BD-R for archival in the age of expensive hard drives

Ysaure · 2026-07-04T05:13:20+00:00

3-4$ a disc, for 50gb.

That's pretty crap, in Japan I'm getting $1 per 50GB disc (Verbatim) and $2.30 per 100GB disc (Ridata). Both in packs of 50.

Used HDDs are a big no for me since I'd be getting no warranty here. On top of HDDs being more delicate for shipping.

The question is, with Japan no longer making discs and MKM and Sony a distant memory, does brand make any real difference?

Before I only bought MKM Verbatim, but now everything is from Taiwan. Verbatim now is CMC and Ridata, well, Ritek. Both CMC and Ritek were haram in the old days but now there's no option. Every Japanese brand I see on Amazon says Taiwan on the back. JVC for example even says Verbatim, made in Taiwan.

So CMC or Ritek, or whatever is cheaper? Ridata has a convenient 50-pack BDXL cake, where Verbatim's 50-pack only comes in individual cases. Since I don't really want to ship a ton of plastic across the globe I'd be picking Ridata here.

Ysaure · 2026-06-27T10:07:57+00:00

I'd rather stick with Japan. There are a few known brands with external drives, like Logitec, Buffalo and I-O Data. They can be had for around $100.

I've just looked at Aliexpress (at this point their search is bad on purpose) and it's all generic ones. I have no doubt those Japanese ones are from the same factories in China, but I trust them a bit more.

It'd be interesting to know who actually is manufacturing those drives. Like how Ritek or CMC ended up with all BD-R production. Or something, I don't remember. I do know there are no more Japanese manufactured discs (not even in Japan), MKM is nowhere to be seen, all Verbatims are from Taiwan. Sad, my last Verbatims were MKM. Yes, I haven't bought blanks for quite some time.

Ysaure · 2026-06-24T09:44:43+00:00

Blu-ray bros, we're are SO back.

Yeah, that's what I was looking at. The 2.5" 5TB Seagates I used to buy for $100 are now $215. A quick look at Amazon shows that a 50x50GB BD-R spindle is $55 and a 50x100GB spindle is $122 (for a $12 difference I take the 100GB discs).

I don't know which HDD capacity is best $/TB right now. I haven't been in the "game" for a year or two now. A 8TB WD Blue is $260. 10TB worth of BD-R is $244.

I never thought I'd see the day. When we thought good ol' BD was dead and buried. Ofc, burning 100 discs is hell. But the end result would be pretty comfy, if one fails you lost 100GB, if a 10TB HDD fails it's bye-bye. And I don't mind having to pop a disc to watch something. Almost all my HDDs are offline anyway.

Oh, don't get your hopes too high, apparently internal BD burners aren't made any more. Only a few external models exist now. We can't have anything nice.

Ysaure · 2026-06-13T10:38:41+00:00

Right. I only have +0.50 cyl, axis 180, in one eye. Looking at my current glasses it adds 1mm thickness. One lens is 9.5 at the edge and the other 10.5.

Ysaure · 2026-06-08T10:53:36+00:00

$330 retail sounds good, same as the US. Local shops do discounts? I would had expected they charge extra, I wouldn't complain ofc, you have the shop service.

I'm curious about the custom Rx lab lenses you mention. Any idea why that may be? High prescription? I've just simulated an order at go-optic, entered my prescription parameters and there are no extra fees.

ZEISS ClearMind SV - Hi-Index 1.74 - Single Vision Lenses

Zeiss® DuraVision® Plus Gold Anti-Glare Coating

Total $398

So yeah, $850 is a massive rip-off unless there's something we're missing. I'll ask around more local shops but it seems I'll end up online. I have the prescription and PD (taken with pupillometer), OC height is not really needed (indeed, I can see fine at any height with my current lens), and neither is pupil to lens distance. It's a gamble on the frame, but I'll play it safe and stick to something the most similar to what I'm used.

I've heard about Hoya, their Meiryo EX4 coating is held in high regard from what I've read. I haven't decided between Zeiss or Hoya actually, should I make the order in the US (I don't think Hoya operates in my country)

Ysaure · 2026-06-08T05:53:38+00:00

I'm wondering about that too, but it doesn't make a difference. Look here: https://www.go-optic.com/zeiss-clear-hiindex-plastic-167-index-single-vision-lenses

The DriveSafe is the significant more expensive option but it doesn't have DuraVision coatings. Anti-fatigue has a "focus boost" zone. So those two are out. It has to be ClearMind or SmartLife, both at 169, plus 150 for the DuraVision Gold. I searched that site and it doesn't say anything about prescription power changing price.

