Inexpensive BD-R Media

[jdobbs]

With BD Rebuilder getting fairly stable now (especially for BD-25 backups) I thought I'd start a thread where we can post our experiences with media that's available and help each other find good deals.

In the past I'd been sticking mainly to Ritek BD-R media, but I recently decided to try and started using these Optical Quantum discs (http://www.meritline.com/optical-quantum-4x-blu-ray-white-inkjet-oqbdr04ipw---p-32886.aspx). So far my luck has been good -- not bad for $79 for a cakebox of 25 ($3.16 each). I haven't hit a bad one yet after about half of one stack (that could be dumb luck), I'll update this post if if I do.

Note: I have no affilliation with MERITLINE -- and I would expect that anyone else posting stick by that rule... otherwise this thread could become a SPAM nightmare and I'll have to close it.

[Capsbackup]

I have tried RiData 4x BD-R and Memorex 4x BD-R ( which has the same mfg ID as the RiData, just Blue in color), with no problems.
Found RiData for $35.00 for a 15 pack spindle, and Memorex for $40.00 for a 15 pack spindle. Now that I know Memorex is the same mfg., I probably won't pay more for the color.
It's funny, I will never buy anything but Verbatims for my DVD media, but was willing to try these for BD-R. Verbatim 10 pack spindle goes for $50.00. ( Fry's ). Next purchase I will try Verbatims, but I am uncertain if this will be necessary for BD media. I will be curious of others opinions.
A very good thread to start. :goodpost:

[GaPony]

I've used several brands of BD-R media and have had great success with all of them, to be honest. Brands that I wouldn't touch to copy a DVD have all proven to be reliable for BD-R.

Lately, I've been using the Blaze 4x BD-R from shop4tech simply because of the price... I've used just over 30 discs with no coasters and excellant playback.

$3.19 ea. for 10 packs ($31.90)

$3.09 ea. for a 20 pack ($61.80)

$2.99 ea. for a 100 pack ($299.00) for the truely dedicated user.

All have free shipping.

They have the Ritek (RITEK-BR-2-00) media code.

http://www.shop4tech.com/item7856.html

I have no affiliation with shop4tech.com and if I find it cheaper someplace my loyalty will vanish. :) Unless I run into problems, I'll continue to buy whatever is cheapest on the day I order.

[Ghitulescu]

Just out of curiosity, how do you check their quality?

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=20888&PageId=0

[GaPony]

cdrinfo.com and similar places have proprietary software along with other professional software for checking the quality. I just use my eyes and ears.

[cybercurves]

There's a place called megamediamall.com that has BD-R media for as low as $2.59 per disc or $64.25 for 25.

http://www.mediamegamall.com/blank-media-bluray-discs-c-29_139.html

[jdobbs]

There's a place called megamediamall.com that has BD-R media for as low as $2.59 per disc or $64.25 for 25.

http://www.mediamegamall.com/blank-media-bluray-discs-c-29_139.html Have you tried the Mega Media discs? I thought the listing for 250 discs @2.59 ea plus a free disc printer was interesting -- especially since the discs were printable silver laquer.

[cybercurves]

Have you tried the Mega Media discs? I thought the listing for 250 discs @2.59 ea plus a free disc printer was interesting -- especially since the discs were printable silver laquer.

I haven't tried Mega Media discs, so I don't know how reliable they are.

[shamoo]

can someone tell why verbatim is the best for dvd's but it seems it doesn't matter what BD media you use? i know verbatim are made better for dvd but is there no such issue with blu-ray? at the moment i have only used verbatim BD 25, and have had no problems but at about £5 per disc ($8) so if there is no difference in what disc to use then i could save myself some money, or if anyone knows where to get cheap disc that are either in the uk or deliver to uk..
thanks

[jdobbs]

can someone tell why verbatim is the best for dvd's but it seems it doesn't matter what BD media you use? i know verbatim are made better for dvd but is there no such issue with blu-ray? at the moment i have only used verbatim BD 25, and have had no problems but at about £5 per disc ($8) so if there is no difference in what disc to use then i could save myself some money, or if anyone knows where to get cheap disc that are either in the uk or deliver to uk..
thanks Interesting point. I had lots of issues with "cheaper" DVD+-R's and went to and stuck (to this day) with Verbatims -- but my experience so far on the BD-R side is that the manufacturer doesn't seem to make a whole lot of difference.

