Laser lifetime - Hard Drive vs. Disc recording

[Wile_E]

What is the expected lifetime of a laser in a DVD Recorder? I would assume that recorders that burn directly to disc, would have a shorter lifetime. Because if you are recording a 2hr show, the laser stays on for 2hr at 1X DVD speed. But with a HD unit, you record to the HD, and then just burn the data to a DVD. The laser stays on to burn the disc, which is a very short time because of the faster burn speed. 8x-16x.

Any thoughts?

[unclebud]

In theory I agree but it probably depends on the manufacturing quality and just plain dumb luck with the equipment.
I've had a Sanyo DVD 500 recorder with an NEC 1100 drive in the recorder for 16 months and have burned 600 DVD's in real time and it runs flawlessly.
I bought a Sony DRU-530a DVD recorder for a computer about the same time and it craped out 4 months ago. Probably burned 60 DVD's on it. It won't play or record CD's either.

[lordsmurf]

It depends on a lot of factors. I've never been able to accurately gauge the hours use of a laser, but it should be somewhere in the thousands. Cheaper players use cheaper parts, and that number can be in the 100s. Cheap players tend to pop out in 18-24 months, while better equipment can run about 5 orso years with no problems.

Eventually, lasers die. And discs will outlast players for this very reason.

[LCSHG]

[ lordsmurf ]

I agree in basic but I've seen some expensive equipment [Sony] crap out and a Cyberhome is still going. Manytimes a cheaper unit
[usually less than half the cost] will peform very well and it's lifetime is usually the length of time that a totaly new unit or system comes out

I understand that the media for the the double layer disks require greater output from the laser
That a +RW disk has a different recording media than the dye used in +R disks and that media requires less power from the laser. but I don't know for sure

[lordsmurf]

Pretty much all dyes and phase change materials require more than a pressed disc. AZO dyes tend to require less than some of the crappier ORGANIC or P-CYANINE dyes used by RITEK or PRINCO and the likes.

Dual layers require more, especially on recordable DL's.

[ROF]

In theory I agree but it probably depends on the manufacturing quality and just plain dumb luck with the equipment.

This is 100% true. You may be using a burner that others have either gotten DOA or that died within a few months of usage. Price paid for the burner does not guarantee longer life or better manufacturing quality. In quite a few cases, the reverse of that is true. It's mostly just dumb luck or bad luck that produces a failing drive after x amount of hours of usage. There is really no way to gauge this. Naturally if you abuse the device or use it in an abusive environment it's life span decreases.

Fortunately at the price of DVD Burners (roughly the cost of 100 single layer discs) failure shouldn't be to much of a concern.