Dual Layer Burning

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
So, who actually uses dual layer burning?



I usually burn quickie CDs. DVDs for archives and making backups of frequently used discs.



I've never had a huge need for double layer burning until this weekend, when for the first time I wanted to archive a 6.7 GB disk image. My solution was to split it in to single layer sized chunks so I could burn it to multiple single layer DVDs.



So, do you use dual layer burning? And what for? Is the additional cost of dual layer media worth it?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    DL burning is good for long videos or DVDs where you want to cram a lot of shorter videos onto them. That's what I hope to do soon. I suppose you could make larger backups on RW discs.
  • Reply 2 of 11
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    Independent of the long term viability of disc media, burning a quick backup of your current work to sit on the shelf in case of catastrophic failure is dirt simple. I wouldn't assume this single disc will be reliable 10 years from now, but if I accidentally erase my project or need to revert something, this type of casual backup will do the trick nicely.





    Anyhow, I just upgraded my G5 tower with a new GPU and now I'm tempted to upgrade the burner too. If it is reasonably priced I'd do it for the improved burn speed more than dual layer support. My current tower only burns DVDs at 4x and that takes forever.



    Anyone have recommendations?
  • Reply 3 of 11
    r3dx0rr3dx0r Posts: 201member
    i would use dual layer burning for backup purposes if the disks weren't so expensive. just one dual layer disk costs roughly the same as 25 single layer disks.

    if you want to replace your dvd burner i would recommend getting a pioneer one. they're said to be quite reliable and you can flash the firmware without having to use a pc.
  • Reply 4 of 11
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    I've had more problems trying to burn dual-layer than single. I don't know if it's been bad discs or some kind of incompatibility between the drive and the disc, or what, but I've made more coasters with dual layers. And at their cost, it doesn't please me.
  • Reply 5 of 11
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BRussell

    I've had more problems trying to burn dual-layer than single. I don't know if it's been bad discs or some kind of incompatibility between the drive and the disc, or what, but I've made more coasters with dual layers. And at their cost, it doesn't please me.



    Have you found any brands that work better than others for the DL drives Apple puts in its machines? I have a Dual (chip) 2Ghz G5 and would like to buy some DL disks to try out.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by CosmoNut

    Have you found any brands that work better than others for the DL drives Apple puts in its machines? I have a Dual (chip) 2Ghz G5 and would like to buy some DL disks to try out.



    Not really. I've only used Verbatim, and had 1 problem out of 3. So it's not exactly a large sample.
  • Reply 7 of 11
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    So, back on track! Independent of media lifespan, who actually burns dual layer discs? And how frequently?



    So far it sounds like most people just burn CD-Rs and the occasional DVD-R.



    I've actually never used CD-RW or any other rewritable format. Anyone use those either?
  • Reply 8 of 11
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Xool

    So, back on track! Independent of media lifespan, who actually burns dual layer discs? And how frequently?



    So far it sounds like most people just burn CD-Rs and the occasional DVD-R.



    I've actually never used CD-RW or any other rewritable format. Anyone use those either?




    I used to use CD-RWs but mostly for sneakernet purposes. I'd load stuff on it to take to my dial-up using parents. They now have broadband and I have a 512MB USB key. I think CD-RWs are kinda dead because of flash. Never bothered for music.



    DL discs? Never. DVD-R? Semi-often. Mostly home movies for the grandparents around the holidays.



    Vinea
  • Reply 9 of 11
    mzaslovemzaslove Posts: 519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Xool

    So, back on track! Independent of media lifespan, who actually burns dual layer discs? And how frequently?



    So far it sounds like most people just burn CD-Rs and the occasional DVD-R.



    I've actually never used CD-RW or any other rewritable format. Anyone use those either?




    One of my producer/writer buddies is extremely paranoid about backing up his data, and keeps three rotating hard drives backed up per week and once a week backs up to DVD-R (single & dual layer versions) because, and I quote: "In case there's an electromagnetic pulse, the hard drives'll fry, but the DVD's'll be safe." At which point I remind him that if there's an EMP, there probably won't be a lot of television for him to be working on, but he just smiles. Hope springs eternal.
  • Reply 10 of 11
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Discussion about longevity of optical media has been split off to this thread



    http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...threadid=61832
  • Reply 11 of 11
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Xool

    So far it sounds like most people just burn CD-Rs and the occasional DVD-R.



    I've actually never used CD-RW or any other rewritable format. Anyone use those either?




    I backup to an external hard drive but I also supplement this by weekly backing up to rotating sets of DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs. I started doing this maybe three years ago when DVD-R discs were expensive, around $3 a disc, so the RWs were a cost effective way to go. I've been using the same RW discs over and over and haven't had any problems with them. I use Toast for burning. For what I use them for, the RWs work fine for me, but for archiving I'd use DVD-Rs instead. The one disadvantage, though, is that DVD-RW burn at 2X and DVD+RW 4X on my machine.



    Another thing to consider before you buy RW discs is that the spindle price of -R and +R discs has fallen to such a low point that you can almost consider each disc disposalable.
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