It could be the standards required for Blu-ray certification are higher.

Of course I'm confident some cheap-o manufacturer will eventually prove me wrong... ;)

[GaPony]

I'm pretty sure that everyone is manufacturing to the original specs for BD-R media, so quality is pretty uniform. Once some "College Boy" figures out a way to cut some corners and save a few cents, we'll see prices... and quality drop, I'm sure.

Back in the day, there were only a few manufacturers of DVD media and quality wasn't an issue, but prices were relatively high. You can see where that went. BD-R will be no different once its widely used on PCs. Right now we're in an extremely low percentage of the population. Very few people actually burn BD-R media on their PCs.

[GaPony]

Have you tried the Mega Media discs? I thought the listing for 250 discs @2.59 ea plus a free disc printer was interesting -- especially since the discs were printable silver laquer.

That looks like a Primera Signature Z1, or Teac P11 Thermal Disc printer. I have the Casio version and it works very well for people like me, who can't write legibly with a Sharpie.

You can always forego the expense of buying 250 discs and just buy it for $90 online. :) Check the specs if you use a 64-bit OS, my Casio doesn't have 64-bit drivers.

[pbeumer2001]

I live in Europe and I have done over 300 copies now. About 5 of them are bad copies.

I`ve used MediaRange in the past. 25 euro for 10. That`s about 35 USD

Now I use Variox. The are 20 euro for 10. That`s 28,60 USD


Only reason I`m burning on Variox is the price. The quality is the same.

My burnspeed is 2x max. Higher than 2x made some discs not playable in some players

[GaPony]

Now that's where the issues are! Standalone Players! The quality and standards used in manufacturing are all over the place.

[pbeumer2001]

Now that's where the issues are! Standalone Players! The quality and standards used in manufacturing are all over the place.

Yep,

Best players on the market for me are: PS3 and LG BD370.

I`ve tested a Panasonic player. Godfather part 2 and 3 work great but part 1 not!!! All three went through rebuilder with the same settings.

PS3 an LG BD370 will play everything!!!

[jdobbs]

That looks like a Primera Signature Z1, or Teac P11 Thermal Disc printer. I have the Casio version and it works very well for people like me, who can't write legibly with a Sharpie.

You can always forego the expense of buying 250 discs and just buy it for $90 online. :) Check the specs if you use a 64-bit OS, my Casio doesn't have 64-bit drivers. I have an Epson R380 I use right now to print on DVD/CD/BD. Pretty good deal, though when you can get your BD-R discs for $2.59 ea and a $90 printer is thrown in. Of course $650 is a lot to outlay at once -- and the price of discs will probably be down to $1 ea by the time you use all 250 of them. :)

[Mediogre]

For inexpensive media, Fry's always have the RiData 4x blanks on sale for $2.33 apiece (well once a month or so).
http://www.frys.com/product/5900884?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

For top quality media, I buy directly from Japan in bulk. Even with international shipping charges, they are still cheaper. The TDK blanks linked below come out to $3.50 apiece with all charges included. Not bad for 4x discs with hard coat. If the link doesn't work, search the site for "tdk blu-ray 120". The downside is you have to buy 120 at a time.
http://en.item.rakuten.com/toyooka/10000775/sn=toyooka:tdk-brd25pwb20ps-120&vm=2&f=1&sid=190234&k=tdk+blu-ray+120

[Wombler]

Is there any software available yet to do quality scans on Blu-ray burns in a similar fashion to DVD media scans (that show up PIF and PIE spikes etc)?


