Best Blank DVD R to use? Quality

[Joe_182]

Hello,

I am trying to find out what the best disks are to use for burning some DVD files i have?

I have that Verbatim AZO's are the best, but apparently they have gone down the drain recently in quality. But i am not sure how much truth there is to that. Specifically because they are now made in UAE and those are known to be terrible.

I have really important videos i need to back up and want to keep for life so i have them saved everywhere and on any HDD's but i wanted a set of DVD's also.

Thanks in advance

 

[captaincharisma]

with the age of writable DVD media i doubt you will find the quality of any brand bad at all.

but why back them up on DVD disks when USB flash drives are more reliable, offer more storage space and can be found for much less then a pack of writable DVD disks?

 

[USAFRet]

I recently bought a 10 pack of Imation for a project
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0746NMRSQ

4 out of the 10 failed on write.

 

[Joe_182]

with the age of writable DVD media i doubt you will find the quality of any brand bad at all.

but why back them up on DVD disks when USB flash drives are more reliable, offer more storage space and can be found for much less then a pack of writable DVD disks?

I have 350gb of data to store so flash drives will be much more expensive than DVD's in this case. Also like i said i already have them saved to multiple external HDD's anyway. The disks are a backup as you never know what can happen with flash drives or HDD's. Disks are just another medium when backing up your files to make sure if one fails you have many more options. It will be a pain in the ass because i will be burning 42 disks, but i'd rather have these backed up in as may places as i can.

And unfortunately disk quality is terrible now and not what it used to be. Even the Verbatim AZO disks have had many more complaints recently since they make them in a different country now.

But to be honest i probably am fine just backing it up on 3 external HDD's and calling it a day. I doubt anything will happen to all 3 of them, especially since they will be archived and not used.

 

[THartmann9374]

Galaxy is the best brand for me. I used to get Verbatim. I burned lots of data to Galaxy discs and used them without any issues. What I like about Galaxy is to write neatly on white discs. You can get 50 discs set for 9.99 at any Fry Electronic stores. I am like you which I made many backups. I don't believe in USB media because I need something to be away for a long time.

 

[USAFRet]

Galaxy is the best brand for me. I used to get Verbatim. I burned lots of data to Galaxy discs and used them without any issues. What I like about Galaxy is to write neatly on white discs. You can get 50 discs set for 9.99 at any Fry Electronic stores. I am like you which I made many backups. I don't believe in USB media because I need something to be away for a long time.

An actual hard drive will last longer than a DVD or USB flash drive.
And be cheaper.

 

[Joe_182]

Galaxy is the best brand for me. I used to get Verbatim. I burned lots of data to Galaxy discs and used them without any issues. What I like about Galaxy is to write neatly on white discs. You can get 50 discs set for 9.99 at any Fry Electronic stores. I am like you which I made many backups. I don't believe in USB media because I need something to be away for a long time.

An actual hard drive will last longer than a DVD or USB flash drive.
And be cheaper.

Are we talking internal HDD's or external HDD's? I have my stuff saved on 3 separate external HDD's. Is that a solid enough solution for archiving? These won't be used, just put away to keep the data safe.

I was thinking DVD's would be a solid solution for an extra safety net. I know you said a HDD will last longer, but M-Disks are said to last over 100 years and correct me if i am wrong but no HDD is lasting that long. Even regular AZO DVD's last 10 years or more if archived away.

 

[USAFRet]

If you spend crazy money for archival DVD's, maybe.

I've had otherwise good DVD's start to delaminate after a few years.

But $50 external 1TB drives will work just fine.

A DVD that is "guaranteed" to last 50 years does no good if your particular DVD's die at 45 years, and you never checked them.

The key thing, no matter what storage medium you use, is to actually verify it once in a while.
You have to take those drives out once in a while, to verify and add new data.

Remember...this is a "backup" copy. Not the "only" copy.
Never entrust any critical data to only one media.

 

[Joe_182]

If you spend crazy money for archival DVD's, maybe.

I've had otherwise good DVD's start to delaminate after a few years.

But $50 external 1TB drives will work just fine.

