DVD-R was first format that was developed by Pioneer and is used by most computer users today. These discs will work with most DVD players on market at time of writing.

DVD-RW is pretty much same as above but 'W' bit means disc is re-writeable. You can over-write existing data over and over again. You can usually write disc as much as upto a 1000 times! I would suggest practise writing to DVD-RW to stop wasting DVD's and then write to a DVD-R when you want a more permanent copy.

Then we have DVD+R DVD+RW. These discs will do same job as DVD-R and DVD-RW but tend to cost just a little more to buy. There is actually little difference between +R and -R. They are slightly more expensive but in most respects have same longevity and reliability as DVD-R.

Need for speed

Different DVD writers have different write speeds as well. DVD+R will burn faster than there counterparts DVD-R. The old write speed was 4x but now DVD writers can burn at 16x speeds. So if your dvd writer burns at 8x just make sure you buy discs that burn at 8x or whatever speed your drive is. Easy!

Creating That First Disc

You will find information regarding your DVD writer on box or in instructions like:

Recording Formats DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW

Recording Speeds 8x, 4x, 2.4x,

Connections USB, Firewire

Now you know that you can burn a DVD+R at 8x speed on your burner. Thats all you need to know in order to burn that first disc. What are you waiting for? Go and impress someone with your new found burning skills!

So DVD burning products that ripped movies coding were considered illegal. New ripper-free versions of software were created but these do not usually work on commercial DVDs. For now, law basically states that you can not make a copy of a commercial DVD, even if that copy is intended as a backup for personal use. You certainly can not give that copy to anyone else or sell it or distribute it in any way.

There is a lot of software out there that surpasses copy-protection schemes on store-bought DVDs and will allow you to make copies but you should be aware that you use these at your own risk because law could charge you in violation of intellectual property laws.

There are however, legal DVD burning programs for unprotected discs such as your own home movies. These disc burning programs can also help you burn your home movies from VHS to DVD. If you purchase your software from internet, you may want to be careful to make sure you are purchasing legal software. You would not want to become subject of a legal situation later.