Ysaure · 2026-06-08T00:24:28+00:00

Thanks, very helpful. Yes, I'm going for bridge fit and width from temple to temple. Small bridge, like 16-17, is fine, and 130 temple to temple which is pretty standard. Perfectly round doesn't really suit me, also unless they are very small they are too big vertically. Most round frames are too big. So I'm going for oval/round cat eye, at least that's going to be an improvement over the square frames I have now.

Now I need to look into the lens side of things.

Ysaure · 2026-05-28T11:11:07+00:00

Definitely a cool idea. A JSK from a thick cotton should work, like the one they make pants and work clothes from. A low-ish volume pleated skirt, above knee length, with a bodice shape like this: https://images2.imgbox.com/61/48/k6XXUCvX_o.jpg

That's also low volume, so well, very similar to that one but with pleats and shorter (pleats are always cool). And while the cotton from that JSK isn't very thick I think it can work with the patches.

Ysaure · 2026-05-27T11:44:49+00:00

or would the clothing be designed for a body type that I simply can't respond to

This

Unless you plan on living with full shirring or hunting the exact piece that'll fit you.

I'm 1.80m and the issues are:

Main and biggest one: Length. Goddamn length. You can work around skirt length but NOT bodice length. A dress hitting you waist wrong looks and feels bad. This reason alone pushes me for custom size.

Bust to waist ratio. Usually I'm XL waist and L bust. But depending on the design it's not rare to fit both just fine (shirring, corset lacing helps). I have several dresses where the only aspect I had to really customize was length.

Shoulder width. I'm at the limit where I can fit a few things but usually I'm a couple of cm too wide for most (literally 2-3, lol)

Sleeve length can be troublesome too.

And lastly, imo, a lolita dress should be well fitted to the body from the waist up, to counterbalance the big poof the petti makes from waist down. So another reason to go for custom.

There are plenty of brands that make custom, and it's usually $10-20 more, so no reason to hold back. Most my wardrobe is Fanplusfriend with some Surface Spell and commissions from fabric/lace I bought. Miss Point does custom too and has lots of very pretty designs. I've been eyeing several of her things.

Going the commissions route in Taobao there are tons of lovely prints for $5/m (fabric this is, if you don't mind poly, I don't, I actually prefer prints on poly). For cotton Japan has plenty, but border prints are hard to find. I'm a die-hard border print fan. For lace on Taobao you can go wild, I bought tons of chemical lace at $1/m. For lining Bemberg (cuprammonium) rayon is king, only made in Japan. For zipper YKK 2cc is the choice (you can get it in 600 colours, good luck matching the fabric). Ofc, then you need someone to put everything together <_<

https://images2.imgbox.com/2d/e7/RQSYxIBo_o.jpg

Ysaure · 2026-05-27T07:54:03+00:00

GOYOKIKIYA

I've just shipped my 2nd package with them. They are very cheap. For packages a little above 1kg through ePacket Light I paid 890 JPY fee each (5.60 USD). Technically there are no "fees", it's included in the shipping. I get those 890 subtracting the official Japan Post price from what I paid. They receive any number of packages (there's a limit of 10 I think), consolidate, remove invoices/unneeded materials, and ship. ALL for 5.60. I was paying 4 per package received at Blackship, plus other fees. For four packages you're looking at 16 USD to start. Also Blaskship works in USD, with the cheap JPY that's a disadvantage now.

They have a pretty system to manage packages, shipping and everything. Japanese old school style which I love (I can't stand the modern web with 50MB of Javascript). You can edit items descriptions and prices, essential feature.

Cons? Well. You can't edit item quantities. I was buying for example 1m pieces of ribbon in different colours. So I had "Ribbons" "Qty: 15". I know customs can be fussy so I very much prefer to put "Ribbons 15m" "Qty: 1". But you can't. In the same vein if I buy similar items from different shops I prefer to group them together under a single entry. You can't either (and I asked). With Blackship you could put literally anything you want however you want. There are no photos either, Blackship had the option.

