CD-R quality

[clarvid]

I use CD-Rs for data backup and am interested in long-term reliability. I am a little confused by the CD-R factory ratings on this site.

1) I have read that Ritek now has higher quality than when CD Media World first reviewed them. Are CD-Rs made by them okay now?

2) Fuji is listed as being made by both Fuji and Ritek. How do I know which is which before buying them?

3) Maxell is not in the CD Factory list. I see these at Office Depot for $24.95 per 50-pack. Are they high quality?

Thanks for your help.

[clarvid]

In question #3 in my previous post, I said that Maxell is not listed in the CD Factory List. What I meant was that it is missing from the CD-R Quality Results list. I would still like to know if Maxell makes high-quality CD-Rs.

Sorry for any confusion.

Clarvid

[bighap]

If you want high quality get some Verbatim.

[clarvid]

Thanks for letting me know about Verbatim.

Otherwise, how would you rank the following for quality? I am particularly concerned with being able to read archived data several years from now.

Verbatim
Fuji
Mitsui
Taiyo Yuden
Imation

--Clarvid

[bighap]

I personally have only used 2 of the mentioned, Verbatim and Imation. Verbatim are awesome. Imation are ok. The only prob I have run into with them is they have to be recorded at slower than max speed to play in cheap cd players such as Audiovox. TDK is also another excellent choice.

[Fire_Burner]

QUESTIONS
========
Q) I have read that Ritek now has higher quality than when CD Media World first reviewed them. Are CD-Rs made by them okay now?
A) RiTEK CD-R's since the 8x-speed days have been EXTREMELY high quality. Tests can be found at: http://www.digitaldolphin.netfirms.com/

Q) Fuji is listed as being made by both Fuji and Ritek. How do I know which is which before buying them?
A) Fujifilm CD-R's sold in the USA is Made in Japan by Taiyo Yuden. You may also find some (very) old stock (pre-16x) that were made by RiTEK in Taiwan. They're good quality also.

Q) Maxell is not in the CD Factory list. I see these at Office Depot for $24.95 per 50-pack. Are they high quality?
A) These are probably Maxell-branded Taiyo Yudens. Check the packaging and if there is "Made in Japan" anywhere on it, you're buying Taiyo Yuden.

COMMENTS
========
Verbatim = Newer Mitsubishi/Verbatims (Super AZO) are erratic and are incompatible with LiteON drives. Older (Metal AZO) discs are of very high quality.
Fuji = If you're in the US, Made by Taiyo Yuden. 5 Stars.
Mitsui = Have gone downhill recently. Get their Gold/Gold CD-R's for archiving, or any of their old Made in USA discs.
Taiyo Yuden = 5 Stars.
Imation = Made by CMC...JUNK!!!

Just a final note. A more widely used media forum can be found at: http://club.cdfreaks.com/

Hope that helps!
FB.