Semi-important DVD archives

[ktinkel]

I know we had lengthy threads on the subject of DVDs (which format, which brand) and how to use them (only at 4X speed?), but I could not find them by searching. Tsk.

I do not want DVDs that can be written to multiple times. How is that designated?

I have a stack of 100 TDK DVD+R RW Recordable, 1–16x. Is that good enough for backing up miscellaneous files, fonts, etc.?

Or should I get some different type of DVD?

Thanks.

[terrie]

kt: I do not want DVDs that can be written to multiple times. How is that designated?"RW" usually is the rewriteable designator...


>>I have a stack of 100 TDK DVD+R RW Recordable, 1–16x. Is that good enough for backing up miscellaneous files, fonts, etc.?

Yeah...those should be rewritable but you don't have to use them that way...I've always been pleased with the TDK CD blanks I've bought and would have bought TDK DVD blanks but I couldn't find them at either Costco or MicroCenter...

I found 2 threads:

1. minus/plus single/dual (http://desktoppublishingforum.com/bb/showthread.php?t=4823)

2. DVD/CD labels (http://desktoppublishingforum.com/bb/showthread.php?t=4927)

I'm not sure why the seach on "dvd"
didn't show these...very odd...hope they help...

Terrie

[ktinkel]

"RW" usually is the rewriteable designator...

>>I have a stack of 100 TDK DVD+R RW Recordable, 1–16x. Is that good enough for backing up miscellaneous files, fonts, etc.?

Yeah...those should be rewritable but you don't have to use them that way...I've always been pleased with the TDK CD blanks I've bought and would have bought TDK DVD blanks but I couldn't find them at either Costco or MicroCenter...

I found 2 threads:

1. minus/plus single/dual (http://desktoppublishingforum.com/bb/showthread.php?t=4823)

2. DVD/CD labels (http://desktoppublishingforum.com/bb/showthread.php?t=4927)

I'm not sure why the seach on "dvd"
didn't show these...very odd...hope they help...Thank you! I searched on DVD every which-a-way with no luck. Hrmmmph.

That is what I figured. I got these at Costco, in fact. And thought I had rewritable DVDs. But when I looked last week, these were all they had.

So: It sounds as if buying rewritable DVDs doesn’t mean you are buying lousy DVDs. Hmm.

Thanks for the links. I will read it all again tomorrow.

[Robin Springall]

Pretty much any decent, branded DVDR will do fine for backing up, Kathleen, but stay away from RWs. Burn at the slowest possible speed; set your software to verify afterwards, then shove the disc into another computer and make sure you can read the contents and can open a couple of the files.

If you want to be really safe, drag all the files from the disc onto a folder on the other computer (not the one used to write it) and make sure the transfer happens nice and smoothly, with no chugging sounds as it tries to reread dodgy sectors.

To be really, really safe, use the disc checker software that comes free with PlexTools DVD writers (XP only).

[ktinkel]

Pretty much any decent, branded DVDR will do fine for backing up, Kathleen, but stay away from RWs. Burn at the slowest possible speed; set your software to verify afterwards, then shove the disc into another computer and make sure you can read the contents and can open a couple of the files.

If you want to be really safe, drag all the files from the disc onto a folder on the other computer (not the one used to write it) and make sure the transfer happens nice and smoothly, with no chugging sounds as it tries to reread dodgy sectors.Thanks, Robin.

I did not see any without that RW; maybe I need a better class of store.

Anyone want 100 RW TDKs, then? :(

[terrie]

kt: Thank you! I searched on DVD every which-a-way with no luck. Hrmmmph.You're welcome...I knew there was a thread about it because I started the thread so it was just a matter of searching for threads I'd started and I found the other one by chance...

I think it's very strange that a search for "DVD" or "dvd" doesn't turn up any hits...it makes no sense...


>>That is what I figured. I got these at Costco, in fact.

Are they "plain" or do they have a printable surface? The only ones Costco had were the printable ones and I wasn't interested in paying extra for that...


