# what is involved in getting set up to burn 8.5gb capacity?



## keakar (Feb 29, 2016)

as we all know, media has passed up the 4gb capacity of dvd and unless you want a pricey "special" burner and a special player to play it in, there just isn't any other option then dual layer burning.

lately I have been seeing 8.5 gb dvd that seam to be one sided disks (frosted on one side for labeling) so who out there knows about this stuff?

is there a basic simple universal media you can buy and burn or does it involve "special equipt only" to burn it and play it?

I burn my own dvd and cd all the time and I want to do the same with a few over capacity files without being forced to get special burners and players or having to keep them on flash drives or external hard drives


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## de.das.dude (Feb 29, 2016)

i have had an asus one thats cheap. works, no issues.


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## MustSeeMelons (Feb 29, 2016)

There is no such thing as a 8.5Gb single layer DVD. Even if there was, you would need a special burner and reader for it. 
The optical drive I have can write 8.7Gb to a standard DVD9, can google XGD3 on how to do it. Hint: Flashing. But I doubt it has any use for you.


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## newtekie1 (Feb 29, 2016)

Most modern basic DVD burners will burn 8.5GB dual-layer DVDs, you just have to look at their specs and make sure it lists DVD DL.  The down side is that they usually have lower burn speeds than single layer DVDs.  This drive for example. It lists DL, so it will burn Dual Layer discs, but only at 8x.  It can burn single layer discs up to 24x.  So you're burning more data, at a slower rate, so expect burns to take a lot longer.

The other down side is the cost of the discs themselves.  For a good brand name disc you are going to spend about $1 a disc compared to about 20¢ a disc for single layer.

This is why if you are going to burn more then 4.7GB on a regular basis, it is probably best to invest in a Blu-Ray burner.  You can pick the drives up for $50-80, like this one, but you can get 50 packs of BD-R discs for $25.


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## keakar (Feb 29, 2016)

thanks, I had suspected if you burn double sided then you cant just use it in any random player, you need a dl burner or "special" dvd rom to play them in but I was hoping something had changed in that regard.

not sure if I'm ready yet to spend $60 on a blue ray DL burner just yet.

the $1 a disk cost isn't terrible, after all it wasnt long ago we paid 50 cents a disk for regular dvd media


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## keakar (Feb 29, 2016)

MustSeeMelons said:


> There is no such thing as a 8.5Gb single layer DVD. Even if there was, you would need a special burner and reader for it.
> The optical drive I have can write 8.7Gb to a standard DVD9, can google XGD3 on how to do it. Hint: Flashing. But I doubt it has any use for you.


this is the dvd disk I was looking at and why i had to ask about it http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6UM3AB0269&cm_re=8,5_gb_dvd-_-9SIA6UM3AB0269-_-Product

it clearly only has one reflective side. I thought you could only burn to the reflective side since the white side are not transparent so how can anything be written and read from them?


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## FordGT90Concept (Feb 29, 2016)

DL disks work in most DVD players.

Dual layer is literally dual layer.  The lens focuses to read/write to two separate data layers on the disk.  Bluray is capable of four layers.


I think you're thinking double-sided disks where data exists on both faces.  There are no double-sided players out there.  To gain access to the other side, the disk has to be removed from the player, flipped, and inserted.


I use Verbatim disks and write at the slowest possible speed (usually 2.4x).  Writing dual layer disks at high speeds often result in failed burns.


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## SnakeDoctor (Feb 29, 2016)

MustSeeMelons said:


> There is no such thing as a 8.5Gb single layer DVD. Even if there was, you would need a special burner and reader for it.
> The optical drive I have can write 8.7Gb to a standard DVD9, can google XGD3 on how to do it. Hint: Flashing. But I doubt it has any use for you.



He's talking about "Dual layer single sided DVDs" 8.5 Gbs
Any dvd writer is capable of writing to this , and probably most dvd players as well

Install Nero \ Power DVD 
Choose 8.5gb DVD DL (duel layer) bottom of both programs .
add your stuff 

Burn Blaze and Go 

Nothing too it


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## FordGT90Concept (Feb 29, 2016)

Exact capacities are:
DVD-R:  4,707,319,808 bytes
DVD+R: 4,700,372,992 bytes
DVD+R DL: 8,543,666,176 bytes

If it exceeds that amount, there will likely be issues with player/DVD compatibility.

You need dual layer burner, media, and software to create dual layer DVDs.


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## newtekie1 (Feb 29, 2016)

keakar said:


> thanks, I had suspected if you burn double sided then you cant just use it in any random player, you need a dl burner or "special" dvd rom to play them in but I was hoping something had changed in that regard.
> 
> not sure if I'm ready yet to spend $60 on a blue ray DL burner just yet.
> 
> the $1 a disk cost isn't terrible, after all it wasnt long ago we paid 50 cents a disk for regular dvd media



The DL has been a standard from the beginning, and almost all DVD readers and writers can handle them.  Anything from the last 5 years should have no problem.  And almost all DVD movies are on Dual-Layer discs.

I wouldn't expect the costs to come down on DVD-DL discs, they've been at that price point for a long time, they aren't popular, so production is low.  And they are being phased out and replaced by BD-R.


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## FordGT90Concept (Feb 29, 2016)

I concur.  If anything, the price of DVD media will start going up.  Dual layer disks are expensive to manufacture.

At the same time, BluRay never really caught on.


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## newtekie1 (Feb 29, 2016)

FordGT90Concept said:


> I concur.  If anything, the price of DVD media will start going up.  Dual layer disks are expensive to manufacture.
> 
> At the same time, BluRay never really caught on.



