What kind of DVD to buy?

I have a T61p and I want to make the recovery disks.

I've never had a DVD burner but my T61p has:

DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer

What kind of DVD discs should I purchase? When I go to the store they have all kinds of discs like DVD +, -, RW, +/-.

Does any type work? Which is the best/most reliable? Any brand that is better?

 

Any. Though there are people who worship Verbatim.

 

they all work and they are all pretty much exactly the same

RW stands for re-writable.. which means you can write to the disk.. then erase it or add more at a later time

 

ok, thank you!

 

I usually try to find the DVD+/-R discs that are made in Japan rather than the ones made in Taiwan. This can be a pretty big challenge though and I frequently leave the store (Best Buy, Comp USA, Sam's Club, Costco) without any disks even though I have looked through several dozen packages. When I do find them I buy several so I have a steady supply handy.

Several years ago there was a huge difference in quality between the two locations. Probably not nearly as much difference now though. I just got in the habit of always looking even if I didn't need disks at the time and buying them when I found them. Haven't run across any Made in Japan DVD +R lately though.

 

Guilty as charged.

I only go for discs manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical and Taiyo Yuden. That means Verbatim brand or directly from importers like RIMA.com. FWIW, the DVD burner manufacturers developed their drives using discs from these companies.

Previously, I had been burned by Princo and Lead Data when discs were $1 a pop. Now the quality difference is not as big but neither is the price. It's possible to buy a spindle of 100 for $20 to $30.

 

Disc quality can vary greatly.

 

I got Verbatim DVD-R from Sams Club. I have no idea where they are made but they seem to work ok.

 

Unfortunately, they are not "pretty much exactly the same". Recording quality can vary highly from one brand to another. The problem is compounded by the fact that a vendor's name on the blank media rarely corresponds to the company that made it, and even within companies that make the media, there can be variances --for example, Ritek-made media can vary in quality, depending on media code. There is also an issue of media-compatibility with drives; one drive may be more compatible with a certain vendor's discs than others, and some drives may have broader media compatibility with others (for the ongoing discussions on this, cdfreaks.com and cdrlabs.com have plenty of information). Discs with poor compatibility may have slower write speeds than expected, or errors during recording.

One reason I like Verbatim is that they're pretty consistent with the manufacturers they choose. My current Verbatim spindle is made by MCC (Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation), which has a pretty good record for quality. Media made by Taiyo Yuden has the highest reputation for quality, but it can be expensive to find stuff that you know is made by them. I also tell people to avoid the house-brand media you'll find at office supply stores; you don't know what vendor they're going with.

 

So I read the OPs question as: +,-,+/- or RW, not necessarily the manufacturer although the replies did address that aspect of buying DVDs. Given the type of DVD recorders the T61p typically comes with, which of the designations would he want to buy keeping in mind the playability on other DVD players.

And is RW similar to my Panasonic's DVD RAM (the DVD recorder I have hooked up to my TV).
On my T61 I just have a DVD Rom/CD burner.

 

Good point, SpotBurner.

In which case, I'd say don't buy RW discs. It'd really stink to overwrite your backup media someday. That, and RW discs don't have the longevity of +R/-R discs.

I personally get -R's due to their better compatibility with some really early DVD players. +R's generally work fine though, it's just force of habit on my part.