New product: Scratch-Less Discs

[roma_turok]

If I tell you that there is a new product called the Scratch-Less Disc, can you guess what it is supposed to do? Give up? According to the manufacturers, the Scratch-Less Disc is ‘The World’s Safest Optical Disc’. They apparently offer more reliability and scratch protection than any other CD or DVD.

You all know that scratches on your CD or DVD suck. They make the disc skip and make you miserable. These etches of misery most often come from the discs resting on hard surfaces.

The Scratch-Less Disc incorporates two innovative features to protect the disc. The first are Aero Bumps, 20 small bumps placed on the bottom of the disc. The bumps stop the surface of the disc from contacting the table, so scratches are avoided. The second feature is the Safety Shield, a scratch resistant polymer that hardens the surface. Obviously, the performance of the disc is unaffected by either feature.

A 90 pack spindle of CD-R can be had now for $55.




http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/349/C5431/

[mbellot]

The Scratch-Less Disc incorporates two innovative features to protect the disc. The first are Aero Bumps, 20 small bumps placed on the bottom of the disc. The bumps stop the surface of the disc from contacting the table, so scratches are avoided. The second feature is the Safety Shield, a scratch resistant polymer that hardens the surface. Obviously, the performance of the disc is unaffected by either feature.

Now why didn't the MPAA/RIAA think of that?

Oh wait, thats right. Because they would rather sell you two crappy quality disks than one well made one.

[painkiller]

Way too expensive.

How do these compare to the TDK Armor disks that came out awhile back proclaiming their insensitivity to scratches?

[guns1inger]

I still use the TDK Armour disks for important masters

[whitejremiah]

only thing though, is TDK, i dont believe at least...made cdr in that variaty.....i'd love to have cdr thats nearly scratch proof (note, i said nearly, cuz i dont believe its perfect by any means.....)if it's anything like that armor plated stuff....once im NOT broke, im gonna buy me a few spindles of em and start backing up my music cd's to those things instead of regular cdr that gets wrecked rather easily.......i'm thinking like mp3/wma discs for car audio...where stuff has a tendancy of moving around and getting damaged a little easier than house use. This is also a good idea for making a backup of like a computer game, or something to that effect...or heck, an operating system........use those things to make a windows xp/2k/whatever disc with the latest service pack installed, and label it properly and then you dont have to worry about wrecking the original disc, and it will actually be BETTER than the original disc...there's a lot of possibilities with this, and i always wished that TDK had thought of doing it with cdr......good job to the company that makes it, i just hope it works as good, or better than the TDK stuff already on the market.

[waheed]

I like the idea, but its expensive. Price is always going to be a deciding factor.

Look at dual layer DVDRs, they are still a bit expensive yet so only a few people buy them. Most people are sticking to single layer DVDRs until prices continue to drop to a reasonable level.

[guns1inger]

It is because of price that I only use them for special disks (home movies of kids birthdays etc)

[waheed]

It is because of price that I only use them for special disks (home movies of kids birthdays etc)

Completely agree. May buy a disk or 2 for important stuff like backup of critical data, important home videos etc... but for everything else, its normal discs I would use.

[ROF]

I like the bumps along the outer edge. That's a great idea for those who haven't learned that desktops are for paper not for CDs.

[Nelson37]

Yeah, those "Aero-Bumps" are one of those smack-yourself-in-the-forehead ideas. However, it is not at all "obvious" to me there would be no compatibility issues. Anybody tried these in a laptop drive, for instance? Maybe not, as all products from that company are shown as "currently unavailable". Hmmm.

I will definitely be purchasing some more D-Skins this year, for a buck a pop that is cheap insurance for a $40 game and they are removable and reusable.

[ROF]

I wonder if d-skins will fit on these aero-bumped CDs? Why you would want to I don't know but I wonder.

[mikel]

I wonder how slot-loaders will handle these?

[ROF]

That's a good question even better than mine. In a slot loader there is only about 3-5mm left over once the disc is inserted and it generally is inserted flat across the bottom. Anyone who has ever gotten a cassette tape stuck in a player will understand the concerns here.