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Yeah , +R and -R are two different recording formats, neither of which has yet been accepted as the industry standard. +R is the technically superior format, but many more standalone DVD players play the -R format. If you're unsure about what you need, you could plump for a dual format drive, which will record in either format, depending upon which type of blank you put in the drive.
As far as copying original DVDs (I assume you mean movies) goes, there are a few technical stumbling blocks, neither of which are insurmountable. Your first limitation is the capacity of the DVD; there are two types of DVDs out there that movies are recorded on - you've got DVD5 and DVD9 (the number represents the approximate capacity of the disc in Gb), otherwise known as single layeer and dual layer discs.
Most movies are pressed onto DVD9s, which is how they end up squeezing so many audio tracks, added features and subtitles onto a single disc. That's the problem - currently all blank DVDs are DVD5s, which leaves you with a couple of options:
* Only record the main movie, selectively leaving out menus, extras, etc..
* Record the whole DVD (including menus, extras, etc..), but compress the video, losing some quality in the process. It's a trade-off, depending on where your priorities lie.
Your next problem is that DVDs are encrypted, using a system called CSS (content Scrambling System). This prevents you doing a simple DVD to DVD copy. It's not a very powerful encryption system, though, and is easily broken.
DVD Shrink is an excellent, totally free bit of software that allows you to do all of the above in a relatively intuitive fashion. You'll also need some suitable burning software, but I'm sure some will come bundled with whichever recorder you purchase.
N.B. Think very carefully before paying for any software that claims to do similar things to DVD Shrink; there are many people out there selling repackaged DVD Shrink as their own product.
Hope this helps. |
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