DVD media which lasts long

[ahavriluk]

Hi,

I am a wedding photographer and I need help from you, guys. I give my clients a DVD with images and DVD slideshows from their wedding and I want them to have those on the best media, which will last for very long time, will be resistant to scratches, fingerprints, etc. So, they will be able to use it for a long time and it won't be destroyed over time.

I was looking at several brands and technologies and still not shure which one is the best. MAM-A? TDK? Verbatim? Gold? DURABIS?

Please, help me decide. What brand and type of disks would you reccomend for me? Price is not an issue. $2-3 per disk is OK.

Thank you,

Alexamder.

[dolphinius_rex]

There is only one choice for the best media, and it's not the one that you'll hear from just about any of the experts anywhere else

Maxell BQ Series 8x DVD-Rs.

It has a hardend coating to prevent scratches and fingerprints, and comes in a good quality DVD case (sells in 3-paks). You'll be looking at about $2-$3 per disc, depending on where you buy it. I don't know anywhere in the USA selling it at this time, but NCIX.com has it and will ship to the USA (it's on their current sale today too!
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... omoid=1001
$4.99 CAD / 3pk

If you want to see how it compares to MAM-A Gold, Delkin Gold, and Verbatim Gold, as well as other media, I have some professional and amatuer testing results showing in the subscriber's section currently (they're advanced results from my DVD Longevity Study). But you need to be a subscriber to CDRlabs to be able to access that forum section (sorry, but the results aren't public yet because they are still incomplete).

I hope that helps

[Justin42]

Grrrr, I placed an order in a hurry just before a meeting and saw that I was charged $6.88US for each pack, not $4.45ish US..... didn't catch til my email confirmation came in. (I think I didn't notice as I was ordering multiple packs and with shipping and the like it just became a number.. )

Was I supposed to put in a coupon or something? They showed up as $4.99CAN in my cart before I logged in and checked out...

I have an email into NCIX but I'm not particularly hopeful, especially since I had to pay via PayPal.

Oh well, at least I'll get the discs, I've been curious to try this stuff.

Any recommendations as to burners or speed to burn this stuff at?

[dolphinius_rex]

Hopefully you can resolve the order issue... if you catch them quick enough you might have a chance still.

Regarding the media, I've found it works really well at rated speed. If you know a drive is particularily prone to problems with Maxell manufactured (Japanese) discs, then you might want to drop the speed to 4x just in case.

What drives do you have to burn them with?

[[buck]]

ahavriluk, I outlined what I would do in your case here. Based on Dolph's test data, the scratch resistant disc I would use would most likely be Maxell BQ.

Justin42: definately burn on a Pioneer DVR-111 at 8x if you have that drive.

[ahavriluk]

Thank you, guys! I will order a few packs of those. What about the readability of those disks after several years (10-20-50?)?

[Justin42]

They just sent me a refund via PayPal, so it looks like all is good now.

I have a Plextor 716 and LG H10L on the main machine that I'd be using to do the work I'd want to burn these with. I have a Pioneer A07XL on a secondary machine.. and an old Panasonic USB 2.0 DVD burner that does awesome with high quality Japanese discs (only 2X but does a great job).

I should check some of the old MXL RG02 I have; I am thinking the Plextor 716 didn't like those very much. The LG may be a better choice. at this price, I hate burning test discs! What is their MID? Would finding equivalent Maxell discs (non-super-high-grade) give a decent idea of burning quality of these specific discs, or are they thoroughly different to the point I'm going to need to risk a few to get the best combination in my burners?

Or maybe I need to cross my fingers that the 111 will go on sale for cheap at Best Buy this weekend (I got coupons in the mail! ).

[dolphinius_rex]

Thank you, guys! I will order a few packs of those. What about the readability of those disks after several years (10-20-50?)?

Well, nothing is forever, and most current media is still too new to know just how long it can really last. I would not be surprised if this media lasted 20+ years though. I don't really know about 50 years however... that might be a bit much (but maybe?).

[dolphinius_rex]

They just sent me a refund via PayPal, so it looks like all is good now.

I have a Plextor 716 and LG H10L on the main machine that I'd be using to do the work I'd want to burn these with. I have a Pioneer A07XL on a secondary machine.. and an old Panasonic USB 2.0 DVD burner that does awesome with high quality Japanese discs (only 2X but does a great job).

The Pioneer DVR-107 will probably burn them fine. The LG should be ok too I would think. I can try a Maxell disc on my own PX-716SA to see how it handles it.

I should check some of the old MXL RG02 I have; I am thinking the Plextor 716 didn't like those very much. The LG may be a better choice. at this price, I hate burning test discs! What is their MID? Would finding equivalent Maxell discs (non-super-high-grade) give a decent idea of burning quality of these specific discs, or are they thoroughly different to the point I'm going to need to risk a few to get the best combination in my burners?

These are MXLRG03 discs. And yes, burning a regular MXLRG03 would give you an idea if there are any incompatability issues.

Or maybe I need to cross my fingers that the 111 will go on sale for cheap at Best Buy this weekend (I got coupons in the mail! ).

That's not a bad idea either... the DVR-111D is an AWESOME drive!

[ahavriluk]

Thank you, guys! I will order a few packs of those. What about the readability of those disks after several years (10-20-50?)?

Well, nothing is forever, and most current media is still too new to know just how long it can really last. I would not be surprised if this media lasted 20+ years though. I don't really know about 50 years however... that might be a bit much (but maybe?).

I am more concern if it will be readable in years if stored properly. If couple has their wedding pictures stored on such DVD as a master copy, I would instruct them to use the disk as a master source and make copies for everyday use. I this case I want the media to be readable and not self decayed after several years.
What do you think about those gold archival disks from different companies like MAM-A or Delkin? What about those medical grade disks from TDK? Does it make sense to use them?

[Justin42]

Got my DVD-Rs earlier in the week (like, Tuesday-- I was shocked how fast they came! Great service by NCIX) and they definitely look impressive. Nicely packaged and all. Now to wait for something super, super critical to come about. (for $3/disc I'm not doing a test burn!) I gotta dig out some of my old MXLRG03 discs (I think I still have a 15 pack somewhere) to see what drive handles them the best...