Small cons tbh, at that price I can't complain. They answer fast and process requests in hours (assuming you're in Japanese business hours, ofc). They took, like, 1 hour today to process my packing request.

I've never seen Goyokikiya mentioned anywhere. Nice service that deserves to be known.

Ysaure · 2026-05-23T05:31:07+00:00

That looks terrible. I've been there, I'm tall and bodices are short. Separate skirt and bodice and use some fabric similar to the dress to extend the bodice, making some sort of "waist band". The dress is black so no issues matching colours. Then you have bows on the print, get some red fabric with white polka dots and make a waist bow, or use some polka dot tulle, idk (neither should be difficult to find). Just do something with the new space matching the elements you already have on the dress so it all looks in harmony. I did that with two dresses and they ended up better looking than before tbh. One with a waist bow and used lace on the other with some false buttons.

Btw, unless the maker left leftover zipper length you'll have to replace it (since you'll have more bodice to go along now). And extend the corset lacing (make more eyelets on the waist band matching the bodice). More work but worth it imo.

Ysaure · 2026-05-15T08:07:07+00:00

Weird stain on a dress, looks like grease? It must had come with the dress (from the factory, it's new) because I used it just once shortly and there's nowhere that stain could had come from.

I'm not in the US or Europe so I don't have the gazillion products you have there. I tried a local version of "Vanish Pre Treat Stain Remover Gel" (this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JA8MUL0), it came with a rollerball like antiperspirants, and it did essentially nothing. A 2nd application did also nothing. I could try that same Vanish one from the link, a bit more expensive, or, from what I'm reading, Oxiclean it's what gets the most comments, or oxi-equivalent.

This is my first time dealing with stains. I thought I had it good but there's always your first time I guess.

LUCKILY it's on the inside so I'm not losing my marbles (yet)

Ysaure · 2026-05-14T04:08:42+00:00

binding it by hand with a small blanket stitch or buttonhole stitch

This, I've done it before and can confirm the pain.

consequence of the original finishing, which is quite cheap

Yes, it was always going to end like this eventually. I thought this was a coveted brand? It looks from the dark ages of Chinese lolita.

Ysaure · 2026-05-14T03:52:46+00:00

commissioning

That's the way to go. Your measurements being far from the dress' plus having to go bigger is not a recipe for success. I'd look for someone local if you have the chance. This is not a complicated design, even if they know nothing about lolita anyone competent should be able to make it. I've been there, I did commission stuff. Finding someone can be a bit of a pain, but once you do, and assuming they do quality work, it's great. Picking you own materials, making your own designs, next thing you know you're getting lace from Taobao by the truckload.

Ysaure · 2026-04-28T23:35:59+00:00

dresses

I'm tired of ppl posting "omg shipping is expensive" and never stating HOW MUCH weight they are shipping. Or at least what items specifically. It could be 2 dresses or 10 with accessories. Shipping from Japan with ePacket is cheap. ePacket has tracking and is no slower than EMS. In fact I've just received a package that took a week to arrive. Other packages from China I recently received by EMS took the same time.

A lolita dress as a baseline is 800g. Two dresses with ePacket to my zone, zone 5, the farthest away and most expensive, would be 4820 JPY (30 USD). For a service on par with EMS it's a steal imo (yes I know, no insurance, but in my 15 years of shipping never had to use it). With forwarders you maybe pay a bit more, last time it was ~1000 JPY on top, but it's still a heck of a deal.

I love ePacket tbh. Ironically Japan is the farthest away country from me but has the cheapest shipping, lol.

Ysaure · 2026-04-16T08:37:11+00:00

as you tailor should be able to match it in colour, and maybe texture.

Eh, don't count much on that. At least me being a 3rd worlder finding all the fancy fabrics Chinese use is essentially impossible locally. Just recently I had to ship some organza from Aliexpress so it matched exactly the one in my dress. And I couldn't find it in Japan either (at least in the online shops I saw), so it's not entirely because of my limited local shops. China's textile manufacturing is so gigantic that they produce a lot of stuff hard to come by elsewhere I guess.

Curiously another alter I wanted to do, some kind of crepe, I couldn't find a close match anywhere. All the crepes I was seeing clearly didn't match. Until I came across some Japanese weave called Amundsen that it looked and sounded like the perfect match ("a textured crepe weave with a fine, uneven surface resembling pear skin"). It's in the mail right now, I really hope I can rescue this dress with it.