Wombler

[GaPony]

I don't know of any, but just like with DVDs the proof is in the viewing. I find that software like Nero CD/DVD speed are very subjective based on the player itself. I've had plenty of discs that scan poorly and playback perfectly, others than scan well on one drive and poorly on another drive, so I let my eyes be the judge. :)

[Wolfe999]

@ Mediogre: Thank you very much for the Rakuten link. I was a little bit afraid and "only" bought 80 TDK's. Indeed it's cheap. Though I still haven't received the e-mail with the definitive shipping expenses, I think the end price for each BD-R will be around €2,60. Unimaginable prices to buy from Europe... at least to my knowledge. Cross my fingers they are good media (they are manufactured by Imation).

Just a sidenote about Verbatim. Yeah, they used to be the "shangri-la" of DVD and CD media... but lately I was unlucky enough to get a batch manufactured in India by Moses Baer that were absolute s**t. In some places, among them Netsoftmedia-dot-com, in the USA, they sell only Verbs made in Singapore. Go always for those.

Regards and thanx again :-D.

PS: If I'm satisfied with these BD-R, I'm sure will buy often from Japan

[sethk]

Only the DVD+R DL Verbatims are still made in Singapore, and even then, not all DL packs sold in the US are from Singapore. You can check out the CDFreaks media forum for more information on how to spot them and where to get them from.

[bobrap]

Been without internet since Friday and have been thinking all weekend (yea, my head hurts). I'm playing with the idea to get a BD burning now that media is getting a little cheaper. Any suggestions for a good burner, or, should I just hang with BD9? Sorry if this was the wrong place to ask. Thanks for any advice.:confused:

[GaPony]

The LG GGW-H20L has served me well, but I don't burn nearly as much to BD-R since the BD9s work so well. I haven't even used the BD9 method as much lately, since I figured out how to stream my Blu-Ray movies to my PS3. :)

Technology marches forward. I may be disc-less soon! ;)

[DaMacFunkin]

Ive been using a piccasso silver printable disk (Richoh media code) @ £15 for a tub of 10, all burned at 4x and play back no probs on my Pannasonic.
get em from scan. Previous to that was using Traxdata FF Printable (Ritek media code) burned at 4x with no probs, and have also had some unbranded printables (Philips media code) all burned at 4x no probs. Luckily i don't think princo are still around so cheap blu-ray media may stay good quality ;-)

[canuckerfan]

any Canadians ordering around here?

[DVD Maniac]

@ Mediogre: Thank you very much for the Rakuten link. I was a little bit afraid and "only" bought 80 TDK's. Indeed it's cheap. Though I still haven't received the e-mail with the definitive shipping expenses, I think the end price for each BD-R will be around €2,60. Unimaginable prices to buy from Europe... at least to my knowledge. Cross my fingers they are good media (they are manufactured by Imation).

Just a sidenote about Verbatim. Yeah, they used to be the "shangri-la" of DVD and CD media... but lately I was unlucky enough to get a batch manufactured in India by Moses Baer that were absolute s**t. In some places, among them Netsoftmedia-dot-com, in the USA, they sell only Verbs made in Singapore. Go always for those.

Regards and thanx again :-D.

PS: If I'm satisfied with these BD-R, I'm sure will buy often from Japan

Interesting dabate because I have never burnt one yet! Why Bother?

1.5TB SATA 3GB Int...... £78 (Including Postage!)
..................................£0.05 per GB or...
..................................£1.32 for a 25GB Backup or ...
..................................£0.47 for a 9GB Backup

vs

Budget 25GB BD-R (Datawrite).....£2.50 per disc...

