ReWritable media in general - thoughts and questions

[dr_st]

I remember when recordable CDs got to the mainstream market, I was thinking: "Wow, that is da bomb!", because of the notion that CDs last forever, unless physically damaged. Hardly the case, because frequent use does wear them out. Music CDs start to skip, data CDs get some unreadable or hardly readable sectors, etc.

However, if the CD is left alone most of the time (for example, a backup CD or a game you rarely play), it CAN last a great deal of years.

Then the CD-RWs came, and once again I thought "that is DA bomb", because I was told that these disks can last after dozens and hundreds of rewrites. How disappointed I was to find out, that after 5-10 reformats, these CDs become barely readable on most devices.

Now, maybe I was using crappy media (something I don't believe exists, or to be precise - I believe every media is equally crappy. Such a belief is easy to live by, but I must admit, it's probably wrong). Maybe I was using a bad recorder/reader (my first recorder was a SCSI Smart&Friendly, they went out of business several years ago), but all this made me a bit skeptical on the subject of rewritable media.

Now I have around 10 CD-RWs I use for backups, I rewrote each several times on my LG 32x10x40, and they are still very much readable, although sometimes slow and sometimes only after a retry or two. But what will happen if I rewrite them a few more times? Will they still be reliable?

And now, rewritable DVD media is strong into the market, and I gots myself an LG-4081B which writes every format possible. But past experiences with rewritable CDs make me very anxious. Are DVD-RW or DVD+RW really reliable? Do newer recorders/media make good ol' CD-RWs more reliable? Is there anyone here who actually rewrote some of his disks dozens of times and they still work?

A separate question about DVD-RAM. If anything looks like "da bomb", it does. In the format specs they claim that it's basically like a removable 4-Gig hard disk, which you can rewrite thousands of times (up to 100,000 they say) as a regular DVD, or use as removable random access media, just like you'd use a floppy or a flash disk (with the right drivers).

Is this really the case? I realize that since most of the recorders don't support DVD-RAM, there aren't many people with serious experience with it. But maybe someone can shed some light on this thing for me?

Please forgive me for raising questions that have undoubtably been raised many times before. I read some FAQs and specifications, but what I'm really looking for is some first-hand experience, and that is something FAQs don't usually give you.

So what do you say?

[ryus]

I honestly have had great results with RWs. My Plextor 48X CD writer writes to Smartbuy 10X CDRWs over and over again without any problems. Also to Verbatim 24X CDRW. Music plays excellent in my car stereo.


My Pioneer 107D writes to Memorex 4X DVD+RW over and over again.
By the way, these DVD+RW plays movies excellent in my DVD player as well.

[sandersk]

I agree with ryus. I use RW media extensively (Verbatim 4x, 10x, 24x, 32x; TDK 10x; Memorex 4x; Phillips 12x; and Ricoh-made 4x DVD+RW) and have never really had a problem. I certainly have used RW media for a heck of a lot more that 5 to 10 times -- varying between quick and full erases. It has cut down on me using CDR and DVDR media. My RWs never become unreadable or seem to slow down the drive that's reading them. A few discs I might have used close to 50 times so far. And I do think RW media are "da bomb!"

Use them primarily as "mastered" media, although I do do some packet-writing with Drag-to-Disc (v. 6 and 7). Use them with Nero 6 and Roxio 7 with a Benq DW822, LiteOn LTR 523237S, and Samsung SM348B.

Have no experience with DVD-RAM.

Hope this helps.

[Wesociety]

I have ONE Memorex RICOHJPNW11 DVD+RW disc.
I have rewritten onto it dozens of times and movies still play flawlessly on my standalones!
Rewrites have been primarily done on an NEC 2500A drive, but it has also been written with a LiteOn 411S and a BTC 1008IM.

[faithfoo]

SANDERSK "
Use them primarily as "mastered" media, although I do do some packet-writing with Drag-to-Disc (v. 6 and 7). Use them with Nero 6 and Roxio 7 ....


QN ...
; say I back up 1000 files ( overidding all of them everyday from Hard disk to DVD RW ( not using packet writing , but erase and rewrite again )


1) Which particular software function should I Use from Nero for best results

2) Is DVD RW + or DVD RW- better in creating less error

From
www.nomorecoasters.com

1) it appears to be DVD RW - by pionner , and 2nd best MCC RW +