Which brand of CD ROM/RW to use?

[glt]

Hi,

I'm scanning my precious negs into digital format, and i'm hoping of some advice from the experienced digital users.

I would like to which brand/type of CD to use to burn my scanned negs into. If you can please give me a estimate cost and where i can get them. I'm interested in both RW and Read only formats.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ah Pao]

I presume you're looking into archival quality CD-Rs? CD-RWs are not recommended since they have a shorter lifespan compared to CD-Rs.

Verbatim and Kodak produces archival quality CDs, but are pretty ex--from my last impression they can cost around a dollar each, in single jewel cases. Not too sure if they sell them in bulk.

 

[espn]

Mitsubishi :thumbsup:

Heard about this Taiyo Yuiden dye from HWZ clinic, supposedly to be very good, perhaps you can check it out.

 

[lui002]

TDK Gold. Excellent CDR. About $40 for 100pcs.

 

[redstorm]

Mitsubishi :thumbsup:

Heard about this Taiyo Yuiden dye from HWZ clinic, supposedly to be very good, perhaps you can check it out.

Basically, there are 3 main type of dye used in the manufacture of CD. The most common type which is used by majority of CD manufacturers is Cyanine, patented by Taiyo Yuiden, which is not a stable dye on its own and needs to add other chemical to stablise it. Phytalocyanine, patented by Mitsui Chemical, is the most stable dye and is used in high end CD espcially those expensive Kodak Gold and Mitsui CDs. The other - Azo (patented by Mitsubishi) is better than Cyanine but slightly less stable than Phtalocyanine.

Those made by Kodak, Taiyo Yuden, Ricoh, TDK and Mitsubishi factories, even though using only Cyanine dye, are quite reliable. One factory can manufacture CDs for many companies for eg. Kodak, besides making their own CDs, also make for Philips, BASF and Traxdata. Taiyo Yuiden made various brands like Imation, Philip Silver, Sony, etc. Conversely, one brand of CD can be manufactured by various factories and as a result some CDs by one factory are better than those made by another factory. Philips Gold, made by Taiyo Yuiden, is rated a good disk compared to Philip IQ Silver, made by a Taiwanese company Ritek, which has been tested to be of bad quality. Ritek, a Taiwanese company, is well known for making low quality no brand or unknown brand CDs which have been independently tested to be bad. They also make for well known brands like Sony, Samsung, TKD, Onkyo, Philips, BASF, Memorex, etc.

Generally, brands like Imation, TDK, Sony, Ricoh, 3M, Pioneer and Philips can be trusted. However, it's difficult to ascertain exactly which are the good brands, the type of dye used and which factory made it as the CDs you buy have no indication on it. The only way to find out is thru ' a software called the CD Identifier which is able to read the the country of manufacture, type of dye used, etc. on the CD. The only brands that indicate the dye used is Mitsubishi and Verbatim. They indicate "Super AZO", a better dye than Cyanine, on their label.

As a rule of thumb, the more expensive CDs are obviously better quality. As most cheap CDs are using cyanine, I avoid them. Since those Kodak Gold and Mitsui (I think no longer available in Singapore) are quite expensive, I stick to Mitsubishi and Verbatim which use the AZO dye which is very reliable.

 

[redstorm]

Many people think that when they have burned up a spindle and did not get any coaster then the quality of these CDs is very good. This is not true as it only tells you that the used CDs are compatible with your CD burner. The quality of CDs is directly related with the time the CDs will last without losing the information on them. One way is to burn a CD and wait 20 to 50 years to see if the information are still in it. This is abit extreme. The only scientific way is to speed up the ageing process of a CD from about 20 - 50 years to only a few days thru a Climate Chamber which artificially ages CDs by exposing them to extreme temperatures and humidity. The conclusion is simple - quality and low prices don't mix. CD compatibility with burners and CD quality are two entirely different things. The only way to ensure that your precious data are still readable 10 or 20 years down the road is to buy better quality CDs. Kodak and Mitsui (if you can find it here) are reputed to be among the best around. They don't sell in spindle but in jewel case and can cost about a dollar or more a piece. If you want to buy those in spindle, get those with Azo dye by Mitsubishi or Verbatim. Those using cyanine dye such as Imation, Sony, TDK, Philips, etc. can be trusted but there is no way to tell as some of them are made by the Taiwanese company, Ritek.

 

[glt]

thanks for the tips.

 

[Pro-New]

Many people think that when they have burned up a spindle and did not get any coaster then the quality of these CDs is very good. This is not true as it only tells you that the used CDs are compatible with your CD burner. The quality of CDs is directly related with the time the CDs will last without losing the information on them. One way is to burn a CD and wait 20 to 50 years to see if the information are still in it. This is abit extreme. The only scientific way is to speed up the ageing process of a CD from about 20 - 50 years to only a few days thru a Climate Chamber which artificially ages CDs by exposing them to extreme temperatures and humidity. The conclusion is simple - quality and low prices don't mix. CD compatibility with burners and CD quality are two entirely different things. The only way to ensure that your precious data are still readable 10 or 20 years down the road is to buy better quality CDs. Kodak and Mitsui (if you can find it here) are reputed to be among the best around. They don't sell in spindle but in jewel case and can cost about a dollar or more a piece. If you want to buy those in spindle, get those with Azo dye by Mitsubishi or Verbatim.

any links on these info to recommend for further reading?

 

[ratboy]

Many people think that when they have burned up a spindle and did not get any coaster then the quality of these CDs is very good. This is not true as it only tells you that the used CDs are compatible with your CD burner. The quality of CDs is directly related with the time the CDs will last without losing the information on them. One way is to burn a CD and wait 20 to 50 years to see if the information are still in it. This is abit extreme. The only scientific way is to speed up the ageing process of a CD from about 20 - 50 years to only a few days thru a Climate Chamber which artificially ages CDs by exposing them to extreme temperatures and humidity. The conclusion is simple - quality and low prices don't mix. CD compatibility with burners and CD quality are two entirely different things. The only way to ensure that your precious data are still readable 10 or 20 years down the road is to buy better quality CDs. Kodak and Mitsui (if you can find it here) are reputed to be among the best around. They don't sell in spindle but in jewel case and can cost about a dollar or more a piece. If you want to buy those in spindle, get those with Azo dye by Mitsubishi or Verbatim.

Singapore Home Artificial Ageing Test

after burning cd, put in microwave oven and zap it for one minute on high.... if after that the cdr can still be read,
should be considered ok brand

standard disclaimer ....
I will assume no responsibility for your cdr or microwave oven
and any other items within 5km of you ... for the next 5 years

 

[Bernard Ong]

I bought this Benq CD with their 'data guard' technology that can store data up to 99 years. I have yet to find any problems with the cds and i hope they are trustworthy

 

[MCS]

I learned some things today from all of you, thanks. My understanding there are 3 types of CD-R (one time write only) in a very simplify understanding way, (1) Gold color (Really looks like gold color, e.g. old packing of Kodak Gold CD-R) is the best material that claimed to retained the data for 100yrs if put in a suitable environement; (2) Blue color material is good for audio/music data; (3) yellow/green color material is the most unstable material amount 3, but it is cheap. For me, I use imation, Verbtain/Mitsubishi, if really important, Kodak Gold old packing slow speed version but hardly can find in Singapore now. I guess more people will move to DVD+R or DVD-R. Final advice, burn a few copies if you really think the data is important to you