OK so you can buy slighthly cheaper imported as the above source mentiones @ Euro 2.60 (£2.28) but its still a no brainer to use HDD. Let's assume that BR-R blanks eventually come down in price to match or challenge HDD £/$ per GB. You still have all the hassle of never ending coasters, quality testing (apparently in its infancy with BD-R). I much prefer my new tried and tested setup - 1GB or 1.5GB HDD + USB Docking Station + PC Softplayer - no coasters, no wasting time with quality checks and burning, easy simple and reliable AND CHEAPER! I tend to backup to 9GB (my eyes can see no difference) that's about 115 Movies per 1TB HDD and of course dual layer DVD blanks are even MORE expensive per GB so the economics still swing in favour of HDD

Why not?

HDD's die eventually. Yes they do, (none of mine ever have btw) but the modern ones have BIOS level error warnings and if you are that paranoid there's software out there to run diagnostics to trap imminent failures

Portability. Answer - buy external HDD's (still cheaper £ per GB!)

[Ghitulescu]

Is there any software available yet to do quality scans on Blu-ray burns in a similar fashion to DVD media scans (that show up PIF and PIE spikes etc)?


Wombler

Yes there are!

http://www.cdrlabs.com/forums/test-results-bluray-dvd-burners-and-media-t21949.html

I know I had another link posted, I spent almost one hour screening my posts, no chance...

Got it -> http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Print.aspx?ArticleId=20888

[EdoNork]

since I figured out how to stream my Blu-Ray movies to my PS3. :)

Any link? Thank you.

[Wombler]

Yes there are!

http://www.cdrlabs.com/forums/test-results-bluray-dvd-burners-and-media-t21949.html

I know I had another link posted, I spent almost one hour screening my posts, no chance...

Got it -> http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Print.aspx?ArticleId=20888

Very interesting Ghitulescu!

So I wonder why people aren't posting scans as it would be a lot more accurate of judging budget media than saying 'this one works' or 'doesn't work'?


Wombler

[GaPony]

since I figured out how to stream my Blu-Ray movies to my PS3.

Any link? Thank you.

Here ya go. :) http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/

If you have a decent network and a PS3, there is virtually no configuration required..

[GaPony]

Very interesting Ghitulescu!

So I wonder why people aren't posting scans as it would be a lot more accurate of judging budget media than saying 'this one works' or 'doesn't work'?


Wombler

I disagree. Knowing from firsthand experiences that such and such a media works well with a perticular burner or player, is much more useful in the real world than software tests that are most usually geared to a particular set of drives. The numbers produced by these software test are fine for geeks, but not the average Joe, just trying to make a copy of his Blu-Ray or DVD movie. Besides, being totally arbitrary, they do nothing in determining whether any problem is from the media, the firmware used by the burner, or the burner/player itself.

I'd much rather hear... I bought a 20 pack of 123 brand media and they burned well on my xyz brand burner and played back beautifully on my ABC brand/model standalone player.... or didn't, as the case may be.

[GaPony]

Interesting dabate because I have never burnt one yet! Why Bother?

1.5TB SATA 3GB Int...... £78 (Including Postage!)
..................................£0.05 per GB or...
..................................£1.32 for a 25GB Backup or ...
..................................£0.47 for a 9GB Backup

vs

Budget 25GB BD-R (Datawrite).....£2.50 per disc...

OK so you can buy slighthly cheaper imported as the above source mentiones @ Euro 2.60 (£2.28) but its still a no brainer to use HDD. Let's assume that BR-R blanks eventually come down in price to match or challenge HDD £/$ per GB. You still have all the hassle of never ending coasters, quality testing (apparently in its infancy with BD-R). I much prefer my new tried and tested setup - 1GB or 1.5GB HDD + USB Docking Station + PC Softplayer - no coasters, no wasting time with quality checks and burning, easy simple and reliable AND CHEAPER! I tend to backup to 9GB (my eyes can see no difference) that's about 115 Movies per 1TB HDD and of course dual layer DVD blanks are even MORE expensive per GB so the economics still swing in favour of HDD

Why not?

