CD-R Longevity

[MoonPatrol]

I've been wondering about the storage quality of different brands of CD-Rs.
I'm making VCDs of all my home video VHS tapes and I want them to be permanent. I know nothing lasts forever, but from what I've experienced those value "50 in a spindel for $10" CDs lose their responsiveness after a little while, where as the "10 CDs for $10" ones I burned two years ago are just like I burned them yesterday. The cheapo CDs take a little longer (slighty) to recognize and see what's on it, where the more expensive $1 CDs acknowledge and respond almost immediately. Am I just BSing myself squabling over milliseconds or is there something more sinister at work here like total unresponsiveness in a few years (I have some value CDs I burnt about three years ago and they are taking some definite time to acknoledge and read off of, but then again I just tried popping in one of the very first value DATA cds I've ever burnt and it responded almost immediately.)

Any info on this issue is greatly appreciated as searching around the net has made me even more confused from reading contradicting statements and unsettled disputes.

[lordsmurf]

I have the same issues here. My branded Sony and Maxell CD-R discs from 6 years ago are great, but my unbranded/silver-top discs from 6 years ago no longer work. My cheapo free-after-rebate discs from just a year ago often develop read errors in a matter of months, branded or not.

I've started to only buy branded discs with deep color dyes on them. Those seem to last the best.

I still buy the cheapos for free after rebates, but no longer use them on anything of importance.

They just don't make them like they used to.

I have the same problems when I buy light-purple-dye DVD-R discs or the silver-top cheapos. They just don't last.

[sterno]

Yes, some cheap CDs will wear out after a few years. If you want it to last a while, you probably want to look for discs made by Taiyo-Yuden (most discs marked "made in Japan" are TY, Fuji discs are one readily-available example) or Verbatim Datalife Plus (the expensive Verbatims, not the dirt-cheap ones). Discs made by Mitsubishi Chemical (also usually made in Japan) are good but you almost never see them, I think I remember reading that Mitsubishi and Verbatim were the same and almost all the media was labeled Verbatim.

Mitsui Gold CD-Rs are supposed to have good life expectancies, but they're pretty expensive because they're pretty much the last discs still made with a pure gold reflective layer. The same used to apply to the Kodak Gold Ultimas, but Kodak stopped making those a few years ago.

Fujifilm CD-Rs made by Taiyo-Yuden seem to be a good balance between quality and price. If you watch for sales and rebates you'll find them a lot cheaper than 50/$10, and the TY blanks are some of the best on the market. If you can't wait for a sale, hate mail-in rebates, or just want to buy larger quantities, some online sellers carry unbranded Taiyo-Yuden blanks at reasonable prices.

You should definitely try to take care of your discs, that will make all the difference in the world. Avoid extremes of temperature and humidity, avoid direct sunlight (the UV will break down the dye), don't use glue-on stickers, keep them in jewel cases instead of sleeves/binders, etc. If you want to be really careful you should also only label them on the center hub, but most modern discs have a proper top coat so it's OK.

[painkiller]

The July/August issue of Sound & Vision magazine has a small witeup in their "Random Play" column that mentions a new Armor-Plate (ultra durable) version of TDK's recordavle DVDs.

According to Sound & Vision, they 'tested' such DVDs with brillo scouring pads. They said it wasn't easy to make them unreadable.

While they didnt mention which/all formats, there is a small picture of a jewel case showing their cover for a DVD-R with the Armor Plating words on the insert.

They also say the coating is antistatic.

No idea of the pricing.

[The village idiot]

Kodak has some CD's that they tested to last something like 100 years, using accelerated testing methods.


I have had good luck with Digital Research cheapos for the last couple of years. They have even held up through the heat of a house fire. Others (including pressed CD's) did not fair as well, and those disks were under the DR disks and spared much of the heat!

[sterno]

I have had good luck with Digital Research cheapos for the last couple of years.

Just for reference, my batch of Digital Research cheapo CD-Rs has the manufacturer code listed as Ritek. A few years back Ritek had a lousy reputation for quality, but they really cleaned up their act. Most of the TDK blanks I've used over the past 2-3 years have been Riteks, and as I recall TDK actually does enforce quality control standards on their OEMs.

[garryheather]

It's not a sure-fire way of telling a Taiyo-Yuden CD-R (you really need to read the ATIP on the disc to be more confident), but Taiyo-Yuden are the only CD-R's I have seen to date with a frosted center hub.

I don't know if they still do, but Philips had a load of discs made by TY and they also had the frosted center ring.

I know a lot of people don't like Princo DVD-R's, but I've got on well with their CD-R's - in particular, their type 8 dye works on everything, including DVD players that are fussy with their media. So if you're making VideoCD's, this might be a consideration.

I have not seen any discs advertised as being Type 8 Princo for a while now, however I did stumble across the same disc with a matt white top courtesy of Datasafe Media a little while back...

[galactica]

The July/August issue of Sound & Vision magazine has a small witeup in their "Random Play" column that mentions a new Armor-Plate (ultra durable) version of TDK's recordavle DVDs.

According to Sound & Vision, they 'tested' such DVDs with brillo scouring pads. They said it wasn't easy to make them unreadable.

While they didnt mention which/all formats, there is a small picture of a jewel case showing their cover for a DVD-R with the Armor Plating words on the insert.

They also say the coating is antistatic.

No idea of the pricing.

According to TDK.com

1 Pc Armor Plated DVD-R 4.7 GB Single Sided 2x Compatible in a Jewel Case is 5.99 a disk

I have yet to see them listed in any of the sites they claim you can buy a spindle from though.

[Metaluna]

It's not a sure-fire way of telling a Taiyo-Yuden CD-R (you really need to read the ATIP on the disc to be more confident), but Taiyo-Yuden are the only CD-R's I have seen to date with a frosted center hub.

They also usually come packaged in very distinctive-looking cakeboxes, if you know what to look for. This holds true even if they are branded as Fujifilm, TDK, Memorex, etc. (I'm not sure if this applies outside the U.S. though)

[garryheather]

I have heard about those cake-boxes, however all the TY's I have had here in the UK that were bought in bulk came shrink wrapped in the 100's. Mind you, that makes it easy to see the infamous frosted centers !