Best way to backup DVD collection

Yes he did. Here is part of his post -

After recently having a bunch of DVDs stolen from my place,
I've decided that I want to back up my entire collection.
Luckily the ones that were taken were easily replaceable,
but I realized I'd be really depressed if some of my rarer
and favorite movies were lost or damaged somehow.

My question is, what is the best way to back them up?
I'm pricing DVD burners at the moment. From what I can
tell, software is the big question though. I know DVD X
Copy is the big name, but they're getting sued and can't
include the decryption code in the package anymore.
What's the most effective and cost-effective alternative?

Notice how he mentioned Movies, and went on to express his interest in a
package that can deal with encrypted content. You are now trying to
change the nature of the discussion. If you'd like to concede the
argument with regard to studio production content and move on to a
discussion of personal content, then you should be more clear about it.

Me? *You* are the one who took this discussion where it went with your
rants on photocopying of books, sealed containers, illegal copying,
the amount of time and cost of backing up, and anything else in a
desperate attempt to convince someone that it is a bad idea to back up
DVDs.

You've gotten this so far off track, I forgot what the original poster
said.

And again. Everything I said still applies. There may be no compelling
reason for you to back up, but the original poster was not looking for
you to try to convince them not to.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Darren Harris wrote:

Notice how he mentioned Movies, and went on to express his interest in a
package that can deal with encrypted content. You are now trying to
change the nature of the discussion. If you'd like to concede the
argument with regard to studio production content and move on to a
discussion of personal content, then you should be more clear about it.


Me? *You* are the one who took this discussion where...snip rant

Actually, you probably mean *me* not JH. If your going to go flaming
someone, at least get your aim right.


And again. Everything I said still applies. There may be no compelling
reason for you to back up, but the original poster was not looking for
you to try to convince them not to.

The original poster was looking for recommendations on the best way to
back up his collection. Odds are the OP doesn't have a fetish for
spending a year of his life backing stuff up onto blank dvds so its safe
to infer what he was *actually* trying to accomplish was finding the
best way to ensure continued access to his movies.

And Backing them up, at least for production movies, (the topic of
discussion) is not the most efficient cost effective way to do that.

42 wrote in message news:[email protected]
Darren Harris wrote:

Notice how he mentioned Movies, and went on to express his interest in a
package that can deal with encrypted content. You are now trying to
change the nature of the discussion. If you'd like to concede the
argument with regard to studio production content and move on to a
discussion of personal content, then you should be more clear about it.


Me? *You* are the one who took this discussion where...snip rant

Actually, you probably mean *me* not JH. If your going to go flaming
someone, at least get your aim right.

Both of you. And he accused me of taking this off topic when you
should have been directing that accusation at you.


And again. Everything I said still applies. There may be no compelling
reason for you to back up, but the original poster was not looking for
you to try to convince them not to.

The original poster was looking for recommendations on the best way to
back up his collection. Odds are the OP doesn't have a fetish for
spending a year of his life backing stuff up onto blank dvds so its safe
to infer what he was *actually* trying to accomplish was finding the
best way to ensure continued access to his movies.

Wrong, wrong, and wrong. You certainly do a lot of assuming. You have
no idea how many DVs he has, how long it would take to back them up,
or whether or not he deems it worth it. What he said is that he was
looking for the best way to back his DVDs up. So until he gets the
answer he needs, it is wrong to assume it on his mind.

And Backing them up, at least for production movies, (the topic of
discussion) is not the most efficient cost effective way to do that.

Again, that is for him to decide.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

The OP asked for recommendations on archiving his entire collection of
DVDs; based on the fact that he'd lost a few regular (non-home-video)
movies.

My recommendation is that its a waste of money. That he's better off
putting the money into bonds and collecting interest against the day
when he loses a few; and to make an insurance claim in the event he
loses them all.

Your own last two paragraphs demonstrate that your "recommendation"
was not the answer to the question he asked.

If he didn't want *my* assessment of what the best way of preserving his
collection would be, and what is a waste of time and money in that
pursuit... he wouldn't have publically asked for it.

