lots of burning, what DVD media to use?

[Big Dan]

I have about fifty 500 Mb files I need to burn to DVD. With a standard DVD+R (4.7 Gb) I'll probably need about 5 DVDs to capture everything. Is there any way I can minimize the number of DVDs I'll need to use? I tried looking up DVD-9 format DVDs but couldn't really find anything useful. What about dual-layered (dual-sided?) DVDs? Do these play on all DVD players? Any advice would be appreciated!!!

[steve2713]

You can buy Dual Layer +R discs, but they'll cost you about $4 per disc (on sale, usually they're even more) vs. about $.30 per standard single layer +/-R disc. Plus there's a greater chance of burning an incompatible disc with a DL disc. So, unless it's extremely important to minimize the number of discs, just buy some regular single layer +/-R discs.

[Skith]

Keep in mind that when talking about data, manufacturers and computers use different numbers. A 4.7GB DVD really only holds about 4.38GB of data. This is because manufacturers of drives/media describe capacity using base 10 numbers (how we count). Computers use base 2.

Manufacturer: 1 Kilobyte = 1,000 bytes (10^3)
Manufacturer: 1 megabyte = 1,000,000 bytes (10^6)

Computers: 1 kilobyte = 1024 bytes (2^10)
Computers: 1 megabyte = 1048576 bytes (2^20)

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You would need at least 6 discs. This of course may change if your are encoding/transcoding these files.

I would advise against Dual Layer discs at present (to many problems, and to expensive for the media). It would be much cheaper to buy a 15 or 25 disc spindleof maxell at staples, office depot, are often on sale. Walmart also carries maxell. Look for "Made in Japan" in small print near or on the UPC bar code. Staples also sells 20 packs in jewel cases, which are often on sale.

If storing them is the issue, consider slim DVD cases (such as NexPak's ThinkPak). If you do a search for DVD cases on this forum, you will find plenty of places to buy them.

If you buy in spindles of 50 (and are in the US) you could get some Taiyo Yuden 8x -R at www.rima.com for $25.00 + shipping ($0.50/disc).

*I have heard of some problems with 8x maxell media (I do not remember if it was + or - type) with some burners. This could be sorted with a new firmware release (assume the drive maker releases one for your specific burner).*

You might also consider Verbatim media, or TDK (only if made in Japan).