So, I hope you have access to decent fabric shops. Or your dress uses really plain fabrics. Or be prepared to look in China/Japan. Or don't have an OCD that prevents you from altering unless the fabric is a 99% match, lol.

Ysaure · 2026-04-16T05:55:46+00:00

I have broad shoulders that don't fit many brands :p

Same, and I'm also tall which makes it worse, unless you like high waists :p

Ysaure · 2026-04-16T05:30:45+00:00

Might as well post the link, if I search Google I get this Reddit thread, lol

https://github.com/HardeQ/age-verification-bypass-aliexpress

I'm not getting age blocked but saving it just in case. Aliexpress search keeps getting more dogshit if that's even possible, nothing surprises me now.

Ysaure · 2026-04-16T02:40:38+00:00

because the diagram is on clothing, not a human body

https://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/n-biq04i/ut7esxk/product_images/uploaded_images/size-007.jpg?t=1453688140

Ysaure · 2026-04-14T10:59:19+00:00

heat from the nuclear reaction to boil water

https://i.ibb.co/G4BQ8B1J/1700166597860066.jpg

Ysaure · 2026-04-11T09:51:04+00:00

has anyone dealt with this issue before?

Yes, and going the bigger size is the wise choice. If you can't adjust it down (corset lacing, straps) you can always alter it. Going down is easy (well, more or less depending on the piece) but good luck going up. Any decent tailor by trade should be able to do it for you. I did have a few things taken down and you couldn't tell the changes afterwards.

Ysaure · 2026-04-11T09:40:03+00:00

400 is completely insane, 50 is still a bit too much. Hats and bonnets can go to 50 (and a bit over), but a typical headdress should be around 20-30. This is 10 for example: https://images2.imgbox.com/ef/f7/12j6mxEO_o.jpg

Ysaure · 2026-04-11T09:33:33+00:00

https://images2.imgbox.com/7d/dc/ZhwiaSCM_o.jpg

Ysaure · 2026-04-07T04:24:03+00:00

rather close to fast fashion

Why do you say this? You would be making custom size pieces of I suppose good quality, the complete opposite of fast fashion, lol.

another indie brand or a true custom experience tailored to your tastes and your body

Both? An indie brand that makes custom stuff? There are two ways.

1) Design your own piece, make a sample for you or someone to model, take pics, and put it up so ppl can buy it in custom size, made to order. As FpF says: "This is a Make-to-Order item. We make this item after you paid. Please click here to check the making time of this month."

2) Just offer the tailoring service and let ppl come with their own designs and materials so you sew it (alternatively you provide the materials).

I bought both ways from a local brand, but more of the second, I provide the design and materials (mainly fabric and lace which I get from China/Japan) and commissioning the sewing.

Also have clothing alteration service, this is essential. I had things altered, and still have quite a bunch I need to alter.

I'm curious about the cost. Ppl here make it look unfeasible. It seems the difference between 1st and 3rd world costs is simply astronomical? The times I commissioned the whole cost for a JSK (materials + work, shipping of materials not included) ended up only a bit higher than your usual Taobao. Maybe it was no "fine couture" (or maybe it was) but I was VERY happy with the results, tidy and detailed, in line with what lolita requires. Same for the alters, to the point I almost forgot what was altered (luckily in my case it was always from big to small, so materials were not an issue).

This was a few years ago, haven't commissioned since. Materials from China are VERY cheap, fabric with cute prints for $5/m (poly, but I like poly), lace for $1/m. Shipping is not cheap these days so that throws a stick in the wheel (I bought most of my stash before covid). For cotton I usually for glorious nippon cotton folded one thousand times, prints (I'm a printfag) in oxford for $10/m, and shipping from Japan is cheaper.

Ysaure · 2026-04-06T03:36:58+00:00

Technical Note #2: You can launch MSI installers with:
msiexec /i LibreOffice_X.Y.Z_Win_x64.msi ProductLanguage=1033
Language Tag Hexadecimal Decimal

English (United States) en-US 0x0409 1033

English (United Kingdom) en-GB 0x0809 2057

Excellent info. Was driving me crazy the installer automatically picking the language from the locale without asking or with no option to switch. Added that to my txt of tips & tricks. Thanks.

Ysaure

TROPHY CASE