Well, he didn't ask what was the best way to preserve his collection.
He asked for the best way to *back up* his collection.

If *your* assessment is that he should backup everything in triplicate
stored in sealed underground vaults scattered throughout the country
that is *your* perogative. Feel free to make that recommendation.

Since I never said any of that, I'll ignore it.

But *I* think its a waste of money in the long run even to make backups
of every bought movie I own and store them in my garage. I'm also
confident that if you do the analysis you'd find that I'm right.

Well, I've done the analysis, and you're wrong. And if you don't what
to make back-ups, then that is your perogative(regardless of where you
store them).

You're still wrong, because since I can burn jpegs(and family videos)
to *DVDs*, as well as movies, what I said is correct. And *I* decide
what standards to hold what to, and what I consider valuable when it
comes to what I have. Not you.

I and the OP were talking about bought movies and by extension bought
albums... and you are again talking about family videos and your photo
cds... they are categorically different. No one disputes that personal
data needs to be held to higher standards. It *is* irreplacable, so to
some extent its priceless.

Albums(like books as well as CDs) which you first mentioned in this
thread were not mentioned by the OP by extension or any other way. And
I'm no longer talking about family videos or photo CDs. That was
mentioned once several posts ago.

Nevertheless, what I said applies to those as well as "production
movies". Your comments concerning insurance(flood, earthquake, fire,
and theft) don't answer the original question either.

Conversely Batman Returns is 9.99, and that's only *if* you need to
replace it before DVD is a dead technology. Clearly the standards for
backups should be different.

Different than what? And DVDs will not be a dead technology anytime
soon(regardless of what you heard). VHS is not a dead technolgy yet
and that's analog.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Darren Harris wrote:
42 wrote in message news:[email protected]

Darren Harris wrote:


Notice how he mentioned Movies, and went on to express his interest in a
package that can deal with encrypted content. You are now trying to
change the nature of the discussion. If you'd like to concede the
argument with regard to studio production content and move on to a
discussion of personal content, then you should be more clear about it.


Me? *You* are the one who took this discussion where...snip rant

Actually, you probably mean *me* not JH. If your going to go flaming
someone, at least get your aim right.


Both of you. And he accused me of taking this off topic when you
should have been directing that accusation at you.

/shrug
As if I care to debate that point?

And again. Everything I said still applies. There may be no compelling
reason for you to back up, but the original poster was not looking for
you to try to convince them not to.

The original poster was looking for recommendations on the best way to
back up his collection. Odds are the OP doesn't have a fetish for
spending a year of his life backing stuff up onto blank dvds so its safe
to infer what he was *actually* trying to accomplish was finding the
best way to ensure continued access to his movies.


Wrong, wrong, and wrong. You certainly do a lot of assuming. You have
no idea how many DVs he has, how long it would take to back them up,
or whether or not he deems it worth it. What he said is that he was
looking for the best way to back his DVDs up. So until he gets the
answer he needs, it is wrong to assume it on his mind.

If he has one DVD its not worth doing.
If he has one thousand DVDs its not worth doing.

If he deems it worth it, then its because he hasn't investigated it, or
its because he has a special circumstance he hasn't disclosed... perhaps
he's moving to a small island in antarctica where getting replacements
is not a trivial exercise...but that hasn't been disclosed, and its
certainly not 'normal'.

And Backing them up, at least for production movies, (the topic of
discussion) is not the most efficient cost effective way to do that.


Again, that is for him to decide.

Well DUH!!

He asked for recommendations, I gave one. Perhaps he hadn't considered
that backing up ones entire DVD collection is a waste for most people.
(yes, whole DVD collection, that's what the OP said, not just a few kids
movies or something).

I'm stumped as to why you feel the need to pre-screen the
recommendations that were made for him.

If I asked for the best place to buy monster cables someone here would
surely pipe in and advise me that it wasn't worth the money. Would you
spend a week arguing with him too... because he didn't 'answer the
question' or made assumptions about the 'relative worth of Monster cables'?

