Technobabble

How Long Does Burned DVD-R Media Last?

Posted by on Feb 20, 2007 | 4 Comments

The hard drive in one of my desktop computers neared the saturation point today. I went looking for junk to toss and quickly came to the conclusion that I had no choice other than move a bunch of big files off the box. The shorts I’ve been posting to Google Video and YouTube have eaten a ton of space. While the finished web videos are relatively small, the working folders are huge, with lots of full-resolution video and uncompressed audio.

It’s time to opt for offline storage.

There’s a spindle of blank CD-Rs sitting on the desk, but I’d rather not split the folders into multiple CDs. I’m going to bite the bullet and pick up a spindle of DVD-Rs. (One 4.7 GB DVD-R can hold more than six CD-Rs.)

I always buy name brand CD-Rs. I’d expect to do the same with DVD-Rs. I’m not willing to gamble on the quality of the media just to save a few bucks. “What, you can’t read the disk?” “Yeah, but I got a great price on them!”

No matter whether the manufacturers boast 30-100 year lifetimes, I’m a bit worried about the longevity of the media. Of course, I’ll squirrel the discs away from light and heat, to tilt the odds …

[tags]DVD-R[/tags]

  • The piper at the gates of dawn

    The dvd recordables are BS !!! Those disks only last 2-5 years. This is that twisted little dark secret that they did’nt share with the consumers. You spend hundreds on a DVD recorder and more on the blanks… Then you find out 3 years later that your disk plays about 3/4 of the way and starts to freeze up. Well thats a bitch…
    Don’t always believe what they tell you because it is all BS !!!!

  • Ben

    My ‘data’ as it were, only goes back about 10 years, but it seems to suggest that Piper here got a bad batch. Every disk I have ever burned with the exception of 4, works. This is using CD-Rs since 1997 or so, and DVD+Rs for 3 or 4 years, and the only error I’ve ever gotten was one disk, where the burning software had mixed up the where one file began, and the other file ended. This includes some incredibly cheap CDs which I hadn’t expected to burn once successfully, never mind last 6 years. I wouldn’t count on them lasting centuries, but I’m betting if you buy a decent brand (TDK seems an excellent compromise between quality and price, being one of the best and cheapest), it will last well over a decade or two stored properly.

  • Stan Borbat

    I have the same problem. I can’t fully read most of the DVD+R’s that were burned no more then 2 years ago. They were handled very well, do not have any scratches and came from Maxell. Comparing to other brands I consistently had a 100% success rate when burning these. Now some of the folders will not read on these discs.

    Tossing this issue asside as a “bad batch” does not give this media any more credibility. I think this is a call for a better file system to use on burned media. More redundant data for those larger discs :)

  • ehsaan

    That’s all right !
    don’t forget that they are just temp storage for transferring your files ( CD-R & DVD-RW+).
    you cant trust for example EMTEC DVD’s for 10 year’s but that’s too long for a 2 $ DVD !
    they are just a quick storage like flash to take your files (Specially HD Movies) to a good 1Tb hard drive so if you want to keep your files (Archive) for a long (50Yrs) you have to use hard drives.
    today Blu-Rays are another solution but slow burnning time and expensive Writers (and so Blu-Ray disks themselves) make consumers reluctant to use them !
    so i think buying a 150$ 500Gb toshiba hard drive is the best way to archive your file even for longer than 50 yrs.
    Thanks
    Iran