Momopi, questions about DVD's and CD's

Post by **Winston** » October 21st, 2010, 7:21 am

Momopi,
I just bought some DVD-RW's at a store called 3C in Taiwan. The brand was called Melody, which is very common in Taiwan. Is that a good brand? Would you trust it?

Also, what is the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R? I've bought both before and on my Magnavox DVD player/burner, the DVD+R's had problems and wouldn't burn properly. Only the DVD-R's would burn properly, but only with certain brands like TDK and Sony.

Why is this? If DVD-R's are more reliable, then why would anyone buy a DVD+R?

Also, what is the difference between DVD-RW and DVD+RW? I got the DVD-RW pack cause I had back luck with +'s in the past.

Any idea?

Thanks,
Winston

momopi · Post by **momopi** » October 21st, 2010, 9:57 am

The DVD-RW drive you bought is from Melody Technology Group, based in TW:
http://www.melodygroup.com/

I have not purchased any DVD drives from them, so cannot give an opinion on the quality from personal experience. Except for laptop DVD drives, all my desktop computer DVD drives are Sony. Let me also state that my preferred brand is Sony, but lately their customer service quality has declined, so I may switch in the future.

DVD-RW technology was developed by Pioneer, vs. DVD+RW was developed by a group of companies (Mitsubishi, Philips, Ricoh, Sony, etc). Think of it as VHS vs. Betamax, except they're the same size so you can make DVD drives that support multiple formats. But this is mostly irrvelent since the industry is moving to Blue Ray disc drives.

DVD-R discs have better compatibility with DVD players than DVD+R discs. But the difference is <10% in tests. What really matters to the consumers is that DVD-R/RW discs are cheaper than DVD+R/RW discs.

Post by **Winston** » October 21st, 2010, 10:11 am

Well if they are made in TW and common, then they are probably a reliable brand, otherwise they would not be so popular. Sounds logical?

So who would want a DVD+R if the DVD-R's are more reliable? What's the advantage of a DVD+R?

I bought the DVD-RW's to use as backup storage for important files. Is that a wise idea, to store important files on there?

Thanks,
Winston

momopi · Post by **momopi** » October 21st, 2010, 3:57 pm

Winston wrote:Well if they are made in TW and common, then they are probably a reliable brand, otherwise they would not be so popular. Sounds logical?
So who would want a DVD+R if the DVD-R's are more reliable? What's the advantage of a DVD+R?
I bought the DVD-RW's to use as backup storage for important files. Is that a wise idea, to store important files on there?
Thanks,
Winston

Just because the company is in TW, does not mean the actual unit is made in TW. The manufacturing can be contracted out to China, Indonesia, Philippines, etc. Download "Blood, Sweat, and Luxuries" TV series (BBC) and you can see electronic factories in the Philippines assembling MP3 player components.

DVD-R/DVD+R is mostly irrevelent. There are only 2 things important to a consumer. One, the price of the blank disc. Two, when you burn a DVD movie, can you play it on your stand-alone DVD player (connected to TV). The technology behind it and its differences have little value. i.e. DVD+RW has better defect management system, but these days the discs are cheap, we just toss bad ones into the rubbish bin.

Depending on the amount of data that you want to archive, it might make more sense to use TB size external HDD's, instead of DVD disc. I think 1 TB 2.5" HDD is $120, and 2 TB 3.5" HDD is $100 (check pricewatch.com).