A DVD that is "guaranteed" to last 50 years does no good if your particular DVD's die at 45 years, and you never checked them.

The key thing, no matter what storage medium you use, is to actually verify it once in a while.
You have to take those drives out once in a while, to verify and add new data.

Remember...this is a "backup" copy. Not the "only" copy.
Never entrust any critical data to only one media.

I don't mind spending the money as i want to be sure the data is safe. It's only about $45 for 15 25gb M-Disks, which isn't bad for what they advertise as lifetime archival.

I get what you are saying about the 50 year point, but If i even got 20 years out of them i would be happy and intend on backing them up on the HDD's and rewriting every few years to be safe anyway.

The M-Disks would just be a fail safe. Another safety net on a different media that isn't digital.

On a side note, would i be able to burn a bunch of 1:1 DVD iso files onto a bluray? I know it won't play on a bluray player because it has multiple disks on there which messes up the menus and such, i just care about being able to pop the bluray into my PC and pull the files OFF the disk whenever i want to put back onto HDD's if i want to constantly be able to put the files back onto the backup HDD's.

Thanks for your input! Appreciate it.

 

[captaincharisma]

with the age of writable DVD media i doubt you will find the quality of any brand bad at all.

but why back them up on DVD disks when USB flash drives are more reliable, offer more storage space and can be found for much less then a pack of writable DVD disks?

I have 350gb of data to store so flash drives will be much more expensive than DVD's in this case. Also like i said i already have them saved to multiple external HDD's anyway. The disks are a backup as you never know what can happen with flash drives or HDD's. Disks are just another medium when backing up your files to make sure if one fails you have many more options. It will be a pain in the ass because i will be burning 42 disks, but i'd rather have these backed up in as may places as i can.

And unfortunately disk quality is terrible now and not what it used to be. Even the Verbatim AZO disks have had many more complaints recently since they make them in a different country now.

But to be honest i probably am fine just backing it up on 3 external HDD's and calling it a day. I doubt anything will happen to all 3 of them, especially since they will be archived and not used.

so roughly 4-8GB of data per single/dual layer DVD for over 350GB of data? if you do the math i bet 3 128GB USB flash drives drives or 1 external HDD with 500GB-1TB of storage would end up costing you less then all the packs of DVD's you would end up buying to backup all that data.

 

[Joe_182]

with the age of writable DVD media i doubt you will find the quality of any brand bad at all.

but why back them up on DVD disks when USB flash drives are more reliable, offer more storage space and can be found for much less then a pack of writable DVD disks?

I have 350gb of data to store so flash drives will be much more expensive than DVD's in this case. Also like i said i already have them saved to multiple external HDD's anyway. The disks are a backup as you never know what can happen with flash drives or HDD's. Disks are just another medium when backing up your files to make sure if one fails you have many more options. It will be a pain in the ass because i will be burning 42 disks, but i'd rather have these backed up in as may places as i can.

And unfortunately disk quality is terrible now and not what it used to be. Even the Verbatim AZO disks have had many more complaints recently since they make them in a different country now.

But to be honest i probably am fine just backing it up on 3 external HDD's and calling it a day. I doubt anything will happen to all 3 of them, especially since they will be archived and not used.

so roughly 4-8GB of data per single/dual layer DVD for over 350GB of data? if you do the math i bet 3 128GB USB flash drives drives or 1 external HDD with 500GB-1TB of storage would end up costing you less then all the packs of DVD's you would end up buying to backup all that data.

Not quite. DVD's are about $45 for 50 8Gb spindels which is all i would need. 128gb Flash drives are roughly $20-$30 and i would need 3. Pretty close price wise, and the burning 42 disks is no fun, but the issue is i don't want digital to be the only media used. I already have 2 external 1TB HDD's these are saved on. Optical media is just another medium as a backup to the digital backups, as with digital you never know what can happen.

Also after further research, blurays can hold 25Gb to 100Gb a disk and come in the M Disk format which is advertised to last 1000 years and is what i would end up using as it is more cost effective and less labor to burn than the DVD's.

Between the M-Disks and multiple HDD's i should be safe.