There are many different types of burners that serve different purposes. Choose one by deciding how much information you need to store and how quickly you want to recover it.

CD Duplicator
CD Duplicators read one CD and write directly onto a second.

CD-RW
CD-RW are writable CDs that can also be erased and re-written.

DVD Duplicator
DVD Duplicators read DVDs and write directly onto a second.


DVD+R
DVD+R is a regular writable DVD with random access capabilities. Random access allows the device to find data anywhere on a disk, instead of having to search from the beginning.

DVD+R Dual Layer
This is a single-sided DVD that can record two layers of data, up to about 8.5 GB, with random access capabilities.

DVD+RW
DVD+RW is a regular re-writable DVD with random access capabilities.

DVD-R
DVD-R is a writable DVD without random access capabilities.

DVD-RAM
This is a two-sided re-writable format with random access capabilities.

DVD-RW
Similar to DVD+RW, but somewhat less capable of working as a random access device.

DVD±R
These burners are capable of writing DVD-R as well as DVD+R disks.

DVD±RW
These burners are capable of writing and re-writing DVD-RW as well as DVD+RW.

DVD±RW Dual Layer
These burners are capable of writing and re-writing DVD-RW DL and DVD+RW DL.