Darren Harris wrote:


Well, he didn't ask what was the best way to preserve his collection.
He asked for the best way to *back up* his collection.

/shrug

See my monster cable question in the other subthread.


Well, I've done the analysis, and you're wrong. And if you don't what
to make back-ups, then that is your perogative(regardless of where you
store them).

Lets see your analysis... here's mine...


Part I - Assumptions

T = Timeframe to consider is T years.
A = I accumulate A DVDs per year.
V = I have V DVDs to backup at startup.
W = Fixed cost of software + hardware I need to purchase
X = I value my time at X per hour
Y = I can backup Y dvds per hour
Z = Each backup disc costs Z, including case
S = I estimate that the average DVD in my collection will cost T to replace.
U = I anticipate ruining/losing U DVDs per year that will not be
coverable in a large claim against insurance for fire or other
significant disaster.

Backup Cost:

(V+TA)(X/Y+Z)+Z

Replacement Cost:

SUT

Part II - analysis:

S= $20
T= 50 (50 years ought to be long enough...)
U= 1 (This is high... I have ruined/lost exactly 2 DVDs in 6 years...
so 1 per year is triple my norm)
V= 350
W= $0 (I have all that is required now)
X= $5 (Pretty minimal if you ask me. I'd rather be at the beach than
working for 5 bucks an hour at this stage of my life)
Y= 3 (Assuming 2 hour movies at 6x speed, with no downtime/failures)
Z= $3 (good quality disc with a case...no point in doing it twice)
A= 36 (a few per month, probably a little low)


Backup Cost vs Replacement Cost
is (V+TA)(X/Y+Z)+W SUT?

(350+50*36)*(5/3+3)+0 vs 50*1*20

(2150)*(4.66) vs $1000

$10,019 vs $1000

Clearly, in my case, its far less costly to just replace the odd disc
that i wreck over the next 50 years than back them all up.

50 years from now, I will be prepared to update to the next technology.

Conversely Batman Returns is 9.99, and that's only *if* you need to
replace it before DVD is a dead technology. Clearly the standards for
backups should be different.


Different than what? And DVDs will not be a dead technology anytime
soon(regardless of what you heard). VHS is not a dead technolgy yet
and that's analog.

I've given the analysis a 50 year span. That's around twice as long as
home video (even vhs/beta) has even been available. And longer than a
lot of people here will even live.

On Wed, 19 May 2004 00:16:35 GMT, 42 wrote:

Darren Harris wrote:
42 wrote in message news:[email protected]

Darren Harris wrote:


Notice how he mentioned Movies, and went on to express his interest in a
package that can deal with encrypted content. You are now trying to
change the nature of the discussion. If you'd like to concede the
argument with regard to studio production content and move on to a
discussion of personal content, then you should be more clear about it.


Me? *You* are the one who took this discussion where...snip rant

Actually, you probably mean *me* not JH. If your going to go flaming
someone, at least get your aim right.


Both of you. And he accused me of taking this off topic when you
should have been directing that accusation at you.

/shrug
As if I care to debate that point?

And again. Everything I said still applies. There may be no compelling
reason for you to back up, but the original poster was not looking for
you to try to convince them not to.

The original poster was looking for recommendations on the best way to
back up his collection. Odds are the OP doesn't have a fetish for
spending a year of his life backing stuff up onto blank dvds so its safe
to infer what he was *actually* trying to accomplish was finding the
best way to ensure continued access to his movies.


Wrong, wrong, and wrong. You certainly do a lot of assuming. You have
no idea how many DVs he has, how long it would take to back them up,
or whether or not he deems it worth it. What he said is that he was
looking for the best way to back his DVDs up. So until he gets the
answer he needs, it is wrong to assume it on his mind.

If he has one DVD its not worth doing.
If he has one thousand DVDs its not worth doing.

