I still write my data on DVDs for backup instead of using external hard disks like some do, since it's cheaper. The DVDs I use I buy in bulk and usually the brand is little known, I'm not buying Sony or the lot. Am I in trouble? Will a cheaper DVD hold in time as better as a more expensive one? Keep in mind that I rarely use the disks I write the info onto, they're just storage. By not using them a lot I imagine they'll hold longer?
I would say that as long as you keep them in a safe place and they do not get scratched then you have nothing to worry about. I have some discs which i saved some software on a long time ago and up to this day they work amazing.
Honestly. I think storing your data on DVD's is a bad investment. I also so think think your statement about DVD's beings cheaper than external drives is false too. You can buy a 500Gb external HDD for $50. A 25 pack of 4.7Gb DVD-RW cost $15. Do the math on those numbers, and you will see that external Hard Drives, are almost 4 times cheaper. In terms of space to price ratio. You are wasting your money on those DVD's.
I agree it is important to look after them properly. I was gutted to find that my laptop is unable to read my data discs probably due scratches. I have lost lots of photos, music and videos. This perhaps could have been avoided had I stored them better.
I would instead invest in an external hard drive. You don't have to worry about scratches or losing them. You can get 1TB drives for $70 now, and that price is only going to keep dropping.
I think that as long as the cd isn't badly scratched, then the machine will have no problem reading the data in it. I don't store that much data, so a flash drive is enough for me. But I agree with AB9100 that you will eventually get to save a lot of money by just buying an external hard drive instead of those DVD's, and you'll save storage space too, assuming you have tons of them stored in your house.
Why take the risk of storing your data on a CD/DVD when they can be very easily damaged. If you need to stick with storing your data on a DVD then do yourself a favor and backup your data with free online file storage. You can create accounts on many file storage sites so you can have at least 100GB + of free storage.
I agree with this 100% You will save a lot of money over time. $50 could buy you all the storage space you will ever need. You might as well do that. It makes no sense spending $10 every time you run out of blank DVD's. make the one time investment, and you will save yourself a lot of hassle, and money. If you go to a Pawn shop. You can probably find one for cheaper than $50.
In the end you will find that you have a lot of DVDs with no more space to store them but if you have a hard drive is takes less physical space but has more internal storage than hundreds of DVDs. They are are also cheaper these days.
