Learning about DVD Media types
 

We just bought a DVD Recorder/VCR combo and so now I'm learning about the different DVD media types.

I was told by the salesman that DVD-RW/DVD+RWs lose the quality after one or two recordings. Is this true? We record a lot of TV shows to watch later, but not keep. Maybe VHS tapes are still the way to go. By the way, it was hard to find a combo that had a 4-head VCR in it!

Also, I know that on my computer I can only burn to a CDR once, even if more room is remaining. Is this true with the DVD-R/DVD+R as well? I read that a disk can hold up to 2 hours of good quality or 3 hours of VHS quality, but does this 2 or 3 hours have to be recorded on all at once?

That salesman wasn't wearing a blue shirt, was he?

I use Fuji DVD-RWs for television programming and they last me a lot longer than one or two burns. Enough so that I haven't bothered to hook up my VCR since moving.

Why not buy a five-pack and see what kind of performance you get out of them? They aren't that expensive.

DVD+R and DVD-R can be recorded on once. Actually you can put 8 hours on one. These are for permanent recording not reusing over and over. You don't have to fill the disc up at once. As long as you don't finalize the disc you can continue adding to it until filled. In order to watch what you have recorded on a DVD+R or DVD-R on something other than the recorder you have to finalize the disc in which case you won't be able to add to it.

Thanks, this is exactly what I needed to know. Not finalizing the DVD right away isn't a problem since we'll almost always be watching it on the same machine it was recorded on.

[QUOTE=Mr. Salty]That salesman wasn't wearing a blue shirt, was he?QUOTE]

Nope! BB salespeople in the past haven't been very knowledgeable (ok, my husband called them idiots! -- Sorry to anyone who works there!), so we went to CC, my preferred store. CC employees ignored us so we walked out. ABC, which is his favorite, treated us great, went the extra mile to find the answers to our questions, and made us good deals by knocking off additional money from even the sale prices. We spend over $500 there on multiple items -- CC's loss, I guess.

While the +/-RW discs do not lose their quality after a few recordings, they "may" be unusable if they sit too long. If you want to keep it long, use the single use +/-Rs, if you want to temp. storage, use the RWs.