CDR Media Factory (Manufacturer) Question

[SuperG]

Hi all,

Once again, thanks to all who were able to help me with my ATIP reading problems.

Well, now that I can read ATIP on my burned CDRs comes my next question. I am sure this question has been asked before, but which Factory of CDR makers is the best? I have some stuff stored, that I would really like to keep for a long time. I am not one of those people who throw their CDs around. All of my important CDR's are in cases or sleeves. But I have heard of certain manufacturers whose CDRs loose their chemical formula, etc., and the CDR becomes partially/fully unreadable. Now, the one factory that I know is suppose to be very good is Taiyo Yuden Company Limited. But after that, I am a little confused. A while back, I ran into a site dedicated to CD Media, which is http://www.cdmediaworld.com and they actually did a CDR quality test, which is here http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware..._quality.shtml

Now it looks as though this test is a little out of date, but Taiyo Yuden is considered good by them as well. But, the confusion for me begins at Ritek. Basically, on this site, ALL of Ritek's CDRs were considered VERY BAD, and they all failed the aging test. However, reading on some other places/forums, I have seen people say that Ritek along with Taiyo Yuden are the BEST. This is very confusing to see one where it says WORST and the other say BEST. If anyone can clear this up, I would appreciate it.

Also, if anyone could look thru the following list, and rate what they think of these Manufacturers, it would help me greatly.

1) Taiyo Yuden (I have heard VERY GOOD)
2) Kodak (I have heard VERY GOOD, but they have stopped producing)
3) Ricoh (I have heard VERY GOOD)
4) CMC Magnetics (I have heard BAD, OK, and GOOD)
5) TDK (I have heard OK - GOOD)
6) Mitsubishi (I have heard OK)
7) Ritek (I have heard VERY BAD and VERY GOOD)???
8) Fornet (I have heard VERY BAD)
9) Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals (I have heard VERY GOOD)
10) Princo (I have heard BAD)
11) FUJI Photo Film (I have heard OK)
12) Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. (I have heard OK)
13) Prodisc (I have heard BAD)
14) Multi Media Masters & Machinery SA (I have heard VERY BAD)
15) Seantram Technology (I have heard VERY BAD)
16) Gigastorage Corp. (I have heard VERY BAD)

I know this is a lot of companies, but I wanted to be very thorough. I have run accross EVERY single one of these companies at one point or another. And I want to know what everyone thinks of them, so that I can transfer some important information from one of these BAD manufacturers to a GOOD one. Thank You.

SuperG.

[NetLion]

For me:

1) Taiyo Yuden (Some TDK also made by Taiyo Yuden )
2) Mitsubishi
3) Prodisc

No problems.

[The-poacher]

Ive heard allsorts said about CDR Things like

"there crap"
"Best in the world"
"always use branded never cheapo's"
"I only use *********" (insert any brand etc U want)

My foolproof way of obtaining CDR that work

I only get mine from the same supplier and its a long complicated procedure <<>> goes like this

ME:"What CDR's ya got?"

SUPPLIER:"These,these,these,these & these"

ME:"Are they any good for *********?" (insert words like Audio/Data/VCD/SVCD U get the picture.)

SUPPLIER:"This one is great for that" (points at Spools of CDR)

ME:"OK I'll Have ******" (insert amount)

I Then Pay go home & try & there is usually 1 of 2 results

1 >> Work fine love em (MOST OF THE TIME)

2 >> Crap (VERY RARE SCENARIO) so I take em back & guess what he changes em for something else.

This method may be very untechnical but it works for me.

[burner61]

Mitsui
Taiyo Yuden
Mitsubishi

[LTR12101B]

It can depend on the drive as well...

Liteon's (so I've heard) do NOT like Mitsui media - though in other drives, it's good.

Forums at www.cdrinfo.com have been debating this long and hard for ages.

CMC (also found in 3M/Imation brand) was a bone of contention...
Bad, BAD, BAD.
But as it turned out, the best grade is actually acceptable, but still falls short of some of the better names.

Memorex - some good, and some real shockers!
http://digitaldolphin.netfirms.com/R...CD-RIntro.html
(apparently also in Memorex brand - older type, and a real shocker!)

http://digitaldolphin.netfirms.com/Reviews.htm
A few more here.

Wow! from some crappy old Fornet media, I get C1 average rates of 2 or lower - even down to 0.5 if I drop to 4x (probably their rated speed) strangely, the 12x score is not much worse, but 8x is not good.