Using DVD +RW for permanent storage

[ryanluke]

Hello there,

I've been racking my brains out over this one, as thiere is conflicting views, any help much appreciated:

I have a lot of recorded footage on DVD +RW's and I would like to keep it. Now, I don't mean for 70 years or anything, but I was wondering if it would keep better on write once +R's ?

It would be a huge hassle to play them and re-record. They will have to be the same brand (Kodak - I know they might be shit but it's my only option now).

So

Will Kodak +RW's (written only once) keep ok?

Help appreciated!

[Arachne]

Welcome to the forum

I can’t speak for others, but I keep my archived stuff on write-once discs, as opposed to RW.

It’s a shame Verbatim DVD R isn’t available to you, as that is what I use and would recommend…I can’t speak for the Kodaks, having not used Kodak media since the 1-2x CDR days

[flurpo]

Dye based media is horrible for Archival. I would definitely stick with RW. I know that many Archives have dropped optical media all together because of the short lifetime of DVDR discs. DVD+RW should last several decades if you don’t expose it to a laser too often. I know many groups that have tested the supposed archival grade medias and they ALL failed miserably. Metal recordable BD has a chance at archival but I don’t know how long it will be on the market…Best of Luck.

[weedougie]

No do not rely on rewritable material. I have lost data in less than a year.
By their very nature ie they can be reused, makes them less stable than write once. I still use rewritables but not for anything valuable.

[Arachne]

[QUOTE=weedougie;2160805]I still use rewritables but not for anything valuable.[/QUOTE]

Hehe, yeah only thing I use my RWs for is recording stuff off the TV - I don’t keep the recordings longer than a few days.

[tropic]

[QUOTE=flurpo;2160795]Dye based media is horrible for Archival. I would definitely stick with RW. I know that many Archives have dropped optical media all together because of the short lifetime of DVDR discs. DVD+RW should last several decades if you don’t expose it to a laser too often. I know many groups that have tested the supposed archival grade medias and they ALL failed miserably. Metal recordable BD has a chance at archival but I don’t know how long it will be on the market…Best of Luck.[/QUOTE]
You seem like a nice guy, but you’re mistaken. DVD+RW discs generally have a MUCH shorter archival life than write-once DVD+R or DVD-R media.