Bobby_brown 17.07.2007 10:45 |
This was never an issue to me, because i´ve never had any problems with my DVD´s / CD´s. In the past i didn´t realise that there would be long term problems with bad media, but since my DVD collection is growing very fast i think it´s time to share some views. At the tradersden.org they have a site to wich they measure what´s good out there: link this is a good site, but in my opinion it misses people reviews and experiences, and for a non expert person like me, it´s really not very friendly to read. So, my experience with DVD´s is: I used to have Memorex -R 16x, and one day my computer simply "refused" to read them tilll this day, even though they play well on my living room DVD. Now i use the Datawrite red DVD+R 16x, and till this day, i´ve never failed to burn one DVD. I ALLWAYS burn at the LOWEST speed. I think this is a big issue (DVD´s and CD's), and 20 minutes isn´t that long if we whant to have a long term quallity DVD. I allways try to keep two copies of Queen bootlegs. One in DVD and one on my external drives ( i almost have 2 completelly filed) I think that even at the top DVD´s out there, if you´re burning at the fastest speed the chances of ocuring error increase! (can someone confirm this?) So, i would like to hear your opinions about the midia you use; what care do you have with your collection, and the 100.000 dollar question: How long are you ganna wait untill you start to make back-up copies from the ones you have? (since some DVD´s deteriorate???). Thanks for your replies Take care P.S- in case you see someone using bad media (myself included), a warning would be very welcome! |
freddie lives 28817 17.07.2007 18:37 |
I've been burning DVDs since the first Apple Mac with a Pioneer 101 came out in April 2000 - the discs were £10 each and they still play fine. I tried a few other discs through the years, but experience has since taught me always to stick with "A" grade discs and that the Ritek dyes appear to be the most compatible with playback on a huge variety of standalone players. At present I have been using Ritek G05 dye discs for over 2 years now with no problems at all (and I buy 100's) Oh, I'm using -R discs. That said, I still think it's worthwhile keeping a back-up DVD of everything AND storing important stuff on a Hard Drive that you keep in a closet. We all know through experience that Video Tape has a good long life (I've got a lot of VHS tapes going back to 1980 that are fine - I know because I'm transferring them to DVD), but DVD is still a "new" format whose life-span is an unknown quantity. |
YourValentine 18.07.2007 08:45 |
DVDs are the most unstable medium, worse than CD-RS and much much worse than tapes. I also have external Hard Drives where I store copies of my DVD-Rs. |
The Real Wizard 18.07.2007 12:59 |
Japanese media is always the best. You can't go wrong with Fujifilm... just be sure they aren't the Fujifilm discs made in Taiwan. |
Bobby_brown 18.07.2007 15:09 |
Sir GH<br><h6>ah yeah</h6> wrote: Japanese media is always the best. You can't go wrong with Fujifilm... just be sure they aren't the Fujifilm discs made in Taiwan.Maybe you want to take a look at this: link Take care |
The Real Wizard 18.07.2007 18:15 |
Yep, I knew about that. You're safe as long as you get the ones that are made in Japan. |
pittrek 19.07.2007 01:44 |
What do you people think about "Verbatim" media ? I had never problems with them, but for some reason some people don't like them |
tilomagnet 19.07.2007 10:51 |
Sir GH<br><h6>ah yeah</h6> wrote: Yep, I knew about that. You're safe as long as you get the ones that are made in Japan.All you can find here in Europe is the made in Taiwan or made in India crap. Japanese quality media is impossible to find in stores here. I used to order Japanese Taiyo Yuden (which is the actual manufactorer of the made in Japan Fujis) media online a couple of times. They are the best discs I've ever used, but very expensive, so I only used them for precious back ups. How long CDs/DVDs will eventually last of course depends on what you are doing with them. If they are exposed to sunlight and dust all the time, they'll be un-readable after a short time. If stored properly even cheap discs may last a couple of years, but nowhere near as long as magnetic tape. The problem with giving advise what brand of CD/DVDs is good or bad is that the manufacturers of the discs change from time to time. I mentioned Japanese/Taiwanese Fujis above, but for example what is being sold as TDK or Sony discs today may be from another manufacturer than the stash that was sold a couple of weeks ago. So IMO it doesn't make much sense to recommend to only buy brand yx, aside from Japanese media if you have access to them, they are likely always good. |
The Real Wizard 19.07.2007 17:39 |
So, the bottom line is... if you want to store anything for a long period of time, by whatever means necessary, find Japanese media. |
