questions about CDRs!

[q3arenakman]

Hey peoples
i have a few questions about CD-R's that i'd like some people to help with answering.. cheers :)

1.) Dye Type - what is the difference between dye types, how do i find out what exact dye types my CD-R's are and which is the best?

2.) I purchased 2 boxes of Verbatim DataLifePlus CD-R 80's - they are 1-24x write and look light blue. CDRID claims Mitsubishi chemicals with a long strategy dye (azo etc), but my old verbatims looked deep blue - why is this? have i purchased inferior quality cd-r's?

3.) TDK Gold's - are these any good? They come in sleeves in a plastic container of 10. I don't know anything else about them except they are gold on both sides with a writable surface.

4.) Out of these brands, which ones are the best quality to buy:
Verbatim
Mitsubishi
Penmax
TDK (Ritek TDK's in plastic boxes, CD-R74X10P)
Kodak CD-R Gold Ultima
Kodak CD-R Ultima Gold+Silver
Melody
Nature
Traxdata (in spindles, cheap)
Samsung
EMTEC/BASF
hp
Sanyo
Sony
Imation

5.) are Ritek CD-R's good quality - i.e. up to TDK's old standards?

6.) Which are the best CD-R's for PlayStation games, and are the new black ones any good - or are they just for show?

7.) last question, does anyone live in new zealand and know where to get Taiyo Yuden-made CD-R's, or TDK-made CD-R's.. or any of the decent quality companies' CD-R's ?

i'd greatly appreciate any answers to these, thx :)

q3ak

[podunkviller]

www.cdfreaks.com is a great source of information about cd's. a standard cd-r indentifier could tell you what dye type, manufacturer, etc of your cd-r's. it is pretty recognized that taiyo-yuden and kodak, verbatim are the best. CMC magnetics is known for the worst, with ritek a close second, i believe.

i believe Taiyo made TDK's old ones.

also, feurio contains an ATIP viewer, for dye type / manufacturer etc.

[Fire_Burner]

To podunkviller,

I believe the current worst of the worst are:

a) CMC Magnetics Corp.
b) Lead Data Inc.
c) Gigastorage Corp.
d) AMS Technology Inc.

These manufacturers above, no matter the dye type, have given me countless hours of pain over the years. AMS has been particularly bad, so bad that at times that in some batches of discs, 30-40 in every 100 are unusable!!!

RiTEK has improved over the last two years to such an extent that they can be classed as high quality = on par with Taiyo Yuden.

As for TDK, all TDK standard media distributed in Oceana (i.e. Australia/New Zealand) is made by RiTEK. This presents no cause for concern as I have used 100's of these discs without a hitch. The reflective layers seem thick and strong too!

TDK Gold media, however, are made by CMC Magnetics Corp., so stay away at ALL COSTS!!!

TDK Corp. no longer make their own media. If you can find the old 1x-8x "Made in Japan" TDK CD-R's at a good price, buy as many as you can afford!

The new Verbatim DataLifePlus/Mitsubishi CD-R's have a lighter blue dye because older dark-blue dye cannot reliable record at over 16x-speed. The dye was modified in order for higher speed recordings to be possible. While I'm on the subject, stay clear of Verbatim ValuLife and DataLife (non-Plus) discs, they're made by CMC!!!

The best manufacturers in my humble opinion are:

a) Taiyo Yuden Company Ltd.
b) Mitsui Chemicals Inc.
c) Ricoh Company Ltd.
d) TDK Corp.
e) Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.
f) Pioneer Video Corp.
g) RiTEK Corp.
h) Prodisc Technology Inc.
i) Kodak Japan Ltd.

In Australia, there currently seems to be an overabundance of Taiyo Yuden "That's CD-R" 1x-24x 80min CD-R's priced to sell at AU$10-$15 per carton of 10 or AU$35 per 50-spindle. They're the current best buys.

If you can't find these, there's always Verbatim/Mitsubishi.....

FB.

[podunkviller]

i'd read recently that ritek was one of the top two (cmc the other) producers of them in the world. i posted they stink based on a cdfreaks pro. of course, i am using cmc's @ the moment, because quality is for things you use all the time, cmc is for avi files i view 1-2 times a year ;). its all about what you need them for.

everyone bashes memorex, but i have memorex's from 4 years ago still reading as well as a pressed cd.

[Fire_Burner]

I think you've got it the wrong way around, "podunkviller", CD's that you use once or twice a year should be burnt onto archive quality discs!! The stuff you use often could be done on lower quality discs because they only ever last a year or two. You wouldn't want to risk that valuable data would you???

Therefore, for archive CD's, use Taiyo Yuden, Mitsui, Kodak, Mitsubishi/Verbatim, TDK, Pioneer, Prodisc Gold, or a good quality RiTEK disc (not Intenso, but the "top branded" RiTEK's e.g. TDK).

Memorex and other "name brand" "manufacturers" often distribute CD-R's manufactured by OEM manufacturers like RiTEK (e.g. TDK) or CMC (e.g. Imation, Pioneer).

FB.

[podunkviller]

nah - cd's i use once or twice a year wont bother me to have broken. its not archiving quality data when its data that i wont miss. i dont know what kind of sh*tty discs you are using, but i've got 3-5 year old discs here that i still use often, that work like new because i treat them like they matter. go figure ;). from when 4x was a quality writer :D

[Fire_Burner]

I use GOOD discs thank you very much!

I have a Liteon 48x12x48. Here's a list of the media I use for archival purposes:

1. That's CD-R 80min, Made in Japan by Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd.
2. TDK CD-R74, Made in Japan by TDK Corp. (The real thing!)
3. Ricoh USA CD-R74, Made in USA by Ricoh Co. Ltd.
4. Kodak Gold Ultima, Made in Ireland/Mexico by Kodak Japan Ltd.
5. Sony CDQ-74CNZ, Made in Japan by Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd.

As you can see, these are the best manufacturers according to CD Media World, and they have worked FLAWLESSLY for me.

For everyday use, I use:
1. TDK CD-R74, Made in Taiwan by Ritek Corp.
2. RiTEK CD-R74, Made in Taiwan by Ritek Corp.
3. Champ CD-R74, Made in Taiwan by Seantram Technology Inc.
4. Princo CDR-74, Made in Taiwan by Princo Corp.
5. DataStream Professional Gold, Made in Taiwan by Prodisc Technology Inc.

And the CD-RW's I use:
1. Mitsubishi/Verbatim CD-RW74, Made in Singapore by Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.
2. RiTEK CD-RW74, Made in Australia by Ritek Corp.

That's my personal list!

FB.