Why do you guys get +R drives?

[bighap]

Originally posted by jdog006
it seems that when I play my back-ups on DVD+R that the laser is a lot more quiet than when I play back-ups on CD-R.

Any type of dvd media is going to be quieter than cd-r.

[RAISTLIN]

heheh....this is like the old "what came first, the chicken or the egg?" question. Everyone has an opinion, and opinions are like a$$holes--everyone has one, but not everyone wants to here it.

A few simple facts remain true and undisputed: Pioneer backed the research into this medium, and Sony and Phillips had nothing to do with it. Then, when the DVD Forum accepted Pioneer's offering and put it on the books and denied the Sony/Phillips offering, they got their noses bent out of shape and started a smearing campaign trying to convince everyone their medium was better. Sounds kinda' like how the PSX came into existence when Nintendo turned down Sony's offer to create an optical drive for the SuperNES, so they branched out on their own and made it an independent console--now Nintendo is crying over the loss in sales.

Let's face it, the experts agreed that -R is the best way to go--based on field testing and thorough investigation into the spec's of the medium and design of the playback devices. A -R disc is the closest thing to a pressed disc, and by design has more failsafes against burning errors. The +R format is too open to write scheme manipulations via software that can render the disc unreadable to a majority of playback devices out there. The -R disc uses only the DVD Forum's compliant write scheme used by pressed DVD-R's and therefore insures a greater chance for long-term playback success across a broader range of devices.

My 2 pennies worth....I'll shut up now.

Raist

[BrickcityBG]

Originally posted by precisionmods
+R drives are:

- More expensive than -R drives
- The media costs more
- Less set top compatibility than -R media
- Has been out less time than -R drives
- Not any faster than -R drives

??

Just face it, -R is better.

+R is more compatible.....at least they say. I have had absolutely NO problem at all with +R. only diff is -r has a "straight groove" and +R has a "wobbled groove". They say +R is all around better.....but I dunno. I like em.

[PRiME2020]

I have a sony drive which has both, and I noticed the +RW media can go upto 4x which is twice that of -RW media atm, this can be a bonus for people who like toying with their dvd-media and don't want to waste their expansive DVD-/+Rs on experimenting

[RAISTLIN]

RE: BrickCity

Actually, both media have a wobbled groove--that is the DVD spec. What you've probably read about is that the -R has a pre-pressed groove that cannot be altered, whereas +R is completely burned on the fly. Granted, there is a reference groove, but the headers of each data packet are burned completely from scratch on +R, where as the headers of a -R is pressed. Herein lies the core of the compatability issue. These "ticks" that prompt the hardware that each new packet of data is coming (as well as keep the laser on track) have a higher reflectivity (because they are pressed, not burned) on -R media. Thus older units have a better chance of reading them. To the hardware, a -R is read just like a pressed DVD that has a lower reflectivity problem. To read a +R disc, the reader has to have a BIOS/Firmware of a specific release date or later, as well as a more sensitive pickup unit to read it consistently. This is why it does not function as well on older units.

Then there is the problem of Write Strategy Manipulation. With +R media and capable burning software, you can restructure the data headers to create more data space, faster access times,...several different features. The problem is, this sends the entire disc out of spec and greatly reduces the compatability factor, since many devices are looking for a data stream that follows a set format for headers and Data. Again, you have to have a BIOS/Firmware that is capable of reading discs burned in these different strategies. It's sort of like the difference between burning your PS games in Mode1 CDR vs Mode2 CDR. By design, it won't work on a PS2. The same may apply to DVD+R if you manipulate the write strategy in this way. This is one of the reasons it was booted by the DVD Forum---the -R can and will ONLY be written in the DVD Movie compliant strategy.

RE: Prime202

Actually, -RW has been successfully written at 4X with hacked firmwares on a Pioneer A05. That is DVD-RW, not DVD-R at 4X. It will be coming to market soon enough. Maybe in the A06--who knows. No one ever thought that CDR's would reach over 12X at one time. Now they are exceeding 50X, and CD-RW is over 10X. Given time, both DVD medias will be equal in speed once again. Besides, with the current stock of burners/media on the market right now, the differences between pits and lands can be quite thin at speeds over 2X on all DVD mediums if your drive is slightly underpowered (this is a system design and medium issue, not the medium itself) and is generally not recommended for anything but data that will be used on a PC Drive at this point in time. As technology advances, this will become a mute issue, but in the short term, 2X burns/2.4X are the fastest optimum speed for -R/+R reliability. Is an extra 500KB's /sec. (only 4 minute difference in burn time for a full DVD-R) really worth the extra $100+ you spend on getting a +R capable drive? Hard to justify for me....

Raist