HDD's die eventually. Yes they do, (none of mine ever have btw) but the modern ones have BIOS level error warnings and if you are that paranoid there's software out there to run diagnostics to trap imminent failures

Portability. Answer - buy external HDD's (still cheaper £ per GB!)

That's great for streaming movies or playing on the PC, but it sure is hard to stick a hard drive into the disc tray of my uncle's Blu-Ray player... :)

Multiple external HDDs are a waste of money and space. The true "best practice" would be to use an external HDD docking station and forget USB, that's soooo 2005. Use eSATA if at all possible and buy a dock that supports both formats. ;)

Even better, use an old PC to build a Home Server and make all your movies available to all your networked devices, and protect the data your harddrives from failure with redundancy. To reproduce 115 9GB copies from a failed HDD, at 4hrs a pop, would be 460hrs... What's your time worth? The convience of the server over the long run is impossible to calculate.

[Capsbackup]

@GaPony;
Multiple external HDDs are a waste of money and space. The true "best practice" would be to use an external HDD docking station and forget USB, that's soooo 2005. Use eSATA if at all possible and buy a dock that supports both formats.
I'm with you there! Vantec,( http://www.vantecusa.com/front/product/pro_list/70) makes this type, and it works great. The price of SATA drives is very reasonable too. Samsung 1.5TB for $99.00, Seagate 1.5TB for $114.00 ( Fry's). :cool:

[jdobbs]

@GaPony;

I'm with you there! Vantec,( http://www.vantecusa.com/front/product/pro_list/70) makes this type, and it works great. The price of SATA drives is very reasonable too. Samsung 1.5TB for $99.00, Seagate 1.5TB for $114.00 ( Fry's). :cool: I'll tell you, though. I have both (external USB2 and SATA) and at least on my system they seem to transfer at about the same speed...

[GaPony]

I'll tell you, though. I have both (external USB2 and SATA) and at least on my system they seem to transfer at about the same speed...

I'm afraid you may have a serious hardware issue. There is virtually no difference in data transfer of an eSATA and an internal SATA. USB 2.0 and even Firewire can't touch it! SATA/eSATA are about 6x faster than USB 2.0 in everyday use...not just some benchmark test.

In some activities it doesn't matter much. If you're talking about using BD-Rebuilder to an external USB drive vs. an eSATA drive, you might be correct, but its not the same thing. An eSATA DVD burner is alot faster than a USB DVD burner... in terms of burner speeds. If you copy 8GB of data to/from a USB HDD to your PC's internal drive and then that same data using an eSATA HDD, you'll be tempted to throw the USB drive into the closest dumpster.

I have to tell you that your software has cost me a ton of money... I keep all the original ripped movies and all the BD-Rebuilder copies on hard drives... along with the BD25 or BD9 copies on disc. I used to be blissfully ignorant that a Blu-Ray could even be copied. Now here I am 20 (1TB and 1.5TB) drives later....... :D j/k

[DVD Maniac]

I disagree. Knowing from firsthand experiences that such and such a media works well with a perticular burner or player, is much more useful in the real world than software tests that are most usually geared to a particular set of drives. The numbers produced by these software test are fine for geeks, but not the average Joe, just trying to make a copy of his Blu-Ray or DVD movie. Besides, being totally arbitrary, they do nothing in determining whether any problem is from the media, the firmware used by the burner, or the burner/player itself.

I'd much rather hear... I bought a 20 pack of 123 brand media and they burned well on my xyz brand burner and played back beautifully on my ABC brand/model standalone player.... or didn't, as the case may be.

Its for this precise "random" results iv'e switched to an HDD storage regime. I'm not convinced consumer BD Blanks are universally "higher" in quality than their DVD equivilants or ever will be. Recording onto a DVD blank is, and still remains a lottery in my experience regardless of how much you pay or what research you make on mutually compatible burners, blanks and players. I have lost count of the number of discs i've burnt on high quality media which pass so called quality tests with flying colours only to discover flaws when played first time or else play fine (once) then crap out on you on a future viewing.

