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mackandproud · Dec 17, 2009, 09:49 PM

OK, it's the 21st century and it's about time I learned about how to burn DVD's! I had been using a pismo until late 2008 so my blackbook "superdrive" has some ahem, unique features.

I want to back up my movies onto dual layer DVD's, but have a couple quick questions.

1. Is DVD +R DL, or is DVD-R DL the standard for burning movies? Compatibility with most all DVD players is my main priority here.

2. Which brands of DVD R are most reliable?

Thanks!

MacSupportLiam · Dec 18, 2009, 10:45 AM

To answer each of your questions:

1) DVD +R was generally made to be the more universally compatible, but generally -R will be as compatible with most machines. If you want to play it safe, go with the +R

2) I have a lot of filmmaker friends that swear by Memorex and Maxwell. Personally I have also used Verbatim for years as well and have never had a problem.

Cheers

mduell · Dec 18, 2009, 06:07 PM

1. -R works better out of the box/with normal settings, but your burning software lets you set booktype then use +R and set booktype to -ROM for better compatibility with set top players.

mackandproud · Dec 18, 2009, 10:26 PM

I've read that DVD +R DL is the best option. I'm going to try some verbatim DVD+R DL's, as they seem to be getting good reviews:

Amazon.com: Verbatim 96542 8.5 GB 8X Dual-Layer DVD+R, 30-Disc Spindle: Electronics

tooki · Dec 19, 2009, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by MacSupportLiam

1) DVD +R was generally made to be the more universally compatible, but generally -R will be as compatible with most machines. If you want to play it safe, go with the +R

Uhhhh... no. DVD+R was released because one group of manufacturers got impatient that the DVD Forum (the standards body for DVD) was taking too long to make DVD-R, which came out later. In tests, DVD-R consistently has broader playback compatibility than DVD+R.

mduell · Dec 19, 2009, 04:33 PM

DVD-R was first to market, although DVD+R may have been the first to release DL since they were generally ahead on features/performance.

The difference in compatibility is mostly just for very old players that were around after -R was planned but before +R was released.

mackandproud · Dec 23, 2009, 10:14 PM

OK, I've got my discs. Now, how do I burn backups? I've looked at disk utility and it won't let me burn the entire folder onto a disc.

Spheric Harlot · Dec 24, 2009, 02:04 AM

Finder --> Help --> "burn DVD"

Cold Warrior · Dec 24, 2009, 04:22 PM

Since this one has replies to it, I'm closing your other DVD burning thread and moving this one to Applications.

Spheric Harlot · Dec 25, 2009, 02:31 AM

Different focus! The other one was about copying videos.

Cold Warrior · Dec 25, 2009, 10:13 AM

We can make it all-inclusive then: backing up videos and burning to DVD.
If that doesn't work for the OP, then he can just create a more specific thread. As written it was very similar, even titled almost identically.

Spheric Harlot · Dec 25, 2009, 11:08 AM

It was also completely redundant, as the exact topic had been covered literally dozens of times and is well-documented in the forum search.