DVD Disk quality

[BOAC]

Apologies if I have posted before on this - I think I have but cannot 'search' for it.

I am becoming more and more concerned about the quality of DVD disks, particularly at the cheap end of the market. I have a program which tells me the ACTUAL manufacturer of my disks (often not the 'branded' name!), and I can check their 'quality' on another site. A large number of them are rated as 'landfill' with a 'success rate' of 40-60%!

I was talking to a 'DVD fanatic' friend the other day about this and he said he was concerned with what I said and would check his 'library'. He found about 80% of his disks were either unreadable or not reading correctly, including the wedding photos of his daughter (fortunately still on hard drive) and a large number of promotional DVDs for his company. OK - he had not bought at the top end of the market, but this is a serious problem. What value do we place on these disks as a backup media let alone for storing photos or film?

[Hew Jaz]

Hi BOAC

I think I remember reading similar posts around late November.

I bought a bundle of PClin$ DVD disks along with my new DVD writer. I had quite a lot of problems in trying to back up my pc and after many hours the backup would fail. (Almost warrants a DVD Vs External HD backup system discussion :) )

I re-visited my local store a few times for advice / info, and finally got talking to a helpful chap who seemd to have an idea and understanding of my difficulties. During our discussion, his expression changed when I mentioned the brand. He - politely - suggested they would be suitable for some of the less important data one might have, but recommmended alternate brands for other important tasks.

He in fact agreed to accept a return of the disks and allowed a full price credit against a branded set of Phillip$. They have worked ok so far, so I'm hopeful.

It was a lesson learnt - early on - thankfully, but I will be bearing it in mind for future purchases.

Of course, I am assuming they are just as branded......:uhoh:

[BOAC]

DVDInfo will tell you. It is now a 'pay' rather than 'free' prog and there is some controversy about its author but it does see the actual make.

OOI which brands did he suggest as OK? 'Digitalfaq' has a good guide.

[Hew Jaz]

It was that well known chain of PC stores, and based on their stocks, he suggested Phillips or Imation (?sp).

[BOFH]

Never trust any single medium absolutely - really. This has been the case since the mighty reel-to-reel IBM 3420s, which only munched tapes you did not want munched.

If you venture into a geek forum you'll get some tips on the best brands - Verbatim and Imation come to mind - but no-one can safeguard your data apart from you.

For 115GBP you can buy an 320GB external HDD drive for extra peace of mind. Again, not to be trusted by itself, but faster and more convenient for a second copy. If it's really important, burn two copies onto different DVD brands, send one offsite somewhere and ask it to be checked when it arrives, and put a copy on the HDD.

BOFH

[kriss1000]

Ive use this disc retailer for years and never had any problems with their disks.

http://www.svp.co.uk/index.php

They tell you what disc to use with what machine Ive recently bought Ridisc GO4, GO5 in tubs of 50 and hav`nt lost 1.

Toshiba RD-XS32SB TV recorder
NEC DVD RAM burner computer

Just a quickie for anybody who has a Toshiba XS32 recorder and is experiencing DISC NOT RECOGNIZED message ... SEND IT BACK TO TOSHIBA its got the wrong drive in it, even if its out of warranty argue with them...

Try this site for DVD testing tools

http://www.vrforums.com/showthread.php?t=18723

[spannersatcx]

The old adage 'you get what you pay for' comes to mind.

Quite often you get firmware updates for writers and this 'normally' is to add compatability of newer (or older) disks. It is worth looking at the manufacturers website from time to time to check for firmware updates and more importantly may have a list of compatible disks.

[criticalmass]

I will use no other brand of DVD-R blank disk except Verbatim. Also, never burn at more than half the maximum rated burn speed for a certain result.

The Plextor 708A I use has a list of recommended DVD-R and DVD+R disks. If your drive is likewise supplied, stick with what brands are recommended and give the cheap ones a big miss.

[MyData]

I'm probably quite paranoid about backups etc... but here's my 2 cents:

1. Unless you are just dumping data for transfer, always use the best (branded) media that you can afford. Yes, there will be the odd bad disk but not as many coasters as you may otherwise end up with.

2. Buy a second (third, forth etc.) HDD as already suggested. The prices keep dropping. I've opted for a USB removable device so that I can take it and dump data elsewhere.

3. If you video is on DV then it *should* retain image quality over time, however be warned that your tapes may decay so always make a backup of these.

4. Once you have your most precious photos / films / other data on CD or DVD then burn a second copy and post it to someone else (e.g. the parents). Get them to test it on their PC. Use this as your off-site backup.

5. Make use of the on-line photo galleries. The well known brand begining and ending in K will provide free hosting and they retain the original image for photo printing although you only get a small image to view on-line. Great to send links to albums to friends, but you also get to keep the originals to hand. I enquired about getting access to the originals on-line and was told that this could be a chargable service in future...

6. For storage of other data files e.g. Spreadsheets, Money files etc., password protect them (remember the password) then mail them to yourself at one of the free mail hosts such as Gmail so they are always available on line.

7. I expect that in the next 5-10 years that 'personal' storage such as DVD etc. will reduce and we will begin to store data on-line meaning that is is available any time any place. At least then we won't have to keep re-ripping and burning every time a new capacity / technology is released.

As an aside, I ripped my 300+ CDs for use on my iPod a couple of years ago. I was alarmed to see that some of the CDs which are now 10 to 15 years old have simply 'rotted' away and were no longer readable. This is something I recall reading about in the early days of CDs in the early 80's but to see it happening was quite sobering.