The difference between DVD-R and DVD+R

I've just bought some of the DVD+Rs and they too have a lifetime guarantee, I've not yet heard back from verbatim but I wonder why it doesn't say that on their website, so ignore that.

TWO years since this was posted! ANY new info on DVD-R Vs. DVD+R??

Woops,I guess there is one from late 2008,Gotta pay attention myself and go to "Next Thread"! DUH!

now that it's 2009 has this discussion changed in terms of which is the best overall media?...I've always read that DVD-R was best for video storage and DVD+R media was best for data/file storage...does this still applyy?

I would be interested in any progress, as well. Right now, my only concern is to make long-lasting discs burned from ISO's.

It is my intent (rightly, or wrongly) to go with Taiyo Yuden branded products (not the value line), and I do not need to print on them, other than with a Sharpie pen. So, is it +R or -R?

Would also be interested to know this - is it still true that DVD-r has better compatability with standlone DVD players? All the posts referring to this issue seem to be from 2003/2004 - has the situation changed? I've always avoided DVD+r because it might not be as widely accepted in standalone players.

I seriously doubt you can buy any new DVD player today which doesn't support single layer DVD+R and DVD-R.
Some of them may be really crappy and may only play really good media burned properly, however.

I'm not sure about dual/double layer DVD+/-R support, but in general the most widely supported will be DVD+R DL with booktype set to DVD-ROM during burning; most burners do that by default.

Things may be different for standalone DVD recorders. There can be a difference in which recording features are supported on + and - media, and there might be some recorder out there that doesn't support both formats for recording. All of them should support both formats for playback, however. Check the manual of your DVD recorder if in doubt.

For an older DVD player, the compatibility hasn't changed since that particular player was released - it won't magically support a DVD format now that it didn't support when it was released.

Single Layer DVD+R burned with booktype DVD-ROM is roughly as compatible with old players as DVD-R (and more compatible than DVD+R burned with booktype DVD+R).

@poppy12: Welcome to CDFreaks!

A magnavox player(very cheap one)from Walmart recently purchased won't play DVD+R unless the booktype is set to DVDROM, DVD-R work okay. My other players don't seem to have an issue with +R no matter what setting is used.

WOW, many replies. Thank You

I always use DVD-R from Memorex to burn my ISO images and works flawlessly on my PC and Magnavox dvd player, don;t use the + version though.

Sure, we love memowrecks. Comments about them are all over this forum.

Some like `em some don`t.

So what is "them" in your opinion?

Memowrecks rebrand other stuff all the time - you cann never know what you get before you can use it...

Cheers.