How to get the most from your $$$ out of DVD backups...

[Carlos Garcia]

I have seen posts where people ask whether it's worth it anymore to copy DVDs. Well, for my money, I bought a Sony 301 DVD jukebox that flips double sided discs to play the back side also, and now the only media I buy is Primedisc double sided Ritek media. I rent movies from Netflix, and I burn 2 titles on each disc. This way I will fit 602 titles on my jukebox. Since my discs will live in my jukebox, I have no need for any labels, ink, or cases. This method seems to save alot of money in the longrun, and definitely answers the question of whether it's worth it anymore.

CG

[chriskb]

What program are you using to burn the copies and what quality are you getting by using only one disk.

[Carlos Garcia]

Hi Chris. I'm using a Pioneer A04 with firmware 1.40. I burn my DVD-Rs using Nero 5.5.10.20. I only use 1X speed because 2X has given me problems in the past. So far I have burned about 300 double sided discs and all play perfectly. Primedisc are made by Ritek, so the quality is excellent...on both sides! I have even played the first discs I made over a year ago and they still play fine.

[chriskb]

So that does answer one of my questions, if you have a DVD burner and your movie is not over 4.7g then you can simply make a 1 to 1 copy instead of having to go through the DVD to SVCD process. I guess the only issue then becomes getting the blank DVDs at the right price.

[Gil T Pleasure]

Originally posted by Carlos Garcia
I rent movies from Netflix, and I burn 2 titles on each disc.

Isn't this illegal?

[Carlos Garcia]

"Isn't this illegal?"

Um, yes. Don't try this at home ;) Or better yet....um...These are all LEGAL copies of titles I owned...I just backed them up and lost the originals ;)

[chriskb]

Gil,

We would never consider copying anything but movies we own sport.

[Gil T Pleasure]

But of course! ;)

[chriskb]

Am now the proud owner of a new Sony DRU-500AX and a copy of DVDXCOPY and couldn't be happier than a pig in $#@!

[atreides93]

Carlos, it just occurred to me that you're a perfect candidate for letting us know how well ritek's hold up over time :) Having all those disks sitting inside a DVD jukebox like that should be a nice stress test for them. Mine are mostly sitting in a case at room temperature.....

Do you know whats the age of your oldest burned backup and if it still works ok?

[Carlos Garcia]

atreides93, my Sony Jukebox is currently full...I just bought a 2nd jukebox and have started also filling it up with double sided Primedisc(Ritek)s as well...I believe I started making all my dubs a little over 1 yr ago, and so far they all still play perfectly, no skips or errors. It might be a tribute to the unit as well, the DVP-CX875P can playback just about every media thrown at it, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, audio CDs, , mp3s, CD-Rs, VCDs, and more. You say that my disks being inside the jukebox would be a great stress test for them, but to be honest, I think there's more stress on a DVD-R that's kept in its case, where the inner ring has constant pressure being put on it, the discs have to be constantly handled, and thus risk being dropped, scratched bent, smudged, etc. That's another reason I love these units...I will never lose any of my discs, because I know where they are at all times. God forbid the units should ever breakdown though, because then I would have to find a way of taking them all out before sending it out to be repaired...But (knock on wood), so far these are great workhorses, and I've yet to have any kind of problems with them.

CG