For me, HDD is the way to go as per my previous post, cheaper, more reliable and absolutely less hassle all round. BD Blank suppliers can keep there £3.00 rip offs!

[EdoNork]

since I figured out how to stream my Blu-Ray movies to my PS3.



Here ya go. :) http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/

If you have a decent network and a PS3, there is virtually no configuration required..

=h! Thanks.
I use it. I didn't know it cans stream BD too. I will try.

[bobrap]

Got to ask the dumb question of the day.:D How much quality difference is there in playback between a standalone BD player and connecting your PC to a TV?

[Wolfe999]

@DVD Maniac: I've seen this debate before and it all falls on personal tastes. :)

I'm old fashioned enough to like my movies on a disc, see the case and enjoy the beauty of a custom cover. Besides, I still haven't found a SW player that plays absolutely any movie without giving a problem with this or that.

So, for me it's the DVD, or BD-R in this case. For me in this case, the money difference is not that big enough as to make me want to change. But I'm happy you are happy with your HDD and that you save money with that. And I mean it, no irony intended

Regards :)

Edit: Forgot to say that HDD die... and mine have died on me several times. Another reason that makes it not worthwhile for me.

[GaPony]

Here ya go. :) http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/

If you have a decent network and a PS3, there is virtually no configuration required..

=h! Thanks.
I use it. I didn't know it cans stream BD too. I will try.

Here's how I do it... I use DB-Rebuilder to make a Movie Only copy to BD-9, then I extract the 00000.m2ts file and rename to the name of the movie (ie. Gladiator.m2ts). I move that file into a shared folder and also put a .jpg of the front cover (ie. Gladiator.jpg) into the same folder. The PS3 lists the movie with a picture. I get about 175 Blu-Ray movies on a 1.5TB HDD (using BD-9 sizing).

I sacrifice a couple things in my method. I don't keep any subtitles when I use BD-Rebuilder and the PS3 can't figure out how to jump chapters for a .m2ts file, but the "Jump To" feature works on most movies. Its not perfect, but works "well enough" for the time being. The audio & video is great, but the mechanics still need a little work.

Don't get me wrong guys... I still use plenty of BD-R and DL DVD media. This is just something I'm working on for the future and mostly stream movies suitable for my (2 y/o) grandson, since he seems to have permant sticky fingers which he likes to rub all over the shiny discs. :eek:

I'm still in the constant hunt for reliable, but inexpensive media. :) Currrently www.shop4tech.com has a $17% off everything sale and has some great prices on BD-R media, as well as DVD media. It ends 09-07-09. Use Promo Code ES17 at checkout

[Capsbackup]

I'll tell you, though. I have both (external USB2 and SATA) and at least on my system they seem to transfer at about the same speed...

I have noticed a big difference in transfer times. I use my internal HD, which I rip the original Blu-Ray to and reencode with BD-RB, then transfer to my ESATA HD for long term storage. Much faster this way then with USB2.0. I have been keeping all my original rips too, like GaPony does, and maybe will have to look into the PS3 some day. :p
For now, I'm content on BD-5/9 and BD-R/RE.
Besides, I would NOT want to miss out on all this fun were having backing up/developing BD-RB, and for that we need to BURN!! :D

[GaPony]

Like I said Capsbackup... I still do plenty of burning, I've just added the additional excitement of streaming! :D I'll have my own little personal version of NetFlix around here soon! :p The good news is that BD-Rebuilder has functionality far beyond just copying and burning... as if that wasn't enough. :)

[jdobbs]

I'm afraid you may have a serious hardware issue. There is virtually no difference in data transfer of an eSATA and an internal SATA. USB 2.0 and even Firewire can't touch it! SATA/eSATA are about 6x faster than USB 2.0 in everyday use...not just some benchmark test.

