Re: DVD Media Question Please

Thank you very much for the reply. I appreciate it.

The plan is a simple one just to protect data files so a one shot burn using finder is fine if I can do that without installing additional burn software.
I'll simply be backing the documents folder once a week or so to a pair of flash drives as an interim step that protects the files. Then when I have a gig or two on the flash drives, I'll do a double burn to a matched pair of DVD's. I'll get 8x DVD+R's on your recommendation for this purpose.
Sound ok to you??
DH


David Empson wrote:
Dudley Henriques <dhenriques@xxxxxxx> wrote:

Intel IMac using OSX4.10.4. Burner is the Super drive.

Got a question;
I'm going to use DVD's for simple data backup and have read up on the
different types of media I can use. I'll probably be burning archives to
a DVD-R as I don't need re-write capability...just storage for data files.
I think I understand there isn't much difference between the - and + formats for my purpose.

Not for an Intel Mac. If you had a much older model, it might only be
able to write to DVD-R.

DVD+R allegedly has some minor technical benefits for use on a computer,
but they are pretty esoteric and won't matter for your purposes.

For data file backups, readability on other drives is the only other
factor I can think of. DVD-R might be slightly more compatible with
other drives than DVD+R, but you could easily get variable compatibility
based on media and drive brands.


What methodology and software do you intend to use to write to the DVD-R
or DVD+R? If you just burn a DVD with Finder, you won't be able to write
to it again, so you need to collect everything to be burned and do it
all at once.

With some media types and the right software you _might_ be able to do
multi-session DVD burning. This is supported on CDs, but I haven't
explored doing this with DVDs. It wasn't originally supported and might
not be readable in other drives.

With special purpose backup software (like Retrospect) you can do packet
writing, which can do arbitrary sized chunks of data and keep adding
more data to a DVD-R until it gets full (at a later time). This sort of
DVD can only be read by the software which created it (Retrospect).

I believe the Super drive will burn to both (am I right here) but I need
to make the decision between the formats AND I don't know what speed to
buy.

All Intel iMacs with a Superdrive are rated at 8x. If you get 8x media
it will be able to write as fast as possible. You won't get a speed
benefit from 16x. If you use 4x or slower media, you will be forced to
burn at a lower speed.

You can choose to burn at a lower speed, which you might want to do to
improve reliability slightly.


Some side choices:

DVD-RW or DVD+RW media will let you erase and reuse the media. For an
archive this doesn't seem worthwhile.

DVD+R DL (dual layer) holds almost twice as much, but costs a lot more
than twice as much, so it isn't worth it unless you absolutely must burn
more than about 4.2 GB onto a single DVD.

Picking a good brand is a wise choice. I've yet to have any problems
with Verbatim CD or DVD media. I had some trouble with Imation CD-Rs a
few years ago but I've used some of their DVD-R media recently without
problems.



--
Dudley Henriques
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Transferring HD
    ... I would use the data & settings transsfer wizard. ... I would also burn whatever data files I wanted to save to a CD to be safe. ... Then boot from the Vista DVD and try running the boot repair. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.vista.general)
  • Re: Cant burn recorded tv to DVD!
    ... Does anybody know why Media Centre won't let me burn recorded TV ... When I try to burn a recorded tv program onto dvd, ... UDF format a RW disk and to view that disk on another computer it ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
  • Re: DVD Media Question Please
    ... I'll take your advice and burn 3 copies. ... My theory is that even though the optical media might go bad down the line, the odds of 2 or 3 going bad all at one time are on the good side of the equation enough that I see them as a viable solution for my particular situation which is basically simple text files and images. ... Personally I have a large safe deposit box at the bank. ... I have had to use my backups dozens of times over the past 40 years ...
    (comp.sys.mac.apps)
  • Re: Burning DVDs and Sound
    ... trying to burn are on my hard drive, ... tried Sony DVD Architect which did burn one try successfully. ... different brands of media - Maxell and Liquid Video. ... > background while you are burning a CD or DVD. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
  • RE: Two problems: license and burning
    ... "KHL" wrote: ... This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. ... Player it says that I'm allowed to play and burn and so on for as many times ... But then again since Media Player can't find the burning ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsmedia.player)