DVD RAM questions

[Cyberian-ZH]

1. Anyone have a DVDRAM drive break down on them so far (and let me know how long you had one)?

2. Have any of your DVDRAM media gone bad, lost data, or corrupted?

3. They all seem to go 3-5x. Which looks slow to me. So how fast is that in transfering rates?

4. Any precautions or things of interest I should know before getting one, if I decided to?

[edDV]

Are you a lawyer?

[musher70]

I have a few questions of my own///

First, Why do you want to know??

Second, do you own a dvd recorder??
those are only good for panasonic and
a few others....

Third, they only record real time anyways
si who cares how fast they go...

DVD-Ram is mostly good for re-authoring
content from recorders, so u can get rid
of irritation menus made by those....

[Cyberian-ZH]

First, Why do you want to know??

Obviously, because I am thinking of getting one. And wish to get some experience from others. So I don't make the same mistakes others might have made.

Careful buyers always collect info and experience before buying something.

Second, do you own a dvd recorder??
those are only good for panasonic and
a few others....

No, I don't own a DVD-R.

What do you mean they are only good for Panasonic and a few others?

Third, they only record real time anyways
si who cares how fast they go...

And how fast is 'real time'?

DVD-Ram is mostly good for re-authoring
content from recorders, so u can get rid
of irritation menus made by those....

Can you explain more?

From what I have read prior to coming here, I was under the impression that a DVD RAM acts like a lightweight portable HD. I can write to the disc without having to erase the whole thing and re-recoding it. That is one feature that really caught my eyes.

Before considering getting a DVD RAM, I was thinking of getting a large USB flash drive. Which can too write without having to erase the whole thing. But they are quite expensive though. So Iam thinking of getting a DVD RAM, which is cheaper and holds more data.

My questions are still unanswered. Someone who owns one or had experience please reply. Thank you.

[trhouse]

There are three kinds of dvd disks that might do the same job for you. DVD-Ram, DVD-rw, and DVD+rw. Any of them will allow you to record and continue to add more recordings until full in VR ( video record ) mode.

Here are some of the differences if you plan to use it to capture video,

DVD-Ram can only record in VR mode which is not compatible with most players. The exception is that some Panasonic players can playback a DVD-Ram recording made by a Panasonic recorder. DVD-Ram is true random access like a HD whereas the following media are sequential access.

DVD-rw can record in -VR mode during which you can continue to add content, but it can also be "finalized" in which it becomes DVD-Video format for playback in almost any player. Once finalized you cannot add content unless the disk is reformated which eliminates all content.

DVD+rw can record in +VR mode during which you can add content and it will playback in most players without finalizing. Some recorders like the Lite-On report that they can do +VR mode on DVD-rw disks as well.

DVD-Ram is an industrial strength product often used by banks to backup data. It is reported to be reuseable 100,000 times with much better errors rates than DVD-rw or DVD+rw. The +/-rw's are good for perhaps 1,000 reuses.

Our company uses it exclusively for financial data backup. There have been no drive failures or corrupted data in many years. DVD-Ram disks come in more than one flavor. Some do not come in a case, some in a removeable case, and others in a non-removeable case. For highest reliability, the non-removeable case style makes it more difficult scratch or contaminate it. They can be slower partly because the error checking procedure is significantly more complex.

[Cyberian-ZH]

Thanks, trhouse. That was great help!

I should have mention earlier. But I am not using DVD RAM for DVD videos. All my videos are in container (AVI) and watched on computers. Therefore, it is mainly used for data storage.

5. So does this means a DVD-RAM *is* better for me?

Some do not come in a case, some in a removeable case, and others in a non-removeable case. For highest reliability, the non-removeable case style makes it more difficult scratch or contaminate it. They can be slower partly because the error checking procedure is significantly more complex.

Do all 3 style work on the same DVD-RAM drive? (In otherwords, there is only 1 type of DVD-RAM drive, but 3 different style of DVD-RAM media which all will work on the same drive?)

If anyone else got experience and opinions to share, please do!

[trhouse]

Drives that handle the non-removeable media will usually accept the other types but not vice versa.

[Hawseman]

There is one thing that probably should be stressed. RAM disks require a RAM compatible drive. Whereas, an RW format disk can play in most newer DVD drives and recorders.

In other words, if you have trouble with your drive, you're probably SOL until you buy another. Unless you know somebody with a RAM drive to recover your data.

Personally, I love the format for file backup and storage. I've only been using them for about a year though. When banks and hospitals use them, they must be pretty robust.

[Cyberian-ZH]

Is DVD-RAM drag-and-drop like floopies/zips/HDs? Or do they need special software to write like the CD/DVDs?

If anyone got more to add, please do. Thanks.

[trhouse]

If you have a supported drive, Windows XP can do that, yes. Here is a link to a list of what Windows will do and support.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B283588

Also, if you are using removeable or non-cased media, other drives can read dvd-ram but not write to them. For example, I have a Toshiba SD-R5272 dual format drive which cannot write to dvd-ram but it reads it fine.

[Cyberian-ZH]

1 problem: I don't use Windows.

So how do I write/erase if the DVD-RAM is not supported by drag-and-drop?

[Hawseman]

.......

Also, if you are using removeable or non-cased media, other drives can read dvd-ram but not write to them. For example, I have a Toshiba SD-R5272 dual format drive which cannot write to dvd-ram but it reads it fine.

Yeah, Toshiba or Panasonic......good luck with most others.

[trhouse]

It is a bit hard to provide an answer if you do not say what operating system you plan to use.

[Cyberian-ZH]

Linux. Planning to give BSD a try a few months later.

[Synergy]

Is DVD-RAM drag-and-drop like floopies/zips/HDs? Or do they need special software to write like the CD/DVDs?

If you have enough time, you should read the following link to understand the pros and cons of DVD-RAM:

http://www.dvd-software.info/forums/ftopic5025-0-asc-0.html

For data storage, the main advantage of DVD-RAM is 100,000 rewrite times against 1,000 times of other DVD rewritable types, but at the expense of read incompatibility on most drives. Also the defect management on DVD-RAM forces data verification during writing and effectively cuts the write speed in half, so 5X DVD-RAM writing is actually 2.5X.

If Linux supports the UDF file format, then you can practically drag and drop files using any types of rewritable media, not just DVD-RAM.

[joeg04]

DVD-rw can record in -VR mode during which you can continue to add content, but it can also be "finalized" in which it becomes DVD-Video format for playback in almost any player. Once finalized you cannot add content unless the disk is reformated which eliminates all content.

That's wrong. Finalizing DVD-RW (VR) does not change the format to DVD Video. And once finalized, you still can add content.

[trhouse]

joeg04,

My mistake, I was thinking of dvd-rw(v) mode not dvd-rw(vr) mode.

[handyguy]

DVD-RAM is more like a HD then a regular disk.

Yes, I just threw one out after using it for about 28 months, daily.....

[ofbarea]

I still have an old Matsushita LF-D111A in an external case. It only reads and write to the old 2.6 GB disks. It is 1X and it great for backups to catridge media. I got this one since 2000. WIth this unig I got 10 double sided 5.2 GB crtridge and they keep working just fine for backups.

I also have a Toshiba SD-W2002. This one also reads the newer doubled sided 9.4GB RAM disks.

I think Cartridge Type-1 or Type-4 disks are the best for data. Last time I checked only panasonic is selling burners that can use cartridge DVD-RAM media.

If you do not want to use cartridge media, you should consider an LG drive.

I cannot comment on Linux compativility, since I have only used by burners with Windows