Thanks, I'll take a look. Though I think I have the media question answered, and I settled on M-DISC for personal stuff (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-DISC). It only has special requirements for writing, reading can be done on standard drives.
I went with M-Disc too and an LG Blu-ray burner. I think you only need a special burner if you're using the DVDs. I want to say most Blu-ray burners work.