DVD Recording - Is There a Winner Yet?

Rob writes "Ok, so I've finally gotten my TiVo configured to let me extract and archive video, now I'm wondering what is my best solution? I currently have a CDR that I've been able to use to save both VCD and SVCD. Unfortunately I have a very old DVD player that will only play VCD's. So I decided that it's time to look at recording to DVD, but what is the right answer? Has any format won? I just got back from Fry's and I could get either -R/-RW or +R/+RW and there were even drives that did all of the formats. This is all well and good, since I'll have to buy a new DVD player to play any of them, but which format is most widely accepted? Even if I get a drive that will record in any format what do most DVD players accept? Sure I can make sure that my DVD player will play whatever format I produce but what about my parents and friends?"

Comments

Re:Yes, there's a winner

[harlows_monkeys]

DVD-R is the only format that has been approved by the DVD Forum

Big whoop. DVD+R is the one approved by Sony and Phillips...not to mention Dell, HP, Ricoh, Yamaha, and a little company named Microsoft.

DVD+R/+RW is better technically, and doesn't require different discs for different purposes. It will easily last as long as DVD-R.

Re:Easy, read http://www.dvdrhelp.com

[splink splink]

I think your answer is informative and the dvdrhelp site provides lots of information, but a simple Google search may not have provided the information Cliff desired. I know you're not trying to troll, but here's my take on why he asked Slashdot.

It may smack of insanity to many, but Slashdot is a community (okay, a vocal, opinionated group that will share their opinions wether you want them to or not). Cliff is asking for an opinion from his community - something more than the fact sheets from manufacturers or "unknown entity" opinions found in a random search.

Does that mean that the information he'll get from asking Slashdot will be better than the results of a Google search? Maybe not. Slashdot is just as good of a choice for disinformation as any other site on the web - but at least he'll have context - and he'll have chosen the source of his information, for better or worse.

Doesn't anybody have the sales figures?

[prairiedock]

What Rob wants to know -- and what I want to know -- is which format is outselling the other, not which one /.'er X prefers and which one Y has heard has more problems than the other, and not even the rumor that a certain fruity computer company is leaning toward dvd-r (or is it dvd+r, who cares?)

dvdrhelp is a nice site, but they only tell you how many recorder models do one or the other or both and how many dvd player models play one or the other or both. What we want to know is: is one recorder format outselling the other by, say, 5 to 1, because then the war is over and hang the minute technical details. You can't find this out by Googling, unless there is some secret search-term combination; I've tried.

The sales data seems to be as closely held as the crown jewels. Isn't there some industry insider reading this who will post some facts, perhaps as Anonymous Coward?

And curse Sony for starting this whole format war in the first place!

Re:Yes, there's a winner

[Temsi]

If it's not better, why do so many people use it?

I'm gonna go out on a limb here:
Because Microsoft has a monopoly?
Because of software availability?
Because that's all OEM's offer? (with VERY few exceptions).
Because that's what they learned at school?
Because most people don't even know there's an alternative?

Just because it's popular doesn't make it good.
Just look at Britney Spears... or VHS... or Michael Bay movies... or McDonalds... or Twinkies... or fossil fuels... I could go on...

My point is, popularity and quality are not the same thing. Microsoft has the worlds best marketing machine... how do I know? because they routinely beat the competition, even when the competition offers a better product, at a lower price.