>>So: It sounds as if buying rewritable DVDs doesn’t mean you are buying lousy DVDs. Hmm.

I distrust rewritables but that's based on something I remember reading somewhere and I can't remember where I read it and it may not be an accurate assessment...

Terrie

[ktinkel]

I distrust rewritables but that's based on something I remember reading somewhere and I can't remember where I read it and it may not be an accurate assessment...I have read it elsewhere; and it makes sense to me — rewritability implies temporary, to me.

[terrie]

kt: rewritability implies temporary, to me.Exactly...

Terrie

[BobRoosth]

I distrust RWs simply because I have always found them to be slow and flaky.

[ktinkel]

I distrust RWs simply because I have always found them to be slow and flaky.Makes sense to me.

Now I need to find some others.

[marlene]

I use rewriteables only for time-shifting -- recording TV programs (on a regular DVD recorder, not a computer DVD drive) that I want to watch later and then delete.

I am personally not fond of TDK in general. I have gotten much better results from Verbatims. I wait until they're on sale at buy.com or newegg.

I believe that the best blank media are made in Japan, but they're tough to find in retail stores these days. I haven't been able to find MIJ media in any local store in over a year. But lots of mail order places sell them.

I get a lot of info at:

http://www.cdfreaks.com

http://club.cdfreaks.com/ is where their forums are.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f33/ this is the media section

This is where I found out that Maxells used to be made by Taiyo Yuden in Japan (they aren't anymore, unfortunately) and other nuggets of information.

You can buy Taiyo Yudens and other high-quality DVDs from places like supermediastore.com.

I never, ever buy anything but top quality media -- it's just not worth it.

FWIW, if you ever need blank CDs, Sam's Club sells Maxell CDs that are still MIJ and they are excellent. They're designated music CDs, but I ignore that and burn my files.

mxh

[ktinkel]

I obviously need to order online so I can choose the right thing.

Thanks for the leads.

[iamback]

I think it's very strange that a search for "DVD" or "dvd" doesn't turn up any hits...it makes no sense...Quite possibly it doesn't search for words of three (or fewer) letters: a lot of search functions are like that. It's a crude way of filtering out stop words, but of course some three-letter words are not stop words at all.

Try enclosing your search term on (double) quotes - depending on how the search is implemented that might work.

[terrie]

marjolein: Quite possibly it doesn't search for words of three (or fewer) lettersI think you are right!


>>Try enclosing your search term on (double) quotes

I thought I'd done that and just double checked and it doesn't work...but...interestingly enough using single quotes does get me one hit but not all...

Terrie

[fhaber]

Verbatim is another brand with a conscience - worth looking for.

But don't obsess. The longevity of burned CDs is just getting proven; it'll take a while to do the same for DVDs. First-year fail rates, anecdotal message boards and statistical projections can take you only so far.

I usually try to burn on two brands of media for additional confidence. That, and geographical separation (off-site storage) almost make me forget the schreck.

A couple of years ago, Hollywood was storing on pro digital tape, 8mm, and DVD-RAM (near-obsolete for other uses than pro audio/video, but less dense and hardware checksummed). I haven't kept track lately.

Have you considered a nice acid-free high rag bond (g)?

[ktinkel]

Verbatim is another brand with a conscience - worth looking for.

But don't obsess. The longevity of burned CDs is just getting proven; it'll take a while to do the same for DVDs. Thanks.

Have you considered a nice acid-free high rag bond (g)?Indeed I have. I have hard copies of everything I really want to preserve, though not always on archival stock.

But my huge font collection is not amenable to that technique. And for editing text, I would just as soon not have to type. That’s the sort of stuff I am trying to archive.

And the issues of the fax newsletter I published a few years ago. Right now I have hard copies of all but 4 issues (and someone else has found those for me, so I can get them). But the files are in PageMaker 3 and 4 formats, and it is an icky process either making PDFs from old PMs on old computers (especially as the one capable of running the old versions has no monitor) or translating them to PM 6, then 7, so I can get them up to something modern (i.e., InDesign). And some of the files are on Syquests. I should have known better, but it only recently occurred to me that they might be of interest to someone.

