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Best CD-R Media?

post #1 of 36
5/14/02 at 6:08pm
Thread Starter 
What brand is best for copying music CDs? Who has the cheapest online prices? Those little envelopes too.
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post #2 of 36
5/14/02 at 6:13pm
I bought a 10 pack of memorex music CD-Rs. All of em have sever problems playing in my car disc changer. I don't know what it is. they either never play or they do play but stutter and skip constantly. I noticed that the discs are pretty much transparent when looked at from behind into light. is that normal?

any reccomendations would be appreciated.
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post #3 of 36
5/14/02 at 6:32pm
I've never had any problems with Sony, TDK, and Fuji.
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post #4 of 36
5/14/02 at 6:38pm
That's odd, applenut, because I've had the very opposite experience. Memorex CD's have been extraordinarily reliable for me. I also use Imation discs regularly with no problems.

And, yes, it is normal for the CD-R's to be semitransparent if you hold them to a light.

glurx: Envelopes? Do you mean CD jewels?
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post #5 of 36
5/14/02 at 6:39pm
What's most important to me besides readability is the quality of the printed or non-burning side. I liked the thick white silkscreened TDKs for example.
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post #6 of 36
5/14/02 at 6:46pm
[quote]Originally posted by starfleetX:
<strong>That's odd, applenut, because I've had the very opposite experience. Memorex CD's have been extraordinarily reliable for me. I also use Imation discs regularly with no problems.

And, yes, it is normal for the CD-R's to be semitransparent if you hold them to a light.

glurx: Envelopes? Do you mean CD jewels?</strong><hr></blockquote>


maybe I got a bad pack that was exposed to extreme conditions or something.
<img src="confused.gif" border="0">
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post #7 of 36
5/14/02 at 6:50pm
Thread Starter 
[quote]Originally posted by starfleetX:
<strong>glurx: Envelopes? Do you mean CD jewels?</strong><hr></blockquote>

Square white paper CD sized envelopes. I think they may have a transparent window on the front so you can see the title etc.
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post #8 of 36
5/14/02 at 6:53pm
I've also had horrible experiences with Memorex CD-Rs. I once made 3 coasters in a row with them, and have made several more from different packages as well (glad I didn't buy big spindles at the time). They would either just hang about halfway into the burn, or get to the verification phase and poop out. I'd say six total coasters -- the only coasters I've ever made.

I love the TDK ones Eugene mentioned.

I always buy jewel cases too. I think (I may be imagining things here) the envelopes tend to scratch the discs. I've come to this conclusion thanks to my already crappy car CD player. They just seem to skip more often if I'm storing them in paper.

[ 05-14-2002: Message edited by: BuonRotto ]</p>
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post #9 of 36
5/14/02 at 7:08pm
Memorexes (memorexi?) and tdk's refuse to play on my car stereo. The generic brand "Pengo" work like a dream. Go figure. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">
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post #10 of 36
5/14/02 at 7:11pm
Thread Starter 
starfleetX: <a href="http://www.pagecomputers.com/cgi-bin/page/S0496703.html" target="_blank">These people are selling envelopes</a>. I'm looking for this type of product at the cheapest price I can find. Jewel cases are bulky and fragile.
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post #11 of 36
5/14/02 at 7:17pm
[quote]Originally posted by Shanny:
<strong>Memorexes (memorexi?) and tdk's refuse to play on my car stereo. The generic brand "Pengo" work like a dream. Go figure. :confused: </strong><hr></blockquote>

I believe it would just be Memorex no plural change
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post #12 of 36
5/14/02 at 7:21pm
Hmmm.

Well, I buy my CD-R's in spindles of at least 50 because I go though them very quickly for backing up lots of data. I've got five spindles here of 50 each, all of them almost empty. Two of them are Memorex, two Maxell, and one Imation. I have not had a single "bad" disc out of the last several hundred discs. Audio discs burn and play fine in my Macs, car stereo, and Aiwa home system.

glurx: Thanks for the info on the envelopes -- I didn't know where you could get those.

[ 05-14-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</p>
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post #13 of 36
5/14/02 at 7:39pm
[quote]Originally posted by Shanny:
<strong>Memorexes (memorexi?) and tdk's refuse to play on my car stereo. The generic brand "Pengo" work like a dream. Go figure. :confused: </strong><hr></blockquote>

I got a 50-pack of Pengos for free and those also worked great.
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post #14 of 36
5/14/02 at 7:47pm
[quote]Originally posted by glurx:
<strong>

Square white paper CD sized envelopes. I think they may have a transparent window on the front so you can see the title etc.</strong><hr></blockquote>

i think i've seen those at staples

i use mitsui or taiyo yuden. imation suck, nothin but trouble. i've had good luck with sony and maxell too
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post #15 of 36
5/14/02 at 8:25pm
I've had really good luck with Memorex CDs (white ones), and Maxell. Good for data and audio.

I recently bought a spindle of cheap GIGASTORAGE CDs, and they seem ok for data (but who knows - they could be unreadable in a year). But for audio - they SUCK! Just brutal.

