Question about media Life span.

[Havek]

I was talking today with a friend at work and we talked about DVD Media. He told me that some media can go bad ( or loose quality ) after a few months of storage? Currently My pioneer is burning on Sonix Media ( yes I know its cheap ) but it works. My fear is that my DVD's might go bad ??

[handyguy]

I noticed that with cheap media, which makes sense cause its cheap cause they use cheap stuff to make it with. Better media has the manf name on it.

VHS turns to fuzz around 15 years according to sony.

[Havek]

Next Question what is a good reliable DVD's? I heard Ritek? and ACCU?
I have read threads that TDK are bad and even if they are named brand the manufactor sometimes has another company make there DVD for them.

Im willing to spend a little more if need be but I want to be sure. I would like to keep it under 1.00 a DVD if possible 60 to 80 cents per DVD. I would like to be able to see my DVD's in a year or two.

Thanks in advance

[Super Warrior]

For a while i've been buying princo media because they were so wonderfully inexpensive and worked great.Princo media always burned fine and played well but after hearing enough horror stories i deceided to stop.I'd hate to buy a bad batch later on and burn 25+ DVDs that will give me problems 6 months later.

Actually i went and tested some of my older burned princos and some would no longer play well in my Apex AD-1500 player or in my Sony DVD-rom.They were skippy 50 minutes or so into the movie.

I've recently deceided to switch to Ritek media as they have good reviews and are'nt too expensive.I'm awaiting a 25 pack of ritek GO3 media from www.allmediaoutlet.com/amo/

[Havek]

Thanks ! I'll be ordering the Ritek as soon as im done with the current media I have.

[NamDekan]

I noticed that with cheap media, which makes sense cause its cheap cause they use cheap stuff to make it with. Better media has the manf name on it.

VHS turns to fuzz around 15 years according to sony.

Sony VHS or VHS in general?


cause i still got some old VHS from almost 20 years ago that still work good...


but yeah i was wondering that also about how long they might last? I got CD-R's i burnt like 6-7 years ago and still work fine..

[indolikaa]

VHS turns to fuzz around 15 years according to sony.

If the World Was According to Sony...

We have VHS tapes recorded in 1980 that still play fine. That's 24+ years in the wonderfully-dry climate of the Southwestern US, and they still play fine.

All archived to disc, of course.

[MOVIEGEEK]

For disc longevity you should:
1.Not use labels(could damage CD's).
2.Store vertically in a jewel case(to prevent warping).
3.Keep in a cool dry area,away from sunlight.

I've noticed many manufacturers have dropped that rediculous "99 year" warranty and are now offering 1 year warranties.I have audio and video cassettes over 20 years old that still sound and look great,I doubt my DVDR's will last that long.

[NamDekan]

For disc longevity you should:
1.Not use labels(could damage CD's).
2.Store vertically in a jewel case(to prevent warping).
3.Keep in a cool dry area,away from sunlight.

I've noticed many manufacturers have dropped that rediculous "99 year" warranty and are now offering 1 year warranties.I have audio and video cassettes over 20 years old that still sound and look great,I doubt my DVDR's will last that long.

keeping them in a dvd album isnt good then? i have had my cdr's in a book and have been fine, or are the dvd media different?

[axolotls]

I am pretty sure Sony (Mr. Sony or Mrs. Sony... ) didn't say "fuzz"

However, I have VHS tapes, as well, that are up to 20 years old -and THEY HAVE DEGRADED. As all magnetic media does. I don't think they will totally demagnetize or whatever for another 30 - 50 years (pulling that range out of my rear..).

This is the main reason I am in this forum is to preserve my video tapes and so far with all the support here, it's working out great.

Anyhow, make backup copies of your copies of personal stuff you cherish.

[odd1out]

The VHS tape analogy is a good one. I've got stuff going back 20 years, and most of the really old stuff is showing it, definitively. But that's no less than you would expect from an analog medium based on magnetic oxides. Still, most of it is still watchable, which brings us to disk. Being a static medium it's not going to suffer EM distortion, I'd agree with some other posts on this thread that the main problem is light & air. Keep 'em all locked away in a dark, cool, dry place & run the experiment. Don't see why DVD should be significantly different to CD-R, and we know that's well beyond a decade by now.