the -R media, you can add recordings one at a time, but you can't play them on another DVD player until the disc is closed, after which you cannot record on it again until you've erased the entire disc.

But DVD+RW has some nice features that make it more like a VCR:  you can add recordings one at a time, but after each recording is finished, the recorder temporarily "closes" the disc, allowing you to give a partially recorded disc to a friend to borrow.  You can then get it back and add to the disc later.  The information to close the disc is erased and rewritten without erasing everything on the disc.  

Additionally, you can erase individual recordings on a +RW disc without having to erase the entire disc (you can't do that with -RW).

But in order to use these +RW features, you need a recorder that can record in +R and +RW formats.