TY media IS the best. However not all TY printable discs are the same. The ones best for inkjet printing are the TY "Watershield" discs.

thanks for the reply. I use Taiyo Yuden DVD+Rs and they have been flawless.

I also read some good info on the Super Media Store site, and dug up the specs for my burner--a Sony DRU-720a, which itself has been flawless over the past few years, and CNET tested it with Verbatim DVD-RW and DVD+RWs, bot with good results.

So I went ahead and bought a spindle to the Verbatims +RWs

As long as we are discussing this here--is there a big difference between the DVD-R and DVD+R formats?

I guess I am not sure I've ever even known there's a difference until about 2 weeks ago!

TB

**is there a big difference between the DVD-R and DVD+R formats?**

A few years ago, -R was preferred because slightly more (older) home entertainment players supported it. These days, it makes little difference because the vast majority of players support both. I burn +R exclusively and only once in four years has a -R copy been requested for a (much) older player.

DVD +R is supposed to have better error handling capability, but I doubt few people would be able to tell a difference at the user level.

The original question was about re-writeables, not +R or -R. With re-writeables, I strongly recommend using the +RW and not the -RW. The reason for using the plus version is that they write MUCH faster. This is because they don't need as long a lead in or lead out. I use rewriteables to make short tests before I encode something. With +RW, I can write a 20-30 second test clip in just a few seconds. With -RW it takes several minutes.

Also, I think you can get +RW in faster speeds (8x) than -RW (6x).

As an aside, I can't believe how many people post about having done a twenty-hour encode, only to find something isn't right. They then complain about having to do it all over again. For heaven sake, encode ten seconds, put it on a DVD+RW and look at the darn thing before you waste all that time!!.

As to brands, it depends a lot on your burner. Don't get Memorex anything. I have had very good luck with Sony brands. Go to Meritline or Supermediastore and choose any of their Premium brands and I think you'll be OK.

Again, all my comments here are about re-writeables. For write-once, the answer is simple: get 8x Taiyo Yuden DVD-R discs, making sure to get the PREMIUM and not the value line brand. This is what I get:

Taiyo Yuden DVD-R

You can also get these same discs with different types of surfaces. Same media, just a different top side.

What John says is supported by the quick research I did today:

FWIW, Super media store had some good info:

http://www.supermediastore.com/verbatim-4x-dvd-plus-rw-media-94834.html

And the CNET review of my DVD burner showed faster burn times for the +RW discs

http://reviews.cnet.com/dvd-drives/sony-dru-720a-dl/4505-3212_7-31274635.html

Great info here. Indeed, I meant to indicate DVD-RW versus DVD+RW in my first post, but made an error. So I am glad for the comments, as I would like to start using +RW instead of +R.

TB

I had no idea about the +RW advantage until someone -- a person who has very little knowledge about such things -- told me about it. Because he wasn't a tech guy, I almost dismissed it, but then, like you, I did some research and found out he was right. When I then purchased a few +RW discs and did some burns, wow was I impressed! It makes a huge difference when doing these little test burns. I can push a button in Nero, and thirty seconds later take the disc over to my TV to view the test. Good stuff.

I then found out about the 8x advantage and purchased some Memorex 8x. Good news is that they were lightning fast on my old Plextor 740. Bad news is that the Plextor died under warranty, and Plextor sent me an 800 as the replacement. This sucker won't touch the Memorex discs, and Plextor refuses to issue a firmware update. I then found that the Memorex discs are junk which normally doesn't matter for RW because they just have to work for a few minutes, not years, and they only have to work on my equipment. So, that's why I recommended not getting Memorex, and why I also recommended simply getting whatever "premium" +RW discs are being sold at Meritline or Supermediastore.