# dvds
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvds/316501
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 10, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvds/316501 "2005-08-10T20:10:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvds/316501/1 "2005-08-10T20:10:29Z")
How long will the average dvd last?I heard on the news the other day they last only a few years.In 15 years will my collection of Blockbuster markdowns be blank? :smack:
---
### Author:  [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvds/316501/2 "2005-08-10T22:17:18Z")
-
-
- _Most of the time_ when they say CD or DVD disks “go bad”, they are speaking of the writeable ones you make yourself. In any event:
General info: [http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html](http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html)
— particularly: "Can DVD’s have “laser rot”? - [http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#1.24](http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#1.24)
…
- Also there’s a similar site for CD’s too: [http://www.cdrfaq.org/](http://www.cdrfaq.org/)
— “How Long Do DC-R’s and CD-RW’s Last?” : [http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq07.html#S7-5](http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq07.html#S7-5)
* * *
For long-term burnable storage, the gold Mitsui disks are generally said to last the longest. They have CD-R’s and DVD-Rs.
(One of many sites with explanations) [http://www.inkjetart.com/mitsui/longevity.html](http://www.inkjetart.com/mitsui/longevity.html)
~
---
### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvds/316501/3 "2005-08-10T23:34:05Z")
The Master speaks.
[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020816.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020816.html)
Mostly, the theory is that in 10 years time DVD’s will be out of date technology, and the players will be hard to find. I think I still have somewhere a box of floppy disks holding essays and other data I created at college. My current computer has the wrong type of floppy disk drive to read them, and they’d probably be incompatible with MS Word anyway. It’s quite likely the same thing will happen to your DVD collection over a similar period.