Dual DVD+RW/+R DVD-RW/-R (16x/10x/40x CDRW In this DVD writter drive what is the difference between + and - what does it mean having either + or - ? DVD+RW/+R or DVD-RW/-R Cause I see you can buy media for both aswell? DVD+R 4.7GB disc or DVD-R 4.7GB disc Im lookin into buying one and I'd like to know what this means before I get one. Thanks for any input.

Pioneer produced the first DVD writer in 1997. It used the DVD-R format. The DVD-RW came later. In 1999 the DVD Forum was formed. It embraced the DVD-R format. In the summer of 1997 Philips lead a group (included Sony and Hewlett-Packard) that split away from other disk manufacturers because of disputed over DVD writing standards. They formed the DVD+RW alliance. Since then Dell, MCC/Verbatim, Mitsubishi, Ricoh, Thomson, and Yamaha have joined the group. They developed the DVD+RW DVD writing format and later the DVD+R format which was derived from the DVD+RW format. Today some manufactures just make either + drivers or - drivers. Others produce both types. Last September Sony produced the first drive that wrote both + and - formats the DRX-500UL. I have a Memorex Dual-X which also write both + and - formats. CDRInfo ran some compatibility tests on both PC and home DVD drives. They found the following: DVD-R=96.74% DVD+R=87.32% Even though DVD-R seems to be more compatible it all depends on what you are using them for. For your own either will do. If you want to distribute some disks then you have to make sure the disks you will make will work on the target drive. =============================================================================================== DVD Recordable formats http://www.pctechguide.com/10dvd3.htm#Recordable_formats DVD Media Format Compatibility Tests http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Articles/Specific.asp?ArticleHeadline=DVD%20Media%20Format%20Compatibility%20Tests&Series=0

Thankyou man really appreciate that it explains pretty much what I wanted to know. Cheers man