Blu-ray - 25Gb or 50Gb, write-once or rewritable media

[Richard Davis]

I'm planning on purchasing a Blu-ray writer later this week for my final-final backups (as opposed to my on-line backups on separate hard drives). Having moved up to 8Gb cards with my EOS 5D mkII I'm wasting serious time burning DVDs at the end of the backup stream.

My questions are:

1) Should I plan on only storing 25Gb per disk or use the double-layer feature to store 50Gb?

2) Should I plan on using write-once or rewritable media - is one shown to have fewer data losses/corruptions over the other?

Thanks!
Richard.
www.rkndproductions.com
www.richarddavisphotography.com

[peterkrogh]

Richard,
I suggest (and use) 25 GB (actually 23.4) and write-once. 
Mostly, it's a matter of cost and ubiquity.
Peter

[billseymour]

I thought I'd add a very mundane question here, since we are talking about Blu-ray media:

Who (and at what prices) are folks buying the Blu-ray media (discs) from?

I'm asking because I see wildly different prices, and I am wondering if there is something I'm missing (write speed? something like that). For example, just Googling this morning, I see:

Sears: 1 disk for $5
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00395944000P?vName=Computers%20&%20Electronics&cName=Blu-ray&DVDPlayers&sName=DVD%20Players&psid=FROOGLE01&sid=IDx20070921x00003a

Walmart: 1 disk for $13
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Maxell-BD-R-Blu-ray-Write-Once-Disc-Single/11062006?sourceid=1500000000000003142050&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=11062006

Amazon: 15 disk spindle for $30 (!)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001B96HLU/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000I3C5NY&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=08R8FCXQVJK5WWVQV690

This is pretty confusing, if the products are equivalent (when looking for DVD discs, in contrast, pricing is all very tight from vendor to vendor, with discounts only if you buy in bulk).
So- are there any 'gotchas' in terms of selecting Blu-ray media? Or is this just a case of new technology not yet having found a stable price point?
Thanks. --Bill

[peterkrogh]

Bill, I've been buying the $30/15 Memorex from Amazon.
Peter

[billseymour]

Thanks for the feedback, Peter. Good to know that the Amazon source is OK for use. That averages out to an excellent per-disk price.
--Bill

[Rich Green]

I know that nothing lasts forever, but - I've been purchasing and using the Memorex brand BD-R and there are some of the negative reviews for the product on Amazon. Some buyers have claimed data loss after 9 months. That's kinda scary. Has anyone else know/heard of this problem? Is there another brand that comes with a high recommendation? Thanks.

Rich Green
http://www.rjgreenphoto.com

[peterkrogh]

Rich,
It's hard to qualify what's being written there. Could be problems with burning hardware, software, storage, disc marking, current reader, etc.  At least one of the reviews simply complained that the format only holds 23 GB.

I'm taking this opportunity to verify some of my older discs, and I'll report back what I find.

In any case, it's important to validate your discs when you are trusting so mich data to each.
Peter

[Rich Green]

Thank you for responding Peter. I only started backing up less than a year ago. I agree - who knows the veracity of the complaints - but I wanted to at least ask because, as you stated, there's a lot of info/images on those discs.

Rich Green
http://www.rjgreenphoto.com

[peterkrogh]

Rich,
Check out this page.
http://www.dpbestflow.org/data-validation/write-once-media-validation
Peter

[patrickcorrigan]

I thought I'd add a very mundane question here, since we are talking about Blu-ray media:

Who (and at what prices) are folks buying the Blu-ray media (discs) from?

I'm asking because I see wildly different prices, and I am wondering if there is something I'm missing (write speed? something like that).

I'm looking at Blu-Ray but have not yet bitten the bullet. One of the issues with CD/DVD/BL media life is, according to sources I have read, how you label the disks. Both stick-on labels and Sanford Sharpie apparently negatively affect disk life. Inkjet and Lightscribe printing appearsto be the safest methods.

Newegg.com has RiDATA 25-pack inkjet printable BL disks for $39.99 pluss $4.99 shipping. Here is the link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817132071

[peterkrogh]

Patrick,
As I outline in the book, I suggest you write only on the spindle area with a "CD-safe" marker.
Same for all optical media.
Peter

[patrickcorrigan]

Yes, I forgot about the CD safe markers.

[Mary]

MAM's are more expensive, 25G/6x/10-count, but I've been using their gold discs for years...
http://www.mam-a-store.com/mam63942-10.html

I'll start burning this week, so timely discussion.--Mary