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