thomasquinn 32989 20.07.2007 06:46 |
Sir GH<br><h6>ah yeah</h6> wrote: So, the bottom line is... if you want to store anything for a long period of time, by whatever means necessary, find Japanese media.Which really boils down to "if you want to store anything for a long period of time, by whatever means necessary, move to Japan." |
The Real Wizard 20.07.2007 17:17 |
<b><font color = "crimson"> ThomasQuinn wrote:That, or buy the CDRs/DVD-Rs off eBay.Sir GH<br><h6>ah yeah</h6> wrote: So, the bottom line is... if you want to store anything for a long period of time, by whatever means necessary, find Japanese media.Which really boils down to "if you want to store anything for a long period of time, by whatever means necessary, move to Japan." I'm good for either one though, just to clarify! |
Mr. Scully 24.07.2007 14:37 |
Never ever burn on Ricoh. Biggest crap I've ever had. I have very good experiences with Imation. Sometimes I used Verbatim but I heard those are good only for data CD's/DVD's, not for audio CD's. Not sure about Memorex, they're quite ugly :-) |
Queenland 27.07.2007 15:00 |
What about labels? Some people say that the glue accelerate the deterioration of CDRs/DVDRs. |
YourValentine 27.07.2007 15:35 |
Henrique - avoid labels. They destroy the DVDs/CDs. Labels can even detach from the disc while playing and ruin your player. Also avoid writing on the discs with permanent marker or other ink pens. The ink can leak onto the data side and destroy the data. You can use printable discs but I would strongly recommend to keep unprinted safety copies. - Have a copy on a reliable disc - have a safety copy on an external HD - send a copy to a trusted friend whenever possible :) |
Bobby_brown 27.07.2007 16:59 |
YourValentine wrote: Also avoid writing on the discs with permanent marker or other ink pens. The ink can leak onto the data side and destroy the data.I don´t understand! How can this be possible? The surface of CD/DVD seems to be "waterproof" or compact, so to speak. Are you saying that it absorbs the ink? Take care |
YourValentine 28.07.2007 16:27 |
Yes, it can happen. Mainly on cheaper CD-Rs and most often on printable DVD-Rs. It's safer not to write on any discs. |
Bobby_brown 28.07.2007 16:35 |
YourValentine wrote: Yes, it can happen. Mainly on cheaper CD-Rs and most often on printable DVD-Rs. It's safer not to write on any discs.Just a question: How do you labell your Cd/DVD´s? Because, i have my DVD´s on a suitcase designed for store cd/DVD, so i think that writing on it is the only way to labell them, but i´m open to new ideas. Take care |
YourValentine 29.07.2007 13:00 |
I use slim cases and double slim cases and I have white sleeves on which I print the information. |
Mean Mr. Ketchup 29.07.2007 14:53 |
Bobby_brown wrote: So, i would like to hear your opinions about the midia you use; what care do you have with your collection, and the 100.000 dollar question: How long are you ganna wait untill you start to make back-up copies from the ones you have? (since some DVD´s deteriorate???).I haven't had time to read all the posts here, but can this happen to CDs aswell? |
The Real Wizard 30.07.2007 00:08 |
~Pred. wrote:Absolutely! I have thousands of CDRs (many for almost 10 years), and the only ones that have died are the ones with the labels... they only lasted a couple years.Bobby_brown wrote: So, i would like to hear your opinions about the midia you use; what care do you have with your collection, and the 100.000 dollar question: How long are you ganna wait untill you start to make back-up copies from the ones you have? (since some DVD´s deteriorate???).I haven't had time to read all the posts here, but can this happen to CDs aswell? |
bitesthedust 30.07.2007 02:01 |
Sir GH<br><h6>ah yeah</h6> wrote:Re. Labels - I can understand how the glue can seep onto the disc and destroy the data; apparently that is true on discs from Queencollector.com, although I've had my discs for about 4/5 years now and not had a problem so far.~Pred. wrote:Absolutely! I have thousands of CDRs (many for almost 10 years), and the only ones that have died are the ones with the labels... they only lasted a couple years.Bobby_brown wrote: So, i would like to hear your opinions about the midia you use; what care do you have with your collection, and the 100.000 dollar question: How long are you ganna wait untill you start to make back-up copies from the ones you have? (since some DVD´s deteriorate???).I haven't had time to read all the posts here, but can this happen to CDs aswell? |
Bobby_brown 01.08.2007 16:42 |