I've learned my lesson. Saving $10 on a 50 pack isn't worth the headache.
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post #16 of 36
5/14/02 at 8:39pm
Seems like at this rate, we will slowly eliminate the viability of any brand of CD-R. Curious.
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post #17 of 36
5/14/02 at 11:12pm
I've always been hesitant to go with Memorex, Maxell and Sony CD-Rs. I've heard stories that they just won't work in certain drives. Sonys are overpriced and don't offer anything more in quality, from experience.

If I'm going to bur a music CD or something I want to keep for a long time, I use Yamaha "professional grade" CD-Rs. They have an even better finish than the TDks I mentioned before.

I've been using Verbatim 700 MB CD-Rs for most things recently. They seem pretty good too.

The DVD-R market is even weirder. You can find generic 1x media for $1.50...the finish isn't great but if you burn a lot of DVDs for friends or botleg a lot of stuff, I can see why a $1.50 DVD-R is better than a 2x $5-8 DVD-R. It's weird...Apple's DVD-Rs are nearly the cheapest 2x discs anywhere. The only cheaper discs I could find were Memorex. The most expensive DVD-Rs I've purchased have been Sony's, and they aren't particularly good. Again, TDK makes nice DVD-Rs too.
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post #18 of 36
5/15/02 at 9:23am
I use Memorex for most stuff, never a problem. I also use gerneric cds from <a href="http://www.cdrecordable.com/" target="_blank">http://www.cdrecordable.com/</a> they are great and have also never been a problem (i think they also sell those little white envelopes). I also use Sony's CD-RWs for temp. storage of stuff. I have only had bad luck with Imation CD-Rs.

Really there is no right answer to this. Just buy a single or 5 pack of a few companies and see what works best in your burner and in whatever you are going to be using this stuff in. Then when you find something you like, stick with it.

[ 05-15-2002: Message edited by: Dogcow ]</p>
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post #19 of 36
5/16/02 at 5:01pm
Thread Starter 
Someone gave me a few Imation discs. They seem to work well so far. One of my concerns is longevity - I don't want to burn a bunch of discs only to ave them stop working 9-12 months down the road - I'm looking for media that lasts awhile.
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post #20 of 36
5/17/02 at 7:06am
I burn (and have burned) a lot of CD-R's. I buy my spindles from rima.com. They're inexpensive and I've never had a customer service problem with them. They are fast and curteous.

For brands, I prefer either Pengo (as other's mentioned) or Prodisc. Rima's available brands fluctuate, but they always have one of those two brands for sale. I can't remember the last time I burned a coaster (that's at least hundreds of CD-Rs burned without a coaster).

Stay away from "True Silver" CD-Rs. I made the mistake of buying a spindle of those once (I thought the real silver color would look more professional). Almost every one of those comes out a coaster. I keep them for testing strange burning situations like hybrid disc images etc. - any time I don't want to waste a a "real" CD-R.
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post #21 of 36
5/17/02 at 7:17am
If you want high quality CD-R's, there is nothing like Kodaks.

kodak.com usually has specials.

I don't think Kodak sells any CD-R's that don't have gold content in them.

I usually buy 5-6 boxes of Kodaks for stuff I want to keep 25+ years with no quality loss. i buy a huge cheapo spindle of noname for stuff I throw away every 2 years.
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post #22 of 36
5/17/02 at 7:35am
I use Verbatim, and don't have too many complaints.
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Chicanery.
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post #23 of 36
5/17/02 at 9:12am
Perhaps its just me...I've had the best results on the cheapest media (Unbranded, no spindle, shrink wrapped in 100's). Data is usually no problem whatever CD's I use but car stereos and home Hi-Fi seem a little adverse to anything branded (with a printed side). Cheaper equipment does seem less fussy even with this.

Go cheap... if it doesn't work out you've lost less. Use a premium brand and if it works you'll continue to use it without knowing if you could save some money.
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post #24 of 36
5/17/02 at 11:48am
[quote]Originally posted by Zarathustra:
<strong>Perhaps its just me...I've had the best results on the cheapest media (Unbranded, no spindle, shrink wrapped in 100's). Data is usually no problem whatever CD's I use but car stereos and home Hi-Fi seem a little adverse to anything branded (with a printed side). Cheaper equipment does seem less fussy even with this.

Go cheap... if it doesn't work out you've lost less. Use a premium brand and if it works you'll continue to use it without knowing if you could save some money.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Good advice. I sometimes buy the cheap CompUSA ones that come in the 100 pack, no spindel and have no labels. Never had a problem with those either.
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post #25 of 36
5/17/02 at 12:25pm
[quote]Originally posted by jutus:
<strong>If you want high quality CD-R's, there is nothing like Kodaks.

kodak.com usually has specials.

I don't think Kodak sells any CD-R's that don't have gold content in them.