So on one level, any old DVD will probably do, so long as I do it. :(

[fhaber]

I'd get cracking on the Syquests. There are very few of these cranky beasts left that will a. work and b. not gouge a disk. Same goes for Jaz-es and that French thing. Bernoullis I could help with.

I think I have PM5 Win still running somewhere. Will that save to PDF?

[marlene]

Well, forget what I said about the fabulous CD media available at Sam's Club. I was there last weekend and they no longer carry it. I was devastated.

I was slightly placated by the fact that they do carry my current favorite pen du jour, the Uniball Signo Premier 207, although I suspect its days may also be numbered, since it's tagged as a "seasonal item."

I'm not exactly sure when pen season closes.

mxh

[ktinkel]

Well, forget what I said about the fabulous CD media available at Sam's Club. I was there last weekend and they no longer carry it. I was devastated.

I was slightly placated by the fact that they do carry my current favorite pen du jour, the Uniball Signo Premier 207, although I suspect its days may also be numbered, since it's tagged as a "seasonal item."

I'm not exactly sure when pen season closes.Gee, me neither.

But we don’t have a Sam’s Club for me to worry about. (A BJ’s just opened across the river, though; no great challenge to Costco from my point of view, even if the latter is way across town — BJ’s has lots less class. But I should go back — I think they had barely begun to fill it up with stuff when we went just before the grand opening.)

[ktinkel]

I'd get cracking on the Syquests. There are very few of these cranky beasts left that will a. work and b. not gouge a disk. Same goes for Jaz-es and that French thing. Bernoullis I could help with.

I think I have PM5 Win still running somewhere. Will that save to PDF?Probably. I have that one too, on the older-but-still-standing computer, the one without a monitor (but I can steal a monitor for a day or two).

Syquests were a mess when they were the best thing we had. I always made two copies of everything.

[iamback]

Pen season must be now. After al the spam for genuine fake watches and genuine imitated bags, I'm suddenly getting a flood for replica pens. Maybe everyone has a watch in their bag now. :twisted:

[ktinkel]

Pen season must be now. After al the spam for genuine fake watches and genuine imitated bags, I'm suddenly getting a flood for replica pens. Maybe everyone has a watch in their bag now. :twisted:Not sure it is wise to say so, because I do like pens, but the pen hawkers have not found me. Yet.

As for its being the season, it is kind of perverse: the less people write, the more they are being flogged by pens? <g>

[iamback]

As for its being the season, it is kind of perverse: the less people write, the more they are being flogged by pens? <g>I'd say people write more - except they do so on the internet, and on phones: no pens needed. ;)

[annc]

Not sure it is wise to say so, because I do like pens, but the pen hawkers have not found me. Yet.

As for its being the season, it is kind of perverse: the less people write, the more they are being flogged by pens? <g>They haven't found me yet either – at least as far as spam goes. But I haven't bought a pen for about 10 years, because the people who hawk corporate gifts send me one or two a year with my company name on them. How thoughtful of them. :)

[ktinkel]

They haven't found me yet either – at least as far as spam goes. But I haven't bought a pen for about 10 years, because the people who hawk corporate gifts send me one or two a year with my company name on them. How thoughtful of them. :)I have a drawer-ful of those, myself (as well as a couple of little calendar notebooks every year).

I find most of the pens write too heavily for my taste; Jack likes them well enough, though, so they don’t go to waste.

[annc]

I have a drawer-ful of those, myself (as well as a couple of little calendar notebooks every year).

I find most of the pens write too heavily for my taste; Jack likes them well enough, though, so they don’t go to waste.I hardly ever write anyway any more, so find I'm less fussy than I used to be. The only time it worries me is at Christmas when I write cards, but even those are far fewer than they used to be because I send mostly electronic greetings.