Level 9

52,879 points

Archival Grade DVDs (that actually last)

Concern has been expressed in these forums about the longevity of DVD storage. Many of us have spent considerable time converting our old VHS and 8mm family tapes to DVD for posterity (= so our grandchildren can see how we were. This is supposed to be a good thing).

I am attracted to a recent offering from Verbatim: Archival Grade DVD. Whilst they don't say so on their website:

http://www.verbatim.com/optical/archival/

the outlets that sell them market them as 'able to last 100 years'. None of us will be able to put that to the test, but clearly these DVDs are intended for long term secure storage. Note that they are for max 8x burn speed.

Here in the UK, where they have only recently appeared, they cost about 3-4 times as much as the standard Verbatim DVD-R, but if their claims are true, well worth it, at around £1 ($2) a disk.

I have nothing to do with Verbatim, will not receive any reward for bringing this to your attention, and no animals were hurt in the making of this post.

But I just thought you would like to know!

20" 2.1GHz iSight iMac G5, 250GB HD, 1.5GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.4.8), iLife 6.0.3, Toast 7.1.2, iTunes 7.0.2, QTPro 7.1.3

Posted on Feb 25, 2007 3:48 PM

31 replies

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Feb 26, 2007 7:05 PM in response to Milton Laughland

Milton,

How many text files did you transfer from your Atari 15 years ago?

How many digital image files do you have on your various storage devices today?

Feb 27, 2007 6:17 AM in response to F Shippey

I transferred at least hundreds of pages of text documents. I used a word processing program called "Letter Perfect" on my Atari. I then imported the ascii files into WordPerfect on a PC. I lost some formatting (tabs, indents, etc.) but the text itself was OK.

Feb 27, 2007 6:21 AM in response to F Shippey

F. Shippey - In answer to your second question, I don't have an exact count of pictures but my picture folder contains 30 gigs worth of pictures. I have the folder backed up on two external drives. The older pictures are also backed up on either CDs or DVDs. You can never have too many backup copies.

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Feb 27, 2007 7:53 AM in response to Milton Laughland

I transferred at least hundreds of pages of text
documents. I used a word processing program called
"Letter Perfect" on my Atari. I then imported the
ascii files into WordPerfect on a PC. I lost some
formatting (tabs, indents, etc.) but the text itself
was OK.

When it comes to images, it's a matter of 'all or nothing' -you either get you image or you get junk.

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Feb 27, 2007 8:09 AM in response to Milton Laughland

Milton,

The point I was trying to make is that the effort involved in transfering 'a few hundred pages' of text at a few kbytes each is nothing compared to the effort that wil be required to transfer 'many thousands' of images at many megabytes size each.

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Mar 17, 2007 2:04 PM in response to F Shippey

I just returned from the PMAI Photo Show in Las Vegas and talked to the folks from KMP Media which is the exclusive worldwide distributor of licensed KODAK Media Products, including CD, DVD media. They offer Kodak Preservation CDs and DVDs. See http://www.kmpmedia.com/kodak-gold.html for more information about these discs.

SDMacuser

Level 6

13,585 points

Mar 17, 2007 3:08 PM in response to F Shippey

Fred, have you personally burned any presentations to this media yet?

Mar 18, 2007 7:44 AM in response to Klaus1

Verbatim is the only brand most photo/video pros that I know use. I've had problems with sony, fuji, and the like (store brands included), but not Verbatim. Worth the extra $.

Mar 18, 2007 10:05 AM in response to Klaus1

Re archival media, I have recently purchased a spindle of Taiyo Yuden DVDs as I had read somewhere that they were among the best available, still made in Japan by the company that first produced DVDs. Any comment?

Forest

iMac G5 20" 1.8 GHz - 400GB HD - 2GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.8) 300 GB & 160GB Ext drives, QT 7.1.5 Pro

Klaus1 Author

Level 9

52,879 points

Mar 18, 2007 10:18 AM in response to Forest Mccready

Taiyo Yuden have a good reputation. I have noticed that a lot of people swear by them (and at certain other brands!). In the UK they are hard to find.

What makes them good is the coating technology, and that is licensed by other manufacturers. I have noticed that Panasonic sell 'Taiyo Yuden' media.

As someone has said, it seems that certain media just 'suit' ones particular Mac and/or burner. I have always had consistently good results from Verbatim and Fuji, never got on with Sony ot TDK.

SDMacuser

Level 6

13,585 points

Mar 19, 2007 7:04 PM in response to Klaus1

I have pretty much the same experience as Kaus 1. Verbatim is what I use (that or Maxell).

As for DVD-RW media, I tend to use Fuji or Pioneer Ver. 1.1 with very good results. Their standard media works well also.

Taiyo Yuden DVDs are among the best but not as widely used as Verbatim DVD's.

Memorex is at the bottom of the list since it will work most the time (just not as often nor as well as the others we've listed above).

Klaus1 Author

Level 9

52,879 points

Apr 12, 2007 8:43 AM in response to F Shippey

Just wondering if anyone has tried the Verbatim archive grade DVDs mentioned in my opening post and, if so, whether they have any comments?

My interest in this has grown since I tried to play the first ever DVD I made, a year ago. I think it was a Sony DVD-R (I put a sticky label on it), burned at 8x from iDVD.

It would not play on our DVD player, on the Mac in either DVD Player or VLC, and mpeg Streamclip couldn't read it!

If only I had known then what I know now! Still 3 out of 3 for mistakes can't be bad!

Had to retrieve the old family tape from the attic and make it again!

Needless to say, now on Verbatim DVD-R burned at 2x from a disk image in Toast!

But before I embark on transfering all the 50 or so DVDs I have made to Archive Grade DVDs - any experiences with them out there?

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Apr 12, 2007 9:37 AM in response to Klaus1

I have recently used the Kodak Preservation DVDs I mentioned earlier to make some DVDs for a historical library. Such discs burn at low speeds (I used 2x).

F Shippey

Klaus1 Author

Level 9

52,879 points

Apr 12, 2007 9:42 AM in response to F Shippey

Thanks Fred.

I have no doubt that they last even better than 'normal' DVDs, but I am interested in knowing how they play in stand-alone DVD players, my Mac etc.

Is there any reason to think they might not?

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Apr 12, 2007 1:16 PM in response to Klaus1

I have no doubt that they last even better than
'normal' DVDs, but I am interested in knowing how
they play in stand-alone DVD players, my Mac
etc.

Is there any reason to think they might not?

They play fine is all my player (but then I always burn at low speeds and haven't had any short-term problems when using good quality media).

F Shippey

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Archival Grade DVDs (that actually last)