Figuring Out The Best Price of Blank Media

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Embison
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around determining the best price for blank media options, specifically Blu Ray discs and DVDRs, and how to calculate their value mathematically. Participants explore various factors influencing the decision, including cost per gigabyte, intended usage, and historical pricing comparisons.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest calculating the cost per gigabyte for each media option to determine the best deal.
  • One participant mentions that the intended usage of the media, such as backing up small files or archiving photos, may influence the choice of media type.
  • Another participant notes that Blu Ray discs appear to offer the best value at approximately 4 cents per GB, while DVDRs are around 5 cents per GB, and Dual Layer DVDs are about 12 cents per GB.
  • There is a discussion about the rising prices of CDRs compared to DVDRs, with one participant expressing disbelief at the current pricing of CDRs.
  • Some participants reflect on historical pricing of technology, comparing past costs of RAM and computers to current media prices, questioning the validity of such comparisons.
  • One participant argues that while cost per GB is important, other factors such as media lifespan and quality should also be considered in the decision-making process.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the importance of cost per GB versus other factors like media quality and intended use. There is no consensus on the best approach to evaluate the options presented.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention various assumptions regarding usage scenarios and the potential impact of media quality and lifespan on value, which remain unresolved in the discussion.

Embison
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Which is the best deal out of these options and how do you figure it out mathematically? Do you calculate it down to the megabyte...gigabyte or per disc? I am not sure how to do it correctly.

The 3 options are...

30 pack of 25GB Blu Ray Discs for 29.99

50 pack of 8.5GB DVDR DL for 51.99

100 pack of 4.7GB DVDR for 25.49


Please let me know how to figure it out...thank you for any help!
 
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Embison said:
Which is the best deal out of these options and how do you figure it out mathematically? Do you calculate it down to the megabyte...gigabyte or per disc? I am not sure how to do it correctly.

The 3 options are...

30 pack of 25GB Blu Ray Discs for 29.99

50 pack of 8.5GB DVDR DL for 51.99

100 pack of 4.7GB DVDR for 25.49


Please let me know how to figure it out...thank you for any help!

Choose one and go for it? Total capacity, perhaps? Or the equipment you have available? Size of files?
 
You can work out the cost per GB of storage for each of the three options. For the Blu Ray discs, there are 30 discs at 25 GB each, making 30 * 25 = 750 GB in all. Divide the cost (29.99) by the amount of storage (750 GB) to get the cost per GB.
 
Embison said:
Which is the best deal out of these options and how do you figure it out mathematically? Do you calculate it down to the megabyte...gigabyte or per disc? I am not sure how to do it correctly.

The 3 options are...

30 pack of 25GB Blu Ray Discs for 29.99

50 pack of 8.5GB DVDR DL for 51.99

100 pack of 4.7GB DVDR for 25.49


Please let me know how to figure it out...thank you for any help!

Another factor is the intended usage. For example, backing-up my Quicken data, which is only a few megabytes, is more economical on CD-R. Likewise with archiving my digital photos. One year of photos easily fits on a single-layer DVD.
 
pantaz said:
Another factor is the intended usage. For example, backing-up my Quicken data, which is only a few megabytes, is more economical on CD-R. Likewise with archiving my digital photos. One year of photos easily fits on a single-layer DVD.

CDR's these days are considerably more expensive than DVDR's for some crazy reason.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc...600010573&IsNodeId=1&name=100 Pack - 600 Pack



Thanx Mark44...

The best deal is the Blu Ray discs at about 4 cents per GB. The DVDR's are about 5 cents per GB. And the Dual Layer DVD's are about 12 cents per GB. What a scam LoL. You would think that Dual Layer DVD's would be far less expensive than Blu Ray discs.
 
This is how inflated CDR prices are these days...

For CDR's to be the same price as the DVDR's I mentioned (100 DVDR's for 25.49) The equivalent of that is 3.50 for a 100 pack of CDR's which obviously won't ever happen. The price for 100 CDR's is miles away from 3.50.
 
Embison said:
And the Dual Layer DVD's are about 12 cents per GB. What a scam LoL.
I can remember buying RAM for an Apple IIe computer some years back - I paid about $100 for 128KB. That means I was paying about $800/MB, or the equivalent of $80,000/GB.

So $.12 per GB doesn't seem quite so much of a scam...
 
Mark44 said:
So $.12 per GB doesn't seem quite so much of a scam...


Does it make sense to compare the prices of things from today to the prices of things back in the day? No... I had to pay insane prices for things back then as well which if I compare it to how inexpensive the same things are these days it isn't even remotely close. Just like your example.

I'm comparing the prices of equivalent items in the exact same time period. So yes paying triple the amount per GB is completely foolish.
 
Embison said:
Does it make sense to compare the prices of things from today to the prices of things back in the day? No... I had to pay insane prices for things back then as well which if I compare it to how inexpensive the same things are these days it isn't even remotely close. Just like your example.

I remember buying my first computer the same year I bought a new car. I paid about as much for the computer as I did for the car!

I'm comparing the prices of equivalent items in the exact same time period. So yes paying triple the amount per GB is completely foolish.
 
  • #10
Embison said:
Does it make sense to compare the prices of things from today to the prices of things back in the day? No... I had to pay insane prices for things back then as well which if I compare it to how inexpensive the same things are these days it isn't even remotely close. Just like your example.

I'm comparing the prices of equivalent items in the exact same time period. So yes paying triple the amount per GB is completely foolish.
Not necessarily, since there might be other factors at play, such as the lifespan of the media, the quality of the media, and so on. If the only criterion is the cost per GB, then, yes, I would go for the cheaper product, but there might be other criteria that should be considered as well.
 

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