DVD+-R media questions -- data reliability and longevity

[augiem]

Hi,

I've been wanting a DVD writer drive for the longest time, but only now are they getting cheap enough for me. I have my eye on an NEC 1300A drive (supports DVD- and + R discs at 4x). Anyway, I have a couple of concerns...

My only purpose for the drive is data backup. I don't care about DVD movies at all. I'm sick of using billions of CD-R's to back up my school work (in 3D graphics). There's no way CD's cut it anymore -- it would take me over 500 CD's to back up my whole system.

Q1: Is there any information out there on data integrity of DVD discs? Are they as reliable/durable as CDRs? Is DVD+- R a suitable data backup format?

Q2: Do DVD discs degrade like CD-Rs? And if so, are there any premium long-life data DVD discs available? (Like the Ricoh Platinum and Kodak InfoGuard CD-R discs)

Q3: Do these DVD drives have anything like BurnProof to prevent buffer underruns? I haven't seen anything mentioned about that.

Q4: Anything bad about the NEC 1300A I should know? It's VERY cheap -- 4X DVD+- for $123

Thanks!

Augie

 

[bluntman]

Q3: Do these DVD drives have anything like BurnProof to prevent buffer underruns? I haven't seen anything mentioned about that

I can only answer this one, sorry, but from what I've seen, yes, they do have buffer underrun protection. Even my lowly new LG 4040B has this feature.

 

[augiem]

anyone

 

[LethalWolfe]

If all you want to do is back-up data get a DVD-RAM. It can't be played in a DVD player, but it is scene as an removable HDD so it is drag 'n drop. Also, you get what you pay for in terms of blank media. Cheap media will most likely degrade and go bad in a year or 2 where as name brand/quality media will last longer. I have burned DVD's and CD's that are over 3 years old and still read fine.


Lethal

 

[BZ]

If DVDs degrade like CDs, it's very dependant on the quality of the burn and the media . As a rule, make 2 copies to be safe. Economically DVDs will work out the cheapest backup method after a certain point, and making 2 copies at least of the most important stuff shouldn't cost too much more.

With media it's hard to tell what you're getting from brand names, because they all outsource manufacturing to other companies. TDK for instance uses several companies some of which are good and some terrible. The one that seems to be most available in the US that uses a good company is Fuji. Look for made in Japan, which means Taiyo Yuden which is the best.

 

[Arcanedeath]

if it would take 500 CD-r's to backup all your data you'll only be cutting that down to around 85ish DVDs to backup that much data you'd be much better off just getting a 2nd hard drive in either an external enclosure or a removable frame for that amount of data, it'd also be much faster and less prone to failure