I usually buy 5-6 boxes of Kodaks for stuff I want to keep 25+ years with no quality loss. i buy a huge cheapo spindle of noname for stuff I throw away every 2 years.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I say, Stay away from Kodak. We had them were I work. They were so bad we ened up just thowing away the whole spindel. Out of 10 CDs were were able to maybe 2 to even mount. (I had even taken some home to try on my burner and still didnt get too far). The ones that did work didnt last long. We had called the manufacture of the burner and they said that Kodak CD-Rs were known for problems. We ended up getting some cheaper TDKs and they worked like a dream.
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post #26 of 36
5/17/02 at 8:40pm
Well, people's experiences seem entirely random, but to throw in my random experiences:

Imation and TDK have been very reliable.. Been through 100 of each, with no coasters that weren't my fault or software's fault. No problem with audio CDs, in a variety of players.

Horrible experience with Memorex. The top side flaked metal foil like it had dandruff.

-robo
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post #27 of 36
5/17/02 at 11:52pm
Yup robo, I hate CD-Rs with the flaky non-writing side, but most manufacturers have at least one line of discs that are cheap like that.

TDK discs are probably the 'best' as far as the relatively inexpensive ones go. Yamaha has nice expensive ones.

Just hope the Canadians don't implement a storage tax like they've been proposing. It might trickle down to the US...
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post #28 of 36
5/18/02 at 5:45pm
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[quote]Originally posted by Dogcow:
<strong>

I say, Stay away from Kodak. We had them were I work. They were so bad we ened up just thowing away the whole spindel. Out of 10 CDs were were able to maybe 2 to even mount. (I had even taken some home to try on my burner and still didnt get too far). The ones that did work didnt last long. We had called the manufacture of the burner and they said that Kodak CD-Rs were known for problems. We ended up getting some cheaper TDKs and they worked like a dream.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I've had wonderful experiences with the Kodak ones...used them to back up all sorts of school projects and other things.

Also PNY disks have worked fine for me.
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post #29 of 36
5/20/02 at 8:55pm
Thread Starter 
CD-R <a href="http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/Article.asp?IR=N&ClassID=100&datePublish=2002/05/20&pages=06&seq=27" target="_blank">prices are likely to rise</a> later this year due to increased cost of polycarbonate.
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post #30 of 36
5/21/02 at 9:28am
Enough posts but TDK & Sony are v.good.
Hope this helps
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Regardez

Vamp

"Ask not what you can do for me but ask what I can do for you."
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Note: all of the above are thoughts of an individual person and are not fact or intended to be slanderous. Nor...
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post #31 of 36
5/21/02 at 9:35am
[quote]
Just hope the Canadians don't implement a storage tax like they've been proposing. It might trickle down to the US...[/QB]<hr></blockquote>

Too late! It's already been effect for years!
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post #32 of 36
5/21/02 at 9:37am
I have an feeling that certain brands work better with certain burners. Memorex and my Yamaha work beautifully together. I think I have only managed 3 coasters out of the last 100 discs I have burned, and generally because I am doing some heavy work in X (causing buffer underrun errors).

So, for me, the Memorex-yamaha thing works well. Perhaps those who hate memorex should post their burners and see if there is anything consistent here.

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post #33 of 36
5/26/02 at 11:35am
Just had something weird happen.

I've been pulling my freakin' hair out here trying to burn a goddamned CD on my new 667 DVI Ti Book. Kept getting damn errors. Tried in OS9, OSX, did a clean reinstall onto the 5 GB partition I made for messing around on, and it still didn't work.

Then, for the hell of it, I tossed in the CD-R that came with the PowerBook. Burned perfectly.

It's these ****ing GIGASTORAGE CD-Rs, they won't work in the PowerBook! I tried another right after burning one correctly with the Apple supplied Verbatim CD-R, and it wouldn't go.

These worked fine in my iMac and PowerMac, but the PowerBook pukes them out and tells me to get that crap out of it. That's fine, except I have 50 of these things sitting here now. Niiice.

Guess I'm off to buy some CD-Rs.
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post #34 of 36
5/27/02 at 9:43am
verbatim

i've been burning since single speed were top of the line, and i cay say without a doubt they are the best cd's out there. i have cd's i burned 7 years ago still working perfectly today. but only the verbatim cd's.

the others work, but if you're making something you really want to still be around in 5-10 years, save yourself a lot of headaches and go with verbatim.

personally, i think the easier it is to see the burn demarcation the better the cd's.
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post #35 of 36
5/27/02 at 1:34pm
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just found about this recently, but MANY CD players have problems playing CDs that are rated for 16x or higher. in fact, check around the net for firmware updates for computer CD players, and you will find that many of the firmware updates were released to fix this little problem. unfortunately, i have no idea how you would fix this for a car stereo (i.e. something you could not easily remove the player from).

oh, and i vote for verbatim as well.
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post #36 of 36
5/27/02 at 1:56pm
Imation have been the most reliable for me, by far...I cant recall ever having a reject, except if I try to burn audio at higher than 8-speed on a Yamaha CDR 2100 Lightspeed (buffer underrun error messages). However data (mac files and folders etc) always works at 12 or 16 speed with Imations.

I've found that some name brands (TDK, Maxell, Sony) can be horribly unreliable...data CDs burned in Toast sometimes wont be recognized in certain computers, and audio CDs burned in Jam or MasterList often wont play in a regular CD player!
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