Perhaps the biggest issue when choosing a DVD recorder, specifically, choosing a particular DVD recording standard to use, is whether the burned disc will be compatible with your existing DVD devices.
Compatibility is not a big issue when it comes to data storage, in that the DVD recorder drive you used to burn the DVD will always be able to read the burned disc back. However, if you plan to use the burned DVD in another computer, this may pose a slight problem. In general, discs burned at 1x will have greater chance of being compatible than discs burned at higher speeds.
DVD-ROM Compatibility :
The problem is that not all computer DVD-ROM drives will read all the recordable formats, in particular, DVD-RAM. DVD-R and DVD+R have the best chance of being read by your DVD-ROM drive. It's hard to say which, out of DVD-R and DVD+R, is the most compatible with existing DVD-ROM drive. For DVD-R, you might argue that since it was designed by the same industry group that designed DVD-ROM (DVD Forum), compatibility may be better. For DVD+R, you might argue that since it was released later than DVD-R, compatibility issues may have been solved. Regardless, newer DVD-ROM drives will most likely be more compatible than older drives, although do not expect 100% compatibility whichever format you choose. DVD-RAM is the least compatible (since a cartridge system is used), so unless your DVD-ROM drive specifically says it is compatible with DVD-RAM, don't expect it to be compatible. For DVD-R and DVD+R, expect around 60 to 70 % of all DVD-ROM drives to be compatible with them.
Stand-alone DVD Player Compatibility :
The compatibility issue with stand-alone DVD players is similar to that of DVD-ROM drives, in that no one format is particularly better than any other. Again, DVD-R and DVD+R will have better compatibility than DVD-RW, DVD+RW or DVD-RAM. Also expect 60-70% compatibility.
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