help with choosing media

[dodecahedron]

Sorry if this has been discussed before (tried searching some...).

for the first time, i'm considering buying a spindle of CDs (rather than 10-packs of jewel cases).

most of the spindles i can find here in stores are no-name brands, brands that aren't mentioned in these forums: GPT, SilverLine, Sky, Office Depot, and a few more i can't recall now. and many of the brands that are discussed aren't sold here in Israel.

i have been reading all posts about media etc., but it's bewildering will all of these brands etc.

what's more, the packaging here does not usually say where the media was manufactured (and in the rare case it does, it's Taiwan, never Japan).

anyway, the branded media that i do find in spindles are:
Memorex, LG, Samsung, BenQ, Phillips, maybe Maxell

i would like to know which of these are good?
i'd rather not buy CMC. i'm hoping for Ritek. any other suggestions?

am i correct that all newer Memorex (non "made in Japan") are CMC?
BenQ are made by Acer? how good are they?
LG is CMC?
i have one Samsung 32x. it's Prodisc. any good?
and one Samsung 16x it's Ritek.
how about Hitachi-Maxell?
are all Maxell branded CDs Hitachi-Maxell or only some? what are others?

thanks in advance.

[BuddhaTB]

Sucks when your media choices are so limited.

Out of those listed, I would try the Samsung ones. People have said some better things about Prodisc in the past than CMC. Avoid Benq products at all cost as they are even of lower quality than the CMC disc. My friend had used some Benq media in the past because they were dirt cheap, but the surface began to flake after some time in storage. I would definitely stay away from Benq. Based on what's available to you, here's how I would rank them.
1. Samsung
2. Maxell
3. Memorex/LG/Philips (All Made By CMC)
4. Benq

[cfitz]

I'd say BuddhaTB has ordered the discs fairly. I would add that some of the newer Maxell media sold here is made by Ritek. I don't know how it will hold up long-term, but it does okay in initial burn quality. Here is a sample of 40x Maxell/Ritek media burned and tested at 48x in my Memorex 48MAXX (LiteOn LTR-48246S):



The newest Memorex media made by Taiyo Yuden that I have personally purchased was 40x media. I haven't checked recently to see what they are selling around here, but according to this thread Memorex is still selling Taiyo Yuden media, including the 48x media in the new TY packaging:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... 2567#52567

cfitz

[dodecahedron]

thanks, BuddhaTB and cfitz.
i meant Memorex that is NOT made in Japan, edited my previous post accordingly. no "made in Japan" to be got here AFAIK.

according to the media compatibility thread, some LG are made by Prodisc. can anyone verify if it's true that some are also CMC? or are they all Prodisc?
and how does Prodisc compare with Ritek?

also, i'd like to know if Hitachi-Maxell is considered good media in general, now does it compare to say Ritek, Prodisc?
(asking b/c no Hitachi-Maxell listed for my burner on the media compatibility thread).

[dodecahedron]

ok, i guess what i'm asking is what's your opinions about the relative quality of the following media:
CMC (not Imation!), Ritek, Prodisc, Hitachi-Maxell ?
i'm talking media quality in general, not compatibility with a particular burner.
burn quality, longevity etc.

i can always get Verbatim DataLifePlus, but they don't appear to exit in spindles in this country, only in 10-pack Jewel cases.

[TheWizard]

BenQ/Acer media is not bad at all, in fact, it's quite good. BenQ CD-RW drives leave a lot to be desired, but the blank media is good. Some LG discs are made by ProDisc, and ProDisc isn't bad either. If you can find pthalocyanine discs in a Maxell branded spindle, chances are the media is made by Ritek. If you see cyanine discs in a Maxell branded spindle then chances are the media is made by either Hitachi Maxell or Taiyo Yuden. Maxell branded Hitachi Maxell media is good and bad, it is hit or miss like CMC, some Hitachi Maxell discs are very good, some are poor.

That said, look for BenQ/Acer, Samsung/Ritek or Prodisc, LG/Prodisc, or Maxell/Ritek or Taiyo Yuden media.

[dodecahedron]

thanks Wiz.


by the way, one reason i'm buying a spindle and not 10packs, is because i'm going to be regularly backing up all my data/files much more frequently in the near future.
till now it was like once every 1-3 months!
now i'll be going on Scud alert, must have frequent backups and multiple copies of them too!

[cfitz]

Given those four choices, I'd probably order them like this:

Ritek or Prodisc
CMC
Hitachi-Maxell

now i'll be going on Scud allert, must have frequent backups and multiple copies of them too!

That's a sad commentary on this world we live in. I wish that CD-R was the only thing you had to worry about.

cfitz

[cfitz]

By the way, dodecahedron, how much does a spindle of 50 blank CD-Rs cost in Israel?

cfitz

[dodecahedron]

roughly 100 NIS (New Israeli Shekels) = 20 $US (inluding %18 VAT)

100 spindle the absolute cheapest i've seen was 150 NIS = $30, cheapo no-name.
cheapest 100 spindle of a brand name - 170 NIS = $34 for 100 BenQ spindle. actually it's not even a spindle - just a 100pack in a shrink wrap, the top and bottom CDs are all scratched from transit...

[cd pirate]

why dont you get lots of verbatims instead? i know you cant get them in 50 packs but they are still much better than any of the other cdrs you mentioned. anyway if you still want a 50 pack i would reccomend any cdrs made by ritek.

[lppnet]

Since the choices are so limited I'll vote for Prodisc. Use quite a lot of it to burn audio cd for my car but never has a single problem with it. I treated it really bad. Never used a case to store it but it still can survive with the scratches. Anyway I'm using SmartBuy (24x and 48x) and Duraplus 40x by Prodisc. The 40x and the 48x Prodisc's cdr can be burn at 52x without any problem. Verbatim is also a good quality cdr but the price is higher (here in Malaysia). I can get 2 Prodisc for the price that I paid for 1 Verbatim.

[MediumRare]

i can always get Verbatim DataLifePlus, but they don't appear to exit in spindles in this country, only in 10-pack Jewel cases.

Until a few months ago, there weren't any spindles of Verbatims around here either. Then they started showing up- 25/11 Euro and (before Christmas) a special for the 40x media 50/18 Euro. So maybe you'll have expanded choice in the future too (doesn't help right now though )

Personally, I've had good luck with Ritek, Acer and Prodisc (in order of "decreasing" burn quality- they were all good) but can't say anything about longevity. I've always used Verbatim for important stuff.

G