How do you reach this conclusion? The cost of the materials, disk +
case, for a DVD is about $1.10 for decent stuff if you buy on sale. If
you have a DVD burner anyway, for data, home movies, whatever, then it
is hardly expensive to back up a few DVDs that are more likely to be
damaged. The time it takes is minimal since you can start it and leave
or go to bed.



If he deems it worth it, then its because he hasn't investigated it, or
its because he has a special circumstance he hasn't disclosed... perhaps
he's moving to a small island in antarctica where getting replacements
is not a trivial exercise...but that hasn't been disclosed, and its
certainly not 'normal'.

And Backing them up, at least for production movies, (the topic of
discussion) is not the most efficient cost effective way to do that.


Again, that is for him to decide.

Well DUH!!

He asked for recommendations, I gave one. Perhaps he hadn't considered
that backing up ones entire DVD collection is a waste for most people.
(yes, whole DVD collection, that's what the OP said, not just a few kids
movies or something).

I'm stumped as to why you feel the need to pre-screen the
recommendations that were made for him.

If I asked for the best place to buy monster cables someone here would
surely pipe in and advise me that it wasn't worth the money. Would you
spend a week arguing with him too... because he didn't 'answer the
question' or made assumptions about the 'relative worth of Monster cables'?

On Wed, 19 May 2004 01:22:11 GMT, 42 wrote:

Darren Harris wrote:


Well, he didn't ask what was the best way to preserve his collection.
He asked for the best way to *back up* his collection.

/shrug

See my monster cable question in the other subthread.


Well, I've done the analysis, and you're wrong. And if you don't what
to make back-ups, then that is your perogative(regardless of where you
store them).

Lets see your analysis... here's mine...


Part I - Assumptions

T = Timeframe to consider is T years.
A = I accumulate A DVDs per year.
V = I have V DVDs to backup at startup.
W = Fixed cost of software + hardware I need to purchase
X = I value my time at X per hour
Y = I can backup Y dvds per hour
Z = Each backup disc costs Z, including case
S = I estimate that the average DVD in my collection will cost T to replace.
U = I anticipate ruining/losing U DVDs per year that will not be
coverable in a large claim against insurance for fire or other
significant disaster.

Backup Cost:

(V+TA)(X/Y+Z)+Z

Replacement Cost:

SUT

Part II - analysis:

S= $20
T= 50 (50 years ought to be long enough...)
U= 1 (This is high... I have ruined/lost exactly 2 DVDs in 6 years...
so 1 per year is triple my norm)
V= 350
W= $0 (I have all that is required now)
X= $5 (Pretty minimal if you ask me. I'd rather be at the beach than
working for 5 bucks an hour at this stage of my life)
Y= 3 (Assuming 2 hour movies at 6x speed, with no downtime/failures)
Z= $3 (good quality disc with a case...no point in doing it twice)
A= 36 (a few per month, probably a little low)


Backup Cost vs Replacement Cost
is (V+TA)(X/Y+Z)+W SUT?

(350+50*36)*(5/3+3)+0 vs 50*1*20

(2150)*(4.66) vs $1000

$10,019 vs $1000

Clearly, in my case, its far less costly to just replace the odd disc
that i wreck over the next 50 years than back them all up.

50 years from now, I will be prepared to update to the next technology.

Conversely Batman Returns is 9.99, and that's only *if* you need to
replace it before DVD is a dead technology. Clearly the standards for
backups should be different.


Different than what? And DVDs will not be a dead technology anytime
soon(regardless of what you heard). VHS is not a dead technolgy yet
and that's analog.

I've given the analysis a 50 year span. That's around twice as long as
home video (even vhs/beta) has even been available. And longer than a
lot of people here will even live.


Were you an Enron accountant?

42 wrote in message news:[email protected]
Darren Harris wrote:


Well, he didn't ask what was the best way to preserve his collection.
He asked for the best way to *back up* his collection.

/shrug

See my monster cable question in the other subthread.


Well, I've done the analysis, and you're wrong. And if you don't what
to make back-ups, then that is your perogative(regardless of where you
store them).

Lets see your analysis... here's mine...