Burning discs just isn't popular anymore.  So blu-ray burning equipment and media hasn't really caught on.  And it has definitely been slow to catch on as a movie delivery system, digital delivery is cutting into blu-ray's popularity.


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## keakar (Feb 29, 2016)

FordGT90Concept said:


> DL disks work in most DVD players.
> 
> Dual layer is literally dual layer.  The lens focuses to read/write to two separate data layers on the disk.  Bluray is capable of four layers.
> 
> ...


ok, I was indeed  completely misunderstanding how it works as you said. I thought double layer meant copy and/or read to both sides


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## keakar (Feb 29, 2016)

SnakeDoctor said:


> He's talking about "Dual layer single sided DVDs" 8.5 Gbs
> Any dvd writer is capable of writing to this , and probably most dvd players as well
> 
> Install Nero \ Power DVD
> ...




ok, this is what I was wondering about.



newtekie1 said:


> The DL has been a standard from the beginning, and almost all DVD readers and writers can handle them.  Anything from the last 5 years should have no problem.  And almost all DVD movies are on Dual-Layer discs.
> 
> I wouldn't expect the costs to come down on DVD-DL discs, they've been at that price point for a long time, they aren't popular, so production is low.  And they are being phased out and replaced by BD-R.



what is BD-R ???


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## de.das.dude (Feb 29, 2016)

FordGT90Concept said:


> DL disks work in most DVD players.
> 
> Dual layer is literally dual layer.  The lens focuses to read/write to two separate data layers on the disk.  Bluray is capable of four layers.
> 
> ...



thats pretty much a myth. never had any problems.


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## newtekie1 (Feb 29, 2016)

keakar said:


> ok, this is what I was wondering about.
> 
> 
> 
> what is BD-R ???



Blu-Ray.


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## FordGT90Concept (Feb 29, 2016)

de.das.dude said:


> thats pretty much a myth. never had any problems.


My stack of coasters disagrees.


BD-R = Blu-ray Disc-Recordable


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## flmatter (Mar 1, 2016)

I have been getting away from both dvd and blue ray disc's. I have been going to usb thumb drives. I mainly carry around a 64gb and a 128gb in my back pack at all times.  The 64gb is usb 3.0 and 128gb is 2.0. I have yet to find a computer that dislikes either and I do not have worry about getting the disc all scratched up. Another plus for usb is a lot of dvd and blue ray players have usb ports built in so you can play your media thru a thumb drive and not worry about burning a movie to a disc. I am not sure what the OP is intending to do with his media but it is the direction I am going for transporting media and such around.


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## keakar (Mar 1, 2016)

flmatter said:


> I have been getting away from both dvd and blue ray disc's. I have been going to usb thumb drives. I mainly carry around a 64gb and a 128gb in my back pack at all times.  The 64gb is usb 3.0 and 128gb is 2.0. I have yet to find a computer that dislikes either and I do not have worry about getting the disc all scratched up. Another plus for usb is a lot of dvd and blue ray players have usb ports built in so you can play your media thru a thumb drive and not worry about burning a movie to a disc. I am not sure what the OP is intending to do with his media but it is the direction I am going for transporting media and such around.



I'm looking to make windows install disks as well as put movies on disk,


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## flmatter (Mar 1, 2016)

keakar said:


> make windows install disks as well as put movies on disk,



I used to do that, my last 2 installs were from usb sticks/thumb drives and it went so much smoother and easier than I predicted. I was quite happy at the end of it. I found an older 64gb stick that I imaged my laptop too just in case I borked something later on. I have spindles full of dvds with movies on them. I am in the process of copying them over to a usb external hard drive. Easier to transport them too.  My blue ray burner sits idle and empty any more, unless someone gives me a disc I do everything with usb. 

Your Samsung dvd burner should do dual layer just fine. Maybe BestBuy or Walmart will have 5 or 10 packs available.  If you go the blue ray route holler at me, I may have a couple blue ray disc's laying around. Just have to find them.... if they did not grow legs and wander off.


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## keakar (Mar 1, 2016)

having a disk copy as backup is so much more convenient and easy to store.

not to mention, flash drives are very convenient and easy to use but they work until they no longer work and then your screwed.

with disks they dont take much room and I can make 2 copies so I always have a safe backup version to go back to if the flash drive or dvd I use regularly gets messed up or corrupted somehow.

I suppose its just as easy to keep backup copies of the flash drives in case one fails.

wonder if they have bulk packs of flash drives? its like full circle coming back to floppy disks only flash drives are the new floppies lol.


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## flmatter (Mar 1, 2016)

True enough


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## keakar (Mar 1, 2016)

only question would be, whats the sweet spot of gb size to get a bunch of flash drives in?

too small you have storage issues, too big you have high failure rates in them (at least that's how it seams)

then they need to start selling labels and desktop flash drive organizer storage trays like they had for cd/dvds and floppy disks lol

and would flash cards be more reliable the drives or nor difference?

another thought is would flash cards be about as fast or much slower then usb for data transfer?


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## flmatter (Mar 1, 2016)

I have great luck with 32 to 128 sticks, I prefer 64 and 128. For me I find those 2 work best overall, at least for what I use them for.


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## hat (Mar 1, 2016)

If you're thinking about doing this for movies, you may want to take this in a different direction. Many of us run Plex servers or some other type of media server which streams content from your HDD to other devices in your house (PS3, Xbox, Roku, etc). I'm in the process of building a library for Plex myself. 

I wonder if there's any interest in a guide to running Plex... including DVD ripping, deinterlacing, encoding...


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