Does anybody still use DVDs?

[all41]

Sure, we make DVD wind spinners using 4 fishing barrel swivels and 4 DVDs and 25# monofilament fishing line. Lots of wind at 11,000ft. elevation.

We do pretty much the same and hang them in the garden to keep birds away.

[jimallyn]

I still use DVDs, and CDs.

[AZgl1800]

I still use DVDs, and CDs.

they both have their place, hell of a lot cheaper than USB flash drives if the use is appropriate.

[lsemmens]

I just remembered, I still use one..............................................as a drink coaster.........does that count?

[Hoser Rob]

I still have my DVDs and CDs but the ones I'd actually watch or listen to were ripped a long time ago and live on a hard drive now. I doubt I'll ever buy another optical drive again unless there's a computer attached.

[JerryF]

I just remembered, I still use one..............................................as a drink coaster.........does that count?

Drink coasters always count.

[phd21]

HI benali72,

I just read your post and some of the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

You can add a "poll" to your original post if you want.

I still use DVD discs and I would use Blu-Ray discs if I had a Blu-Ray burner and Blu-Ray discs.

DVD and Blu-ray discs are a great low-cost effective way to create long-term permanent backups (archives) of important data (documents, spreadsheets, emails, actual data (databases), etc...) and multi-media files (music, pictures, videos, etc..). You can fit a lot of data onto regular 4.7gb discs and dual-layer DVD discs which hold double that. Regular DVD and Blu-Ray discs cannot be accidentally or purposefully overwritten (erased) like hard drives or USB sticks. Regular DVD and Blu-Ray discs can last decades out of direct sunlight and high heat and the "m-disc" discs can last a thousand years in direct sunlight or high heat which is much longer than hard drives or USB sticks will last. People and businesses that have a lot of data can use a Blu-Ray burner writer and 25gb, 50gb, to 100gb+ Blu-Ray discs.

Most people of any age already have DVD and Blu-Ray players and know how to use them where discs can easily be played. So creating DVD's or Blu-Ray discs for pictures, music, and videos using one of the DVD Blu-Ray Authoring applications is a great way to preserve and show family, or any type of history, events, etc... for business sales and training, etc... and share them with others. DVD discs are the most compatible and play in both DVD and Blu-Ray players.

A couple of posts related to this in this forum

Xfburn Not Installed By Default In Mint 19 (Tara) - Linux Mint Forums
viewtopic.php?f=57&t=272034&hilit=m+disc+cost

Problems with creating Video DVDs. - Linux Mint Forums
viewtopic.php?f=90&t=270928&hilit=m+disc
...

[Tomgin5]

I just picked up a pack of 100 rewriteable DVD's from Fry's for $9. I give out ISO distros. It is a lot cheaper than giving out 2+GB flash drives. At 10 cents each, can't be beat.

[jimallyn]

I just picked up a pack of 100 rewriteable DVD's from Fry's for $9. I give out ISO distros. It is a lot cheaper than giving out 2+GB flash drives. At 10 cents each, can't be beat.

That's part of my thinking, too. USB sticks are expensive compared to CDs/DVDs. Dang, wish we had a Fry's here. I think 15 cents per disk is the best price I've got.

[Seismic]

As a newbie to Linux I don't know how this is going to workout. However, CDs/DVDs are how I archive docs. Many of the docs I store have quite a few large image files in them and therefore; instead of wasting online storage space and the speed of retrieval I burn them onto DVDs every so often. Based, solely on my own experience they are stable as long as they are kept properly.

I prefer thumb drives, memory sticks or jump drives for storage of regularly used apps/os/files that need to be portable and quickly accessible.

Anyway that's my two cents worth,
Seismic

[sgtor]

I think they're good for a certain purpose. It's more stable backup system for important files. Flash drives can fail over time and the cloud is insecure for very important files, even with encryption.

[Hoser Rob]

I think people overestimate the longevity of DVDs. The only ones that really are good enough for long term archiving are the expensive Verbatims, which are also hard to find.

[Seismic]

I think people overestimate the longevity of DVDs. The only ones that really are good enough for long term archiving are the expensive Verbatims, which are also hard to find.

Hi Hoser Rob,

I never use generics only Verbatim, Maxell or TDK, because the archive is important. Generics, especially have poor quality control.

Have a great one,
Seismic

[coffee412]

I will use a dvd when working on someones computer because some computers with the dreaded EFI dont like flash stick booting. They do seem to be already setup for booting from the dvd drive. So, To save time I just boot up a dvd. With everyones bios settings kinda different I can waste a lot of time trying to boot from a flash stick when it will readily accept the dvd. Weird.

Hey, Incidently - My girlfriend was out car shopping and looking at the Kia's. The radio didnt have a dvd player AND it didnt have a USB slot either. She asked the sales girly "How do I play my music?" and the reply is "on the radio only".

Kia Optima

[Seismic]

For me it is the long shelf life when data is recorded on a quality DVD and stored properly. I have never had a problem recalling a file from a DVD, except when I first started to use them for archiving. It was a generic stack that I first bought years ago, they were terrible ! Since that experience I stock up whenever there is a sale on of Verbatim, Maxell or TDK .

The same holds true for what I said about memory sticks, but I usually buy Verbatim, Lexar, Crucial or other similar brands. Verbatim use to have a life-time warranty on them. I still have an old 2 GB and an old 4 GB jump drive with this type of warranty . It's like Belkin with them giving-up their life-time warranty, most things are a commodity today and made to be replaced, not repaired (little do they know about DIY)!

Seismic

[self-heal]

I have old photos archived on them. Newer stuff goes into two external hard-drives it is nice to be able to put everything you have on one disk rather than trying to span one year for this disc and two years for another. Other people take more photos than I do and I keep the resolution low enough so I don't burn through too much space.

[Seismic]

I need to the docs with their images at the same quality of res archived. It just takes up to much HDD or SSD space.

Seismic

[rui no onna]

I use DVDs only when I need to distribute something that's too big for email (so pretty much mostly just work stuff).

Otherwise, at home I primarily use NAS, external USB HDD, USB flash drives and cloud services. I believe I still have 2 full spindles of unused Taiyo Yudens. I have a fondness for ultra-SFF Mini-ITX desktops and ultraportable laptops so I have only one computer at home that still has an optical drive which is mostly just used for ripping (purchased) Blu-ray discs. Been that way since, hmm, 2010?

[MurphCID]

I save my photos on archival gold DVDs, but I just purchased a 4k DVD player and my first 4k movie. I just wonder if it is that big a deal?

[MichaelB1953]

Yes, I still use CDs and DVDs.
Been renting from Netflix since 2002, satisfied.
Works for Me!
MB