"Rahul" <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:Xns9AD2D4A1AAB546650A1FC0D7811DDBC81@207.46.2 48.16...
> I'm always confused by DVD terminology when buying media to write on.
> There's DVD / DVD+R / DVD-R / DVDRW and I'm not even sure which more!
>
> Are these all really distinct technologies and formats? Or are some
> subsets
> / supersets of others? Or maybe its only backward compatibility issues?
> What's the best way to figure out what format my Laptop supports? Do they
> have varied sizes? Does it matter whether I'm writing data or movies etc.?
> I faintly remember there being lead-in / lead-out issues....
>
> I've never faced the problem that I bought some commercial movie etc. on a
> DVD and my Dell Laptop ( Inspirion E1505)'s inbuilt DVD reader /writer
> couldn't read it. Its a dual boot so are there any Linux-vs-Win issues
> too?
>
> Are these distinctions only relevant when writing disks at home as opposed
> to commercially stamped disks? Or maybe when reading on hardware other
> than
> "computers" (etc. DVD players etc.)
>
>
> Just looking for some tips to lead me out of this technology morass.
>
> --
> Rahul

The plus (+) and minus (-) are write formats. Either writer requirement
doesn't really matter. In the end, both can read both formats if worth
their salt.

In the early days, there were DVD players for the TV that could only read
the plus or minus versions. Now, that's not really an issue. Stamped DVDs
is not an issue in any case. For both DVD players and DVD burners, media
quality and reflectivity can determine the outcome of a readability and
burner recognition.
--
Dave

Speculation on a product or material that is
an obvious need, is not speculation per se
as there is no risk to the speculator.
Common were those selling food and other
supplies in the gold rush days.
In this case, its oil and its everyone who
bites the bullet. And most everyone has no gold
to be made, just business as usual.