I just bought a Panasaonic VHS and DVD Recorder combo player and was wondering whether is better to use + - or RAM media in the player?

main use will be recording hte odd tv program, dubbing old VHS onto DVD and some DV input onto DVD.

the player says multi format recording and playing so it SHOULD do everything, but it comes supplied with a RAM disc.

any experience?? thanks

I would use DVD-RAM for recording content that you only want to see once and then delete. I'd use DVD-R for recording content you want to save.

That's only a general recommendation however, since I have a Sony recorder and not a Panasonic recorder.

i might just uses dvd-rs then since ram cost a lot more :P

DVD-RAM costs a lot more than DVD-R per disc, but you can record and erase a DVD-RAM disc hundreds or thousands of times, so if you record shows, watch them shortly thereafter and never again, it's cheaper in the long run to use re-writable media such as DVD-RAM for that purpose.

ahhh okok i never actually realised they were RW :P

On Panasonic Recorder, DVD-RAM is superior to +-RW. Panasonic adds a lot of useful and specific funtions to DVD-RAM, you can't use them with RW. With Panasonic, RAM is your first choice.

The biggest advantage of using DVD-RAM on Panasonic recorders is that you can do timeshifting while recording. This can also be done when recording to the HDD but not when using DVD-/+R media.