TDK manufacturers?

[weaponx21]

I just took a trip down to CompUSA with my roommate today, and they had a deal going buy 1 get one free 50ct spindles of 48x TDK 80 min CDRs. My roommate got 2 spindles, and when I got home I was curious as to who manufactures the discs for TDK. I popped one in my liteon and ran disc check on Kprobe and it came up with "CMC Magnetics Corporation" as the disc type. I was searching around through previous posts, and couldnt really find any results from using a TDK with a LTR - 52327S drive. Anyone have any luck with this media? I tried burning one disk with it, a bootable winxp w/sp1a installation disk, and the results in Kprobe were crappy, alot of C1 errors and even some C2 errors. These are a great deal for 100 cds in terms of price but if they are crappy discs (which I suspect) id rather spend the money and order some Mitsui.

This leads me to another short question. Does the top of the cd (not the recordable side) have an affect on how vulnerable the data burnt on the cd is? On www.cdrecordable.com, it explains that the "silver" top leaves the discs vulnerable to damage from fingerprints, and labeling with markers. I didnt know if this was true, I figured that the writable side of the cd is what counts. Id like to try some mitsui discs but the ones with the white tops are quite expensive per disc. Any insight? thanks guys

-MK

[aviationwiz]

Forget Mitsui. Get Taiyo Yuden, cheaper than Mitsui, and most agree that it is better. You can get them in retail stores too if you want. Go to BestBuy and look at thier Fujifilm 50 spindle CD-R's, check to see if they say "Made in Japan." If they are, they are Taiyo Yuden, get those.

As per your current media, it's CMC, so I wouldn't expect much from it. Try another disc, see if that one turns out better.

[weaponx21]

True, the TYs have always come highly recommended, but I like the fact that the mitsui's have the coating to protect against light scratching, etc. I most use my cdrs in the car, therefore they are susceptible (sp?) to getting scuffed up. Dont know if TY has a similar coating

-MK

[rdgrimes]

These are a great deal for 100 cds in terms of price

You can easily identify the CMC CDR's on the shelf by the cake-box. You may also see Ritek media in the TDK spindles, it will have a rounded top edge on the cake-box, and will work flawlessly for you in the LiteOn burner. The 52x TDK is always Ritek, and the 100-ct spindles are similar to the 50-ct spindles: Ritek always has the rounded top. The CMC will work fine too, but must be burned at a lower speed, say 40x or 32x

It's true that the top of the CDR is the most vulnerable to damage, due to they way they are constructed.

[dolphinius_rex]

Please, take it from me, I work for a Mitsui dealership in Canada, Mitsui is not what it once was. Yes it still the "diamond coating" and everything, but their quality control has gone so down hill that it doesn't matter! I've had critcal replication masters fail at the worst possible moment because the "diamond coating" top of the disc decided to start flaking off!! And a lot of my customers have complained that the discs will not burn in their drives anymore. I've had huge corporations switch from the Mitsui CD-Rs they had been buying for more then 6 years to Taiyo Yuden, simply because they couldn't take the failure rate.

Most recently, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told me that they could not afford to EVER buy Mitsui again because they needed their recordings to last to trial dates, and they were not getting the results they needed from Mitsui. So now they will NEVER buy Mitsui CD-Rs ever again.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is: BUY TAIYO YUDEN, and save yourself some time, money, and frustration!

[cfitz]

I second dolphinius_rex's advice. Many years ago Mitsui had problems. Then they turned things around and were tops. But since then they have gone back down the toilet. In my own personal experience I have found their quality to be poor, with many different drives unable to burn them without C2 errors. They aren't worth the $0.08 - $0.20 per disc that Taiyo Yuden and Ritek go for, let alone the $0.50 - $0.80 per disc that Mitsui charges.

cfitz

[dforion]

The 52x TDK is always Ritek, and the 100-ct spindles are similar to the 50-ct spindles: Ritek always has the rounded top.

I'm not sure this is true. I have seen TDK 52x spindles that have 1/4" wide rounded lip around the top of the cake-box in a very clear case with gray bottom tray, as well as cake-boxes with a sharp thin 1/4 " lip in a slightly less-than-clear cakebox and black bottom tray.

A close comparison in the store reveals the size of fonts used on the CD-R are very slightly different, suggesting different manufacturing plants. The cake-box labels look the same (made in Taiwan). Then there are the spindles with a white label on the outside stating "Made in India".

Does anyone know for sure which is the manufacture of each?

Thanks!

[cfitz]

Rounded lip, gray bottom = Ritek. Sharp lip, black bottom = CMC.

cfitz

[dforion]

Rounded lip, gray bottom = Ritek. Sharp lip, black bottom = CMC.

Thanks Cfitz!

Which would you recommend?

[dodecahedron]

Ritek!!!

[cfitz]

Ritek!!!

Seconded!

cfitz

[rdgrimes]

Rounded lip, gray bottom = Ritek. Sharp lip, black bottom = CMC.

cfitz

Agreed that the gray base and rounded top is always Ritek, but Ritek is now also using the black base and sharp lipped top. At least they do for DVDs.
A better way to get Riteks is Maxell 48x, and it also appears that Fuji is now selling Ritek in 100-ct spindles (not confirmed).

[dforion]

NERO IS DEAD. Well, he is dead, isn't he? Nero died June 9, 68 A.D.; that's 1,936 years ago... so I believe he's quite dead ...besides its April Fools Day, so I feel entitled to being a wee bit flippant today. Sorry if this threw anyone off, which was not my intention.

I myself have just been thrown off by the statement that Ritek is now changing their spindle cases. If thats the case, we won't be able to tell for sure until we buy and test the media.

Thus, I propose we petition the "new world order" to require all packaging to contain a "statement of contents", ie.: Contents: Ritek media, PVC, toxic waste, silver dye #52x, natural and artificial flavors, etc.