Re: DVD backup solution for old laptop


[snip]

A Cardbus USB2 host controller is the only practical way of adding i/o
that could be used to burn DVD's on your old laptop. Even though real
world throughput is often short of the spec, you should not hesitate for
theoretical concerns. After all, it's pretty much your only choice. USB1
does not have the throughput for even a 1X DVD burn.

Yes, I guess I should test the actual throughput of any CardBus USB 2 so that I
know what to set the write speed to.

The common wisdom is to burn at 1 or 2 speeds lower than the maximum
rating of the media. The USB2 host speed is really not such a big issue
here; the buffer underrun protection of the DVD burner will kick in if
data throughput is too slow at any given time.

I'd think twice about using multisession on anything other then DVD-RW
which is, of course, not an archival format. Multi-session DVD's are
problematic on OS versions before Windows XP; and even then there is
always the possibility that you may only "see" the first session at some
critical moment.

Sorry for the typo: that should be DVD+RW; not DVD-RW.

That's interesting. That means it's quite different from CD. For CD,
multisession has more to do with the file system rather than the media. That
means I can do multisession on CD-R and CD-RW. The latter simply means I can
erase and re-use the CD. The software affects potential for quirky behaviour in
multisession burns more than whether the media is read/writable. But then, I am
completely new to the DVD world, so there are lots of differences to
learn about.

Yes, DVD is very different; this is but one way but it is one that has
real impact on practical utilization.

One additional thought; it MIGHT be possible to find an internal DVD burner
which will replace the internal CD drive in your laptop. Another mine
field though; especially with regard to physical compatibility (especially
the faceplace).

I thought about that -- Dell no longer even lists my machine on their site, at
least so far as peripheral compatibility goes. But in the end, I think I want
an external DVD burner simply because the laptop is old. No point getting
something specific to the laptop as I'm not sure how long it will last before it
kicks the bucket.

Agree. The flexibility of an external burner than can be used on other, or
future machines, is a big plus. Adding hardware to an old machine just
doesn't make sense if there are alternatives.


.

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