DVD Writers

[andrewjameshoward]

I am planning to archive some material on DVD. There are lots of sources of info on media selection for long term life/reliability (which I have yet to wade through). Reviews of media seem to focus on successful burns vs. coasters. Also there are reviews of writers. Writer selection seems to be down to factors like speed, no. of coasters, ease of use. But the question I cannot find an answer to is this. Is there any difference between a successful burn produced with a "poor" writer and a successful burn produced with a "good" writer? Because I want to write and verify discs, then have confidence that the data will still be there 20 years later. If the burn is successful, does it matter how good the writer is. That is to say, can the writer have any effect on the longevity of the disc.? If so, how and why? Anyone got any ideas?

[spinningwheel]

AJ;

 

The success of your burn, once burned and verified, is entirely up to the disc. We recommend either Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim DataLifePlus made in Singapore because their dye is the best and the data stored there upon is also the safest. No one can guarantee that your data will last for 20 years because, among other factors, there is no guarantee that the optical drives in use now will even be around in 20 years to read the disc.

As far as poor vs. good burners, with the cost of all of them being dirt cheap, invest the extra few $ and buy the best you can. They will last the longest and return your investment back to you in the form of less garbage created and less headaches all around.

 

spinner

[andrewjameshoward]

Thanks for the input

 

I have a burner already. I am using the DVD drive of my slim-line laptop. I am not doing high volumes and am not concerned about speed. With inferior media, I still rarely get coasters. Which was the reason for my question. Discs I have burnt up to now have been for short-term back-up and none have failed within a 2-3 year period. I could buy recommended media, achieve a successful verified burn, lock it away for years and then find I don't have a working copy because the burns were more prone to decay. Perfectly happy though to buy a new burner if it solves a problem - like you say these days they are cheap enough.

 

When I said "20 years", I don't think I am taking too much risk on hardware obsolescence. My cassette tapes (not just audio but also 25 year old Sinclair Spectrum programs) and vinyl records still play OK - even 78's can still be made to work, as can punched tape if you really need it to. None of these media were quite so ubiquitous as the DVD. So I'm pretty confident of having a DVD-R player in 20 years time. Tell me that the media only lasts for 10 or 15 years, fine - I'll just re-archive and/or re-format after 10 or 15 years.

 

Everyone seems to focus on telling you what are the best discs to use. Fine - Verbatim DatalifePlus or Taiyo Yuden. easier said than done. I am in Europe (UK). DatalifePlus doesn't seem to be a current brand (either in Europe or on Verbatim.com). There are a variety of Verbatim products, including "archival quality" gold discs at