Which CDR media to use?

[markm]

I know this is a hard question to answer since there are so many variables. Being stuck with a spindle of discs that appear to be bad though, I figured I'd seek some advice here.

I'm looking for a commonly available brand that's considered cheap and reliable these days. 80min

I bought a spindle of 80 min 16x CompUSA discs with my recorder. I had a box of older 80 min CompUSA discs someone had given me that my old recorder didn't like. I burned all of them with no problems. The new ones appear to be bad though. They record without a problem. I can play them up to about halfway through, then the DVD player seems to freak out trying to read from them. Both the DVD drive in my PC and my recorder also have problems reading from them at that point as well, so I don't think it's my player.

The discs are actually "Lead Data". I plan to stop and pick up a spindle of TDK or something on the way home today, but thought I'd see if anyone had suggestions on what they consider a good reliable disc for the money, or better, what they avoid at all costs.

FWIW, the DVD player is an Apex AD-5131, the DVD drive in the PC is a Toshiba, and the recorder is a TEAC 512EB.

I might try returning them to Comp as bad, but not sure how there return policy is when there's like 10 missing. Probably not worth the hassle for the $20 or so they cost.

[saveback]

#1 depends on what you consider cheap

ok here is goes i found that the compusa brand cds are real crap except for some reason they were one of the best to use in my car stereo-- (they may be better now but last year they were crap) so far ive found that the kodak silver/gold cds were excelent i paid 20 or 25 $(50pk) for them at compusa last year these played everywhere even my car stero that is extreamly finiky when it came to cdrs

actualy ive found a brand to be worse that the compusa and i will never buy them again for any price and will always tell people to to buy them -- memorex cds -- these did not work anywhere except my pc -- they didnt work in my stero my car stero playstation portable cdplayer only pc

the cheapes cds i bought were actualy at computer shows (generic) (with labels like platinum cristal or diamond cristal) they work very well everywhere they look like pressed cds (the dye color is the stuff they use on the gold gold cds i gues but they were 12-15$ for 100) everytime i went to computer show )

but as for brand name and price ive had the best experience with kodak silver/gold (the package that claims the cds will last past 100yrs)-- ive never liked tdk but todays version may be good -- i think all the cds that say gold/gold or silver /gold silver/silver will work inalmost anything i also think that the plastic they use has also something to do with how good they are --like last year the compusa cds i had seemd like they were made out of celophane(sp) they made squeeky noises and stuck to each other a bit

[markm]

I'm actually hoping that the CompUSA's are crap. If not, I've got another problem to sort out.

I've been poking around, and it seems like discs with the marking TY are supposed to be the best. Not entirely sure where one finds that marking. I've read that FujiFilm discs are good, and BJ's supposedly has a good deal on them, so I'll probably check that out tonight.

By cheap, I mean like $20-25 for a 50 spindle, vs something like $40 for a 50 spindle.