Double sided RAM disks

[barry_w2]

I wonder if someone can help me.

For many years now I have been transferring things recorded on freeview to my PC using a RAM disk.

Using V Dub I check the transfer has gone correctly and every say 2 months an error message crops up which means I start using a new RAM disk.

Most things I transfer are less than 2 hours or have advert breaks which means it is relatively easy to split the recording.

However every once in a while eg a football match on BBC, a long film or a Wimbledon final is too long and then I have to mess about with playlists etc to have an overlap.

I was looking around to buy some new RAM disks when I saw some double sided ones and I wondered how these work.

My first thought was that you put one in the machine and it was like using a normal disk on LP without the quality loss ie it was a 4 hour disk so when side 1 was full it would immediately and seamlessly resume on side 2.

It would also mean thaht when I transferred it to my PC I would have only 1 file as opposed to 2 which is obviously a bit neater.

Having looked into it a little bit it seems this is wrong as people mention you have to turn the disk over.

This would mean it is pretty pointless as you might as well buy 2 disks especially as the double sided disks seem to be about 3 or 4 times the costs of the regular ones.

Virtually everything else in life you buy more it gets cheaper so in the old days when I used audio cassettes C120 were cheaper per minute than C90 which were cheaper than C60 etc etc.

This seems a reasonable analogy so my questions are as follows:

1. Is there any disk I can use repeatedly for transferring recordings off freeview from a Panasonic DVD Recorder that can tfr more than 2 hours without losing quality and without having to piece together a join.

2. What am I missing about double sided RAM disks ie why do people buy one as opposed to 2 regular ones. I appreciate there is a space issue but that seems a very minor incentive to me.

Barry

[jjeff]

1. What year is your Panasonic? if older than '05 you may gain some longer than SP quality by purchasing a newer one. Also post '05 Panasonics have the ability to burn to DL media but none are reusable and I believe even with DL discs you get two separate files(one for each layer).
2. Double sided RAM discs are basically like using 2 single sided discs, no real advantage other than 1 less disc to store. I never use DL RAMs because as you said they are more than twice the price of a regular RAM disc and they are harder to handle IMO.

I only use post '04 Panasonics and feel the quality is pretty good up to about 2hrs 40 minutes, on some titles I push it up to 3hrs but only for things that don't have a lot of fast movement, etc. because for longer times macroblocking becomes a issue.

You might also have the ability to purchase a Panasonic BD recorder(I don't since I'm in N. America and use NTSC) but even with SL BDs you have 25GBs and the cost of BDs aren't much more than DL DVDs and RE's can be reused.

If you want to stick with the hardware you currently have then what you've been doing is about your only alternative.

[lordsmurf]

I've never seen anything like this, and I've been doing DVD since 2001.
Don't think they exist.
At best, it was something done in Japan only in the early days.