Part I - Assumptions

T = Timeframe to consider is T years.
A = I accumulate A DVDs per year.
V = I have V DVDs to backup at startup.
W = Fixed cost of software + hardware I need to purchase
X = I value my time at X per hour
Y = I can backup Y dvds per hour
Z = Each backup disc costs Z, including case
S = I estimate that the average DVD in my collection will cost T to replace.
U = I anticipate ruining/losing U DVDs per year that will not be
coverable in a large claim against insurance for fire or other
significant disaster.

Backup Cost:

(V+TA)(X/Y+Z)+Z

Replacement Cost:

SUT

Part II - analysis:

S= $20
T= 50 (50 years ought to be long enough...)
U= 1 (This is high... I have ruined/lost exactly 2 DVDs in 6 years...
so 1 per year is triple my norm)
V= 350
W= $0 (I have all that is required now)
X= $5 (Pretty minimal if you ask me. I'd rather be at the beach than
working for 5 bucks an hour at this stage of my life)
Y= 3 (Assuming 2 hour movies at 6x speed, with no downtime/failures)
Z= $3 (good quality disc with a case...no point in doing it twice)
A= 36 (a few per month, probably a little low)


Backup Cost vs Replacement Cost
is (V+TA)(X/Y+Z)+W SUT?

(350+50*36)*(5/3+3)+0 vs 50*1*20

(2150)*(4.66) vs $1000

$10,019 vs $1000

Clearly, in my case, its far less costly to just replace the odd disc
that i wreck over the next 50 years than back them all up.

50 years from now, I will be prepared to update to the next technology.

Conversely Batman Returns is 9.99, and that's only *if* you need to
replace it before DVD is a dead technology. Clearly the standards for
backups should be different.


Different than what? And DVDs will not be a dead technology anytime
soon(regardless of what you heard). VHS is not a dead technolgy yet
and that's analog.

I've given the analysis a 50 year span. That's around twice as long as
home video (even vhs/beta) has even been available. And longer than a
lot of people here will even live.

Yeah. And none of all that answers the original poster's question. The end...

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Oliver Costich wrote:

On Wed, 19 May 2004 00:16:35 GMT, 42 wrote:


Darren Harris wrote:

42 wrote in message news:[email protected]


Darren Harris wrote:



Notice how he mentioned Movies, and went on to express his interest in a
package that can deal with encrypted content. You are now trying to
change the nature of the discussion. If you'd like to concede the
argument with regard to studio production content and move on to a
discussion of personal content, then you should be more clear about it.


Me? *You* are the one who took this discussion where...snip rant

Actually, you probably mean *me* not JH. If your going to go flaming
someone, at least get your aim right.


Both of you. And he accused me of taking this off topic when you
should have been directing that accusation at you.

/shrug
As if I care to debate that point?


And again. Everything I said still applies. There may be no compelling
reason for you to back up, but the original poster was not looking for
you to try to convince them not to.

The original poster was looking for recommendations on the best way to
back up his collection. Odds are the OP doesn't have a fetish for
spending a year of his life backing stuff up onto blank dvds so its safe
to infer what he was *actually* trying to accomplish was finding the
best way to ensure continued access to his movies.


Wrong, wrong, and wrong. You certainly do a lot of assuming. You have
no idea how many DVs he has, how long it would take to back them up,
or whether or not he deems it worth it. What he said is that he was
looking for the best way to back his DVDs up. So until he gets the
answer he needs, it is wrong to assume it on his mind.

If he has one DVD its not worth doing.
If he has one thousand DVDs its not worth doing.


How do you reach this conclusion? The cost of the materials, disk +
case, for a DVD is about $1.10 for decent stuff if you buy on sale. If
you have a DVD burner anyway, for data, home movies, whatever, then it
is hardly expensive to back up a few DVDs that are more likely to be
damaged. The time it takes is minimal since you can start it and leave
or go to bed.

Yes. A few DVDs that are more likely to be damaged sure, absolutely, no
disagreement.

The OP indicates he plans to backup his entire collection... different
animal.