I need reassurance about my precious dvds!

[gentle_ben]

Thats all it is??? paranoia?? I guess I am just scared to death of losing my recordings!!! But you reckon the dvds ar safe for at least another 5 years without the quality going down!!???

Gentle Ben, start taking PROZAC, the DVD's will fail, but you won't give a shit.

Already do mate!

[gentle_ben]

anyway - I am still waiting to hear weather the dvds I used which have all these purple blotches on them are ok or if they are a bad thing?? someone please tell me!

[Kedas]

If you look at the bottom side of your DVD and you can see the orientation of the DVD then that's a bad thing. (excluding the inside marks/text)
I wouldn't use them.

[andyp1]

If they had blotches on them when you bought them , why dont you take them back.
You're worried but you are prepared to use media that doesn't look perfect.

[gentle_ben]

Well I didn't think it would matter that much, and to be fair I think they have 'burnt' properly and play ok.....!? But what COULD happen? Might the quality fade on those parts???

[Kingnog]

Geez, try watching it for yourself and see! Nobody can answer your question except you. It's different depending on the burner/media/dvd player. I mean...its not that hard to watch a 2 hour video, is it? Better than waiting 5 days to get your post answered!

[indolikaa]

I invented phthalocyanine.

[proxyx99]

I invented phthalocyanine.

It was you? That explains everything. You should've said that right away.

[indolikaa]

I also invented azo.


Gentle_Ben,

Aside from your admittance to taking Prozac (hey, who doesn't anymore, given the current state of world affairs) the only problem I see here can easily be solved with a little effort.

Burn only with the best media you can find. Do some research, but you'll probably find Taiyo Yuden is rated high, if not the highest of all blank media. Check your media on a regular basis, and don't be afraid to have a second backup copy kept in a safe place.

And if you can foot the bill, removable hard drives are another great backup solution.

[Sillyname]

I clean my DVDs with Gasoline, then burn them clean, the fire kill all data-eating germs but to be sure i rub them with penicillin every day. Microwave owen is also a priceless tool to avoid data loss, 1 minute on each side does miracles.

I run mine through the dishwasher. Too lazy to dry them myself so I just let it do the job. And CASCADE is really spotless, yo!

I also keep my crayons in the back window of my car.

Methinks gentle_ben might be too "gentle", if'n you know what I mean?

[gentle_ben]

[/quote]Methinks gentle_ben might be too "gentle", if'n you know what I mean?[/quote]

Well I don't! Please enlighten me!

[jwedge]

jimmalendo,
what kind of automated cleaning machining are you taking about? i bought a cheapo in the usa for $15 (made in china). can you provide details or site as i am interested.

[sihyp]

CDs/DVDs are not immortal
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/05/06/disc.rot.ap/index.html

[TBoneit]

Hi there everyone!

I am a very worried person....I thought that when I copied all of my video collection to dvd-r then they would be safe forever! But now I am hearing scare stories about how delicate and fragile they are!??? Eg: I wrote on them with a permanent marker....can that damage it? when they are dusty I spit on it and wipe it on my shirt if its got finger marks!??? I also bought some with blotches on the purple but they seemed to record alright! what are the possible complications with discs like these? please try to reassure me!?? and I have a dvd that I really want to watch but it won't finalize! can anyone help me please!??

ta in advance!

I would never use a disk with blotches on the purple. That would mean a dye problem, the botom should be uniform in color.

Have you tried playing the ones with blotches?

It sounds like you are buying cheap media.

If the DVD won't finalize, too bad, it may be lost.

Good Luck

[gentle_ben]

Yer I do but fairly cheap dvds cos I am poor and I uses masses of them! I have seen some Ritek branded ridisk GO4 ones on ebay for about 40p each! Are these any good???

thanx

[The village idiot]

Let's see, what did I say way back in the beginning.... Oh yes, that's right:

You also get what you pay for, so buy good disks.

[jimmalenko]

jimmalendo,
what kind of automated cleaning machining are you taking about? i bought a cheapo in the usa for $15 (made in china). can you provide details or site as i am interested.

Look here.

[jwedge]

thanks jimmalenko

exactly what i was looking for....

[gmatov]

I'd like to know who "gentle_ben" is.

Questions are too naive, shall I say, to be real. More like an oldtimer pulling a bunch of legs at the same time, from all the really gentle responses.

I have seen newbies get their asses eaten for questions half as dumb.

Cheers,

George

[gentle_ben]

I'd like to know who "gentle_ben" is.

Questions are too naive, shall I say, to be real. More like an oldtimer pulling a bunch of legs at the same time, from all the really gentle responses.

I have seen newbies get their asses eaten for questions half as dumb.

Cheers,

George

I am 18 and I am just worry a lot...you got a problem with that!???

[indolikaa]

I'd like to know who "gentle_ben" is.

Questions are too naive, shall I say, to be real. More like an oldtimer pulling a bunch of legs at the same time, from all the really gentle responses.

I have seen newbies get their asses eaten for questions half as dumb.

Cheers,

George

I am 18 and I am just worry a lot...you got a problem with that!???

You're 18? But you have manners. Who'd have thought?

[lordsmurf]

www.nomorecoasters.com and use 1ST CLASS media .. then pray

Make lots of dupes and hope one diesn't die.

Nothing more can be done.

[indolikaa]

Taiyo Yuden and prayer.

[gmatov]

In fact, yes, I do have a problem with that. I will not say, outright, that I don't believe you, but I find it very strange that you would ask such silly, naive questions.

You have no idea how long your "precious" backups will last? RTTMF.

Go to the left side of the home page and check it out.

I also have a little problem with a youngster, note I didn't say young punk, who comes back with "You got a problen with that?"

You don't really sound like a paranoid DORK, you sound more like a Phisher.

My opinion. Never heard anyone just keep harping on how precious his backups were unless he was ripping rentals, or borrows.

Cheers,

George

[proxyx99]

My opinion. Never heard anyone just keep harping on how precious his backups were unless he was ripping rentals, or borrows.

Cheers,

George

Excellent point. This is precisely why.


On the other hand I just hate to waste my time with underdevelopped products and overblown promises (like media longevity). If the best advice some can give is pray or backup the backups then obviously we are taking about a crap technology that is still in dirty dipers. It is hardly a confidence builder. Companies promoting these products have high hopes (and stakes) based on an ever growing illegal copying and piracy market. I can't imagine someone repeatedly buying DVDR's in several hundreds quantities just to backup their home video (hehe) or the few DVDs they own (if that)

Example (recent post):

"I have owned a XXX for a year and burned over a 1000 DVD's with only 25 coasters. I used only XXX Media. Then I decided to purchase a XXX, and so far have burned 250 XXXs and 100 XXX with no coasters at all. So I really like the XXX's. I only use DVD-R media"

Maybe I'm missing something here...

If not for the omnipresent piracy CDRs and DVDRs would not have taken off so rapidly. Sadly, I see media quality issue as a trade-off between rushing products to the market and due quality.

Conclusion? wait with you backups until better technology arrives or just be happy you have what you have. Frankly, I'm not, with either one.

[gentle_ben]

You don't really sound like a paranoid DORK, you sound more like a Phisher.

wtf is that??? and I am not doing anything like copy dvd rentals.....i just record stuff of the TV that I want to be able to watch a lot of times in the future....things that they might not show again.....

[andyp1]

[gentle_ben]

what are you saying???