how long DVD-R disks live? (1/2 or 100 years)

[AndreyBS]

Pioneer said that their disks live aprox. 100 years. Ia I know they ment Verbitim disks. So some people say that Verbitim DVD-RW after 1/2 year 1 from 6 disks gets sound difects!
I thought that Verbatim is the best... So they live couple of years and what then? Rewrite them all?
And what about 100 years lifetime? All lies?

In this case my Lead Data and Auvistar disks will die in a month?
I am in deep shock!

Is there any DVD-R whith long lifetime in this world???? :(

[Commander XJL]

I would think name brand DVDR like Pioneer, Apple, TDK, ect would last about forever. I would think it would be true for DVD-RW also if you use good name brand disks. I don't think Verbatim is the best, their media has always been more in league with Memorex, but I still have a hard time beleiving their media is gonna go bad like what you heard. Why are you using DVD-RW anyway? most people just use those for testing and DVDR for final burns. I have been one of the people that found out generics seem to go bad in no time, in my case two different brands fell apart only in a few months

[padre]

Well, it's all relative. You can give a 100 year "lifetime", but the media and players will be obsolete in 1/10th that time (if not much sooner).

I've found my PrimeDisc and some other less expensive brands have a life equal to the 'brand' named discs. Yes, there are some crappy non-name media (regardless of the price) that seem to have consistancy issues. We even have a few members of this forum who have problems with TDK.

I've always thought of Verbatum as one of the best and have had good success with their DVD-R and DVD-RW media (I just don't use them because they are way too expensive and my portable DVD player doesn't like them).

More than likely, you'll be transferring those movies from DVD-R/-RW to another media type after several years (just ask any betamax user or Laser Disc user).

[jesoonster]

I've found my PrimeDisc and some other less expensive brands have a life equal to the 'brand' named discs.

And exactly how did you find out the life of these discs????????????

[padre]

The same way you find out about the Pioneer, TDK, Verbatum 'life'. Look at the manufacturers specifications, or email the manufacturer. Now, in reality, could they (ALL of the DVD-R vendors) be blowing smoke up our butts? Yes.

From Supermediastore's website:

Accelerated environmental testing projects a lifetime for PRIMEDISC MO disks of more than 50 years

From DVD-RWMEDIA.COM

Outstanding disc quality provides capability of keeping data more than 100 years

And, let's say that a large-name-brand/expensive media DOES lose it's information after 6 months, 1 year, or 5 years. What is their remedy??? It's replacing the defective media with a new one. Wow, I can sleep nights knowing that the company will give me another blank to replace the one that lost it's information. That's why it's no real guarantee, no matter how many years any of them quote.

The only way to make sure we all don't run into this problem is for the people who run into this 'losing data problem' to list:

- the exact brand (not generic, not cheap, not expensive, not name brand)
- the ADVDinfo of the disk
- the vendor/reseller

Using that info, we might be able to identify the common thread.

[abatis]

For the serious longterm save -vacuum pack and store =in a dark place. What can happem without oxidation?

[waldok]

Vacuum place and in the dark ?? What about burying them all in a big vacuum suitcase 50 feet under ground in your garden ? Damn, it's only DVDs...Be serious, in 5 years time, you probably will be using some new technology and you will care about your old DVDs as much as you care today about your first VHS.:rolleyes:

Plus you'll have plenty of time to make backups every 2 year if you are really afraid your collection gets rotten.

Waldok:cool:

[abatis]

:devil: Yes bury them deep, very deep.

[Buddy]

Yes burry them deep and don't blow smoke up my butt:D

[aklendathu]

I've had this strange thing happen to some of my home-burned DVD-Rs:

After a few weeks of storage (inside a cabinet, so it's dark and fairly cool) the movie will freeze in the last 1/3 or so (the outer region of the DVD) - navigation becomes impossible and the picture stutters.

However, if I rip the contents to the PC and burn a fresh DVD-R, the movie plays perfectly all the way through !

Has anybody seen this happen before, and what could be causing it ?

This has happened to Infiniti, Memorex and HP DVD-R disks.

[abatis]

I use the cheapest lead data dvd-r and have no such problem. Therefore I think something else is a amiss. Perhaps a burn iissue or very cappy discs. Buy LD's fro m Hyper Nicro very mice - they burn 2X just fine on a GMA-4020b and 1X on a LF-D310:)

[aklendathu]

I was able to figure out an explanation of sorts for my problem - crappy player - or, as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.
The reflectivity of DVD-/+R media is lower than commercial DVD-video disks, therefore, a higher laser output is needed to extract the signal - however, if the player is not properly designed, this will lead to over-heating of some parts which will cause the player to malfunction and hence the frozen or jerky video. I returned the player
for a refund, got another one (a bit more expensive) and all my
problems seem to be solved.