In some activities it doesn't matter much. If you're talking about using BD-Rebuilder to an external USB drive vs. an eSATA drive, you might be correct, but its not the same thing. An eSATA DVD burner is alot faster than a USB DVD burner... in terms of burner speeds. If you copy 8GB of data to/from a USB HDD to your PC's internal drive and then that same data using an eSATA HDD, you'll be tempted to throw the USB drive into the closest dumpster.

I have to tell you that your software has cost me a ton of money... I keep all the original ripped movies and all the BD-Rebuilder copies on hard drives... along with the BD25 or BD9 copies on disc. I used to be blissfully ignorant that a Blu-Ray could even be copied. Now here I am 20 (1TB and 1.5TB) drives later....... :D j/k You may want to do some testing -- as there's a huge difference as to what specs say and what really happens in a Windows environment. I get about the same speed if I copy from SATA to SATA drive (both internal) and if I copy from USB2. In both cases when copying a ripped BD directory, I get a true throughput of around 16MB/sec. I guess it could be hardware -- but is seems to be consistent across all four of my working/testing computers using Explorer to copy... the external USB2 drives I have all have SATA physical drives inside them anyway -- and cracking them open and installing them internally (as I have done) didn't make a bit of difference in speed.

As for burners/BD drives -- I only have one and it is SATA so I can't really make any comparisons... :)

Of course this is just my humble opinion and my humble experience.

You think the software has cost you a ton of money? In addition to the wall of drives I have now so I can keep copies online for testing -- and all the movies I buy just so I can find bugs in them (even though some pretty much suck) -- I'll need two or three years of donations just to break even... :)

Hmmm... I hope my wife isn't reading this... I'd hate to have to admit to it!

[GaPony]

I think that goes along with what I was saying. For this purpose of using BD-Rebuilder, there probably won't be much, if any difference. The output of BD-Rebuilder isn't very fast. The same is true of copying from a DVD drive to the internal or external hard drives, the DVD drive is the limiting factor. If, on the other hand you copy from the internal hard drives, to an external hard drive, say like in backing up your C: drive to an external. You'll see a huge difference between USB and eSATA. A SATA interface with a USB connection, is still USB speed. Its not about the internal connections of the enclosure, but about the connection to the PC. You have an eSATA port on the PC in order to get the enhanced speed. I'll run a few different scenarios with an enclosure that has both a USB connection and an eSATA connection and post the comparison in a new thread.... since its definitely off topic for this thread. :)

[jdobbs]

I think that goes along with what I was saying. For this purpose of using BD-Rebuilder, there probably won't be much, if any difference. The output of BD-Rebuilder isn't very fast. The same is true of copying from a DVD drive to the internal or external hard drives, the DVD drive is the limiting factor. If, on the other hand you copy from the internal hard drives, to an external hard drive, say like in backing up your C: drive to an external. You'll see a huge difference between USB and eSATA. A SATA interface with a USB connection, is still USB speed. Its not about the internal connections of the enclosure, but about the connection to the PC. You have an eSATA port on the PC in order to get the enhanced speed. I'll run a few different scenarios with an enclosure that has both a USB connection and an eSATA connection and post the comparison in a new thread.... since its definitely off topic for this thread. :)When I say I copy from drive to drive internally -- I mean from an SATA HDD to a SATA HDD. It copies at the same rate as from a USB-2 External to a SATA HDD. The resulting "true throughput rate" of 16MB per second is significantly below the highest possible throughput rate of either of the standards -- it comes out to about 168Mbs, and USB-2 should be able to handle (theoretically) up to around 400Mbs. I'm guessing it's limited by seek times, Microsoft overhead, latency, whatever -- but it's a lot less than either of the standards should accomodate.

