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Verbatim launches dual-layer rewritable Blu-ray discs
MEDIA MAKER Verbatim has announced that it will be shipping dual-layer rewritable Blu-ray discs.
Verbatim says the 50GB discs are designed specifically for high definition video and audio, though it's hard to see why anyone couldn't store other types of data on them. Verbatim's dual-layer disc is coated with the firm's Hardcoat coating, which it claims gives discs better scratch resistance.
Verbatim says that its rewritable Blu-ray disc can support up to 1,000 write cycles and is readable by most Blu-ray players on the market.
Blu-ray rewritable discs could well become a useful and cost effective backup media, however at present few drives that support rewriting exist, and ones that do are expensive. However, like the drives, dual-layer Blu-ray rewritable discs do not appear to be a good value backup solution, with TDK's 50GB rewritable discs selling for over £20 apiece. To put that into perspective, a 1TB hard drive can be had for less than £40.
Verbatim will be selling its dual-layer rewritable Blu-ray media in single packs though it did not disclose pricing. Expect it to be around the same price as TDK's offering until less well known media manufacturers tip up. µ
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Verbatim's quality on it's normal disks has fallen so badly why pay a premium for a brand name that has nothing behind it. MY last order had %5 bad disks. Friends are reporting the same general failure level.
Don't think so. Optical media works fine for backups and is more stable than magnetic discs if stored properly.
Plus optical media doesn't care if someone drops a magnet on it.
Blimey the postage from Japan must cost a bomb. As others have said hard drives are cheaper n cheaper and infinitely faster and more convenient. I think writeable and re-writeable blu-ray drives have been available for a few years..?? You don't have to get all new stuff for these do you? Like the new 100Gb Toshiba quad layer discs.. $49 each..
I've been getting these off the bay since May last year, direct from Japan - about a fiver a pop now.
Always good to have an alternative backup medium to HDDs, even if it works out 2-3x more expensive. Flood and mains surge proof too...
Anyone that knows why they are so expensive?
Flash is by far the future.
When CD-Rs came out in the mid 90's, their nearest competition were zip drives, which had 1/7 the capacity. Zip disks didn't decrease in price nor increase in capacity quickly enough, CDR wins.
DVD-R comes out in the early 00's, their nearest competition were maybe Jazz drives, but they really didn't have any competition. USB flash drives were just coming out and were small, expensive and slow (USB 1.1 anyone?). Flash memory cards were the same size.
Now we get to Blue Ray. Flash memory prices are falling by the hour. A 32 gig stick is $38 with free shipping. A 64 gig is more than double that but in a half year it'll probably be at the $50 price point. Not to mention a usb stick requires no software, is faster, and more capable than an optical medium.
Barring a multi-terabyte breakthrough, optical is dead.
"Blu-ray rewritable discs could well become a useful and cost effective backup media"
Not by any strech of the word. The speeds are so low that it isn't worth the effort. The speed of 33Mbits/sec (aka the "1x" for Bluray) is roughly 3MB/s, which is pathetic by any standards. As you say, just get an external HDD, and after the backup slide the lock switch to "write protect".
The ONLY reason you would want to write a Bluray disc is if you have a dumb bluray player that can't read MKV files from USB, so putting BDMV/m2ts files on a Bluray disc is the only option to have your HD content (ex a family vacation shot in HD camera or a downloaded movie) play on the machine.
But even that is a temporary thing. Sooner or later you will purchase a machine with ability to read MKV files from USB (either dedicated or a Bluray player with USB slot, if you still rent bluray movies), just make sure it supports NTFS and ext3, and you will forget about recordable Blurays.
Optical media is dead. The only people who still care is hollywood, because optical media can be DRMed easily. Toshiba had smelled that, and that's why they made HDDVD as cheap as possible. If HDDVD had survived, optical media might still have a purpose. But the uber expensive Bluray can be considered pretty much dead.