Sir GH<br><h6>ah yeah</h6> wrote:Well, YourValentine is right- Avoid Labells!~Pred. wrote:Absolutely! I have thousands of CDRs (many for almost 10 years), and the only ones that have died are the ones with the labels... they only lasted a couple years.Bobby_brown wrote: So, i would like to hear your opinions about the midia you use; what care do you have with your collection, and the 100.000 dollar question: How long are you ganna wait untill you start to make back-up copies from the ones you have? (since some DVD´s deteriorate???).I haven't had time to read all the posts here, but can this happen to CDs aswell? Thanks for the input. I think i have a clue now about what to choose and not choose. Take care |
Bobby_brown 16.08.2007 17:29 |
I just want to share this article with you. I would like to hear your coments in this. I was about to post it in other section for it to have more visibilaty, but people would start to bitch. So, for ayone interested: link "Condoms used to make music, not love... By Ma-Aasha Ismail STUDENTS are indeed faithfully using condoms – but not for the use they were designed for: instead of using them for safer, Aids-preventing sex, they are waxing lyrical about the humble condom’s extraordinary ability to improve the sound of their music! In a bizarre, innovative twist, the country’s premier weapon against Aids has found an additional and respectable lease of life as a cleaner of compact discs (CDs). The GO! could not establish how and when the discovery was made, but most students say they heard of the condom’s extraordinary cleaning abilities by word of mouth. The abuse of Government’s largesse was brought into focus last week by Aids activist Nonthuthuzelo Mxhalisa, who slammed the practice. She was speaking at an international Aids candlelight memorial service in the Grahamstown City Hall. Mxhalisa said people should not misuse government resources. Poh Seong Lim, chief operations officer of Karex South Africa, which manufactures government-approved condoms, said that the ingredient most likely to have this protective effect was “silicone oil and dusting powder” – which coat the condoms. The average cost of manufacturing a single condom at Karex, including the aluminum wrapper, is 20 cents. It takes between five and seven hours to make a single condom. “I have never heard about people cleaning CDs with condoms, but this must surely damage the CD player’s pick-up heads in some way,” said Lim. Junaid Sataar, a Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University student said: “I use them because they really work. I heard about it from friends and didn’t believe it, but when I tried it I was amazed. My old scratched CDs were actually playing.” Music collector Gasan Jacobs said he was also not sure why they worked, but used the government supplied condoms because they were free and readily available. A local pharmacist said: “The latex in the lubricant is what fills the scratches and protects the CDs”. The regular price of CD cleaning kits range from R30 to R150. A pack of standard Durex condoms, which come in packs of three, range from R25 to R35. According to Daluxolo Mani, a second year IT student at NMMU, the “condom cleaning kit” is the best. Explaining how to use the condom, he said: “The cleaning method uses one condom per CD. The condom is held in a tissue and rubbed over the CD, focusing on the scratched surfaces, and is then left to dry. Once the CD is dry there is a visible shiny layer that covers it and this should last for a couple of playings.” It appears that students are the largest group of consumers of this unusual process. Senior manager of Campus Health Services, Sister Antoinette Goosen, said: “This is not what condoms are for and this is not why we supply them. We provide condoms to prevent unplanned pregnancy. They are available in university bathrooms and hostels, and they are provided to ensure responsibility – and not for students to ‘wax’ their CDs.” The EC health department was unavailable for comment. " So, it looks like that cleaning your scratched CDs with a condom can at least make it play for you to make another copy from that CD. My question: Does anyone have a scratched CD, and is wiling to do the experience? (for cientific purposes only ; ) Take care |
YourValentine 17.08.2007 03:26 |
Hmm, I rather would not rub my CDs with a condome but if it works... :) I have not yet used an ultrasonic cleaner but I have been told by many people that they are the best method to clean dirty CDs and even make scratched CDs/DVDs playable again for example this one link You can use a cleaning fluid in the water but you do not need to - you can just use water which I think is better. I do not trust chemicals. |
Bobby_brown 17.08.2007 20:41 |
I never use any chemicals on my CDs. I come from the vinyl good old times, and i olny use water. The funny thing about the article, is that people are wasting time creating new technology, and then comes the youth and discovers that everything you need is a condom ; ) And if it can make a cd play one more time after being scratched, i think it can make some collectors very happy! Take care |