Phil, you'll probably find some degree of frustration with blank media. There is a plethora of 'cheap' brands out there and some are more compatible than others. The brands such as TDK, Maxell and Verbatim are quite costly and I've not found them to be any more compatible than the from the brands that aren't household names and I get the feeling you're really just paying for the name. Best thing is to try a few and then stick with the one or two you get on with best.
It is
most cool to be able to play around with writeable DVDs. I've not done too much with authoring myself - and then only with freeware products - but it's a BIG area and the learning curve is pretty steep. Once you get the hang of how the .ifo files work you'll be on your way.
The really good thing is that there's stacks of help on the web. If you go to
www.dvdrhelp.com you'll find pages and pages of walk-through guides on how to do pretty much anything DVD. Good forum there too.