[Capsbackup]

Two recent examples I tested:
Internal SATA 7200RPM HD to ESATA Vantec SATA/USB2.0 HD Dock. Using the ESATA connector for both tests:
30.6GB took 8min. 4sec.
42.9GB took 11min. 37sec.
This, though just copy/paste from Internal HD to ESATA, is many times faster than if through the USB cable. :)

Hmmm... I hope my wife isn't reading this... I'd hate to have to admit to it!
I've already been discovered by mine, but it wasn't here at Doom9. The mail just isn't reliable, and CC statements are hard to cover up when she gets the mail first! :p

[jdobbs]

Two recent examples I tested:
Internal SATA 7200RPM HD to ESATA Vantec SATA/USB2.0 HD Dock. Using the ESATA connector for both tests:
30.6GB took 8min. 4sec.
42.9GB took 11min. 37sec.
This, though just copy/paste from Internal HD to ESATA, is many times faster than if through the USB cable. :)


I've already been discovered by mine, but it wasn't here at Doom9. The mail just isn't reliable, and CC statements are hard to cover up when she gets the mail first! :pIt's about 4 times faster than either my SATA or USB2. But it's still 64MB/s which is only 28% faster than the theoretical maximum transfer rate of a USB-2 interface. The largest part of the difference is probably in the drives themselves (yours and mine).

[DVD Maniac]

@DVD Maniac: I've seen this debate before and it all falls on personal tastes. :)

I'm old fashioned enough to like my movies on a disc, see the case and enjoy the beauty of a custom cover. Besides, I still haven't found a SW player that plays absolutely any movie without giving a problem with this or that.

So, for me it's the DVD, or BD-R in this case. For me in this case, the money difference is not that big enough as to make me want to change. But I'm happy you are happy with your HDD and that you save money with that. And I mean it, no irony intended

Regards :)

Edit: Forgot to say that HDD die... and mine have died on me several times. Another reason that makes it not worthwhile for me.

Well I hope your optical discs you have access to are more reliable long term than the ones I have tried :) Never had an HDD fail on me yet, but if I had £1 for every optical coaster or 2nd time around failure i've had I would have enough money to buy every single Blu-ray ever released! I hear you on the case and cover thing but its all just to much frustration and effort for me.

[jdobbs]

Let's get off this subject, ok? Each person has the right to use whatever media/interface they want.

Everybody's right on this one. Because the method you prefer (personally) is the one that is obviously right for you.

My personal preference is to capture each individual frame and print it to a sheet of paper so I can play back the movie by flipping through it with my thumb. I've never had a single sheet go bad and it has never failed due to power outage. None of you high-tech'ers can make that claim.

This post is NOT directed at anyone in particular. Just to be fair, I know I'm just as guilty as everyone else in pulling this thread off topic.

[DVD Maniac]

Let's get off this subject, ok? Each person has the right to use whatever media/interface they want.

Everybody's right on this one. Because the method you prefer (personally) is the one that is obviously right for you.

My personal preference is to capture each individual frame and print it to a sheet of paper so I can play back the movie by flipping through it with my thumb. I've never had a single sheet go bad and it has never failed due to power outage. None of you high-tech'ers can make that claim.

This post is NOT directed at anyone in particular. Just to be fair, I know I'm just as guilty as everyone else in pulling this thread off topic.

Jdobbs, if your current full time job and / or software development career ever not work out there is always politics :)

Agree with your comments, my posts are just intended to highlight a point that some may have not considered given the mass marketing of blank optical recordable media. In (my) full time job i have seen what goes into the pressed production of original CD/DVD media and I know for a fact that consumer optical media is intended to meet a deliberate inferior standard much like the old days of cassetts tape, VHS etc. Look no further than light bulbs or the car industry to see the same commercial analogy.

HDD's on the other hadn meet an enirely different broad market usage requring higher manufacturing standards and reliability. I'm done with coaster creation weekends - life's tto short! :p