Full System Back Up Wanted

Hi all,
I recently had a few problems with my machine (one of which was that somehow I had no system restore points at all – even though they worked ok before). I decided a full recovery (back to day 1) from the recovery D:/ was the way to go. I have subsequently reinstalled all the (safe) programs I require and would now ideally like a ‘full disk image’ of my C:/ (probably stored across a few DVD’s), so that in the event of any major problems down the line (or even just for a through clean-out now and again), I can full restore my system to the way it is right now programs et al (and not have to go right back to the D:/ factory settings every time) in a quick and easy manor.

I have seen a lot of back up programs here: http://majorgeeks.com/downloads3.html

My question is: What is the best one for me?

I am running (32-bit) Windows Vista Home SP2 on a Dell Studio 540

 

Can you clarify something for me regarding Acronis True Image. There is a statement on http://www.majorgeeks.com/Acronis_True_Image_Home_2009__d2236.html that says "Limitations: Cannot create and restore a disk image when launched from the bootable rescue media."
Can you explain what this means? I thought one of the main benefits of this software was to be able to, following a serious system crash, insert a bootable disk and restore a saved image of your hard drive from a separate storage device like a USB portable drive? I'm running Win.XP and looking for the best imaging/backup software. Is this a limitation?