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So I've got the DRU-500A.... I'm lookin' to back up a bunch of Data... to ensure more widespread compatibility should I use +R(W) or -R(W) media? I'm leaning towards +, but wanted some input....

Well, your ahead of me!
Mine's still in the box!!

OK, here's what I have read so far:
Traditionally, DVD-R has been the most reliable, esp. when played in older "component" DVD players.

Also our new drive is still having "teething" problems - stay tuned for BIOS upgrades.

However, both the Sony DRU500A and the NEC drive scheduled to appear sometime in December (in other "blue-smoke-and-mirrors" "vaporware" words - REAL-SOON-NOW) use a different method of writing.

This could mean that what was true for all drives in the past will not be true for these new drives.

So we get to find out the hard way. (Ain't it great being on the bloddy edge?)

Also of great intrest, except for Verbatum's older blanks, it seems that just about everything works - but only at 1X with certainty.
And a closely connected situation - the Verbatum disk recall and the obvious way these new Multi-Format DVD drives are going to sweep the market place - coupled with a perceived need for "more compatable and highter speed media" has all the high volume Blank Media Dealers (the internet ones at least) making poo-poo in their shorts.

This means BLOW-OUT PRICES ON OLD MEDIA!

So if we can be content with 1x recording (in any format), we can make out like bandits!
Yes, some of the high-speed media works great, but it costs a lot more, too.

Hope this helps some.

I'm sure there will be LOTS of actual experience soon, too!

Compatibility is about even from what I have heard.

I personally use DVD-R with my DRU-500A, since
it is much cheaper (often half as much), and all three of my home DVD players (and both of my DVD-ROM drives) support DVD-R.

VEFF wrote:Compatibility is about even from what I have heard.

In theory dvd+r might have good physical compatibility,
but from what I can tell, dvd+r shares dvd+rw's lack
of logical compatibility.
Also, as far as I know, a method to set the compatibility bit when
burning dvd+r from a dru-500 has yet to appear. And
there are dvd drives
with known problems reading dvd+r/+rw media without
the compatibility setting. Therefore I'd claim dvd+r
is less compatible than dvd-r.

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/resources/bitsettings.html#pc

I know that the Lite On DVD-ROM drives claim they do not read DVD+R so with knowing that I only buy DVD-Rs for data back up. I just want to be able to read them on a standard DVD-ROM is for some reason my Sony 500A dies. If I would have known this before I bought the drive, I might have considered a Pioneer A04, but I like knowing that I can do it all.

Have you checked for a firmware update for your lite-on drive? If you're lucky,
newer firmware *might* support dvd+r. dvdplusrw.org links to:
http://perso.club-internet.fr/farzeno/firmware/

That page seems to be mostly focused with defeating RPC region protection, but
it does have links to newer non-cracked firmware as well.

I had no luck finding newer firmware for my dvd-rom drive that supports dvd+r/rw

thanks for the info!!!