Best DVD Burn Speed?

Hi, I'm planning to burn about 450 GBs of AVI video files onto the DVD-Rs as backup and to transfer the files back onto my laptop if my hardrive fails.



At what speed should I burn my DVD-Rs at in order to retain maximum video quality and to ensure the DVDs will last as long as possible?



Here's the stuff I have:

Media: Verbatim DVD-R 16x (4.7G)

Software: CDXPBurner

Burner: My Macbook Pro

Specs: 8x slot-loading SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

Maximum write: 8x DVD-R, DVD+R; 4x DVD-R DL (double layer), DVD+R DL (double layer), DVD-RW, DVD+RW; 24x CD-R; 10x CD-RW

Maximum read: 8x DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-ROM; 6x DVD-ROM (double layer DVD-9), DVD-R DL (double layer), DVD+R DL (double layer), DVD-RW, DVD+RW; 24x CD

Thanks a lot, any help is really appreciated.

Helfeather said:

At what speed should I burn my DVD-Rs at in order to retain maximum video quality and to ensure the DVDs will last as long as possible?

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The speed at which a DVD is burnt does not impact its longevity or video quality.

cwa that's not entirely true. A slower burn rate does decrease the likelyhood of a defective brun. If your data is important, you should burn at the slowest rate.

You should burn the AVIs as files on a filesystem, rather than convert them to DVD video. You'll maintain their quality that way. Every conversion of format will reduce quality.

giulio said:

cwa that's not entirely true. A slower burn rate does decrease the likelyhood of a defective brun. If your data is important, you should burn at the slowest rate.

You should burn the AVIs as files on a filesystem, rather than convert them to DVD video. You'll maintain their quality that way. Every conversion of format will reduce quality.

Click to expand...

Agreed, there's a higher likelihood of a defective burn, but assuming that the disc is burned properly and verified (which many programs do automatically), the longevity would not be effected.

giulio said:

cwa that's not entirely true. A slower burn rate does decrease the likelyhood of a defective brun. If your data is important, you should burn at the slowest rate.

You should burn the AVIs as files on a filesystem, rather than convert them to DVD video. You'll maintain their quality that way. Every conversion of format will reduce quality.

Click to expand...

Er, what do you mean by burning the AVIs as files on a filesystem? I'm not intending to convert the files so I can view it on a DVD player or anything. Does the software automatically covert the files?

Hel, I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. No conversion would be done to the files unless you spcifically did so. You can archive the AVIs or any other file to DVD media.

YOU Definately need to burn it at least half of the speed of your burner. So if you have an 8 x burner, do 4 x. This will reduce skipping at the end.