This is the first time I have a DVD/CD drive in my computer.
I'd like to do computer backups to a DVD, but I'm not sure what kind of blank DVDs to buy (or if there even IS a difference in blank DVDs).
My drive is described as DVD+-RW.
Do I buy blank DVDs that are described as DVD+R? DVD-R? Are there other things I should look for?
Any help would be appreciated.

Formats like +R-R indicate that the optical media is Write Once, while +RW indicates the media is Re-Writable (it can actually be erased).

Re-writable will cost you much more than write once media.

There's not enough difference between the formats to worry about with "+R" & "-R", either will function perfectly.

Thank you! Now I know what to look for.

Another point to watch for. Most computer dvd drives recognize PLUS or Minus. Many stand alone dvd players/recorders connected to your tv like a vcr recognize either plus or minus and not both. If you have one of those use the disc that matches that. If you make something on your computer that you want to play on the tv you will need to use a matching disc. Those stand alone dvd players/recorders also substitute for a cd player as well so making mp3s on your pc will require a match to the living room unit.

Another point is many have reported the rewriteable disc are not good for recording music or videos. I don't know why but I have tried it and sometimes they don't work with music or videos
I do have two +R disc videos people have made of company events which were finalized into dvd format (.vob) and the -R stand alone won't recognize them Have to watch them on the PC. Finally I copied them to -R and they work fine on the living room TV setup

Thanks for the heads-up with the stand alone DVD players, but how would I know what kind of DVDs my player is compatable with?
I don't plan on really using DVDs to store videos or music, mostly data.

The supported formats are always in the back of the manual. If you don't have one, you should be able to look them up on the Web (by model number).

I haven't seen a recent DVD player that didn't support them all (it's been around for 8 years).