Re: which computer

[J R FOX jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

--- "Patricia M. Godfrey"  wrote:

> 6. Get a CD-R or DVD recordable (there are five or
> six DVD standards,
> and until that gets straightened out, I don't feel
> the greater capacity
> is worth getting involved in the fray) for backing
> up your data--and do
> it regularly.

Patricia,

If you are waiting for some kind of shakeout on DVD
standards (a la Beta vs. VHS), I think you'll be
waiting a very long time. We seem to be in a
well-established multi-standard world at this point,
with some devices (particularly different brands of
the standalone recorders) burning either +R or -R, but
not both | +RW or -RW rewriteable media but not both,
or even DVD-Ram.  Some models can burn multiple
formats. Many can read multiple formats. (By
standalone, I mean the ones intended for your home
entertainment system. They are essentially digital
VCR replacements, with many more features undreamed of
in the days of tape cassettes.)

In regard to the computer DVD burners, the important
thing is to get one that can read most of the formats,
which is a relatively common feature. This is true of
the Pioneer 108 I have in the Shuttle right now. It
can read all of the above, and burn any of them except
for DVD-Ram. It is inexpensive and quite reliable.

If you are only dealing with the backup of data, a CD
burner should be adequate. But to do partition image
backups, you would definitely need DVD. Even then,
you'd have to keep the images to about a 4G. max.,
unless resorting to dual-layer media.


Jordan