I bought a DVD drive (to replace my CD drive). My question is, what is the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R? Also, do I need DVD-RW so the disks can be used over and over?

- Lyn Waters

DVD-R and DVD+R can only be recorded one time; +R is a newer, more reliable technology. Both work fine. As you guessed, RW means read/write. So these are the discs you need if you want to record something, be able to erase it, and record again. They can be reused many times - the industry says 1,000, but that may be generous.

So if you want to record something and keep it, use -R or +R. Either of these has a better chance of a long life than RW. If you want to record and erase RW is the way to go.

bhusted@ajc.com.

Bill Husted writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.