Blank CD-R's - 2 questions

I was at Best Buy today getting some blanks (Maxell Pro) and heard a sales guy tell the person next to me that the A&T CD-R's were the best ones. Apparently the store uses them for everything.

I didn't think to look who makes these discs or where they're made so I would like to know if anyone here has tried them.

I am also curious if anyone uses 3" CD-R's for PC burns. I am tempted to buy a spindle to use as test discs but would like to be assured they'll perform alright.

 

Anytime Best Buy pushes something at me, I get the feeling that 1) it's not the best quality; 2) it has the biggest profit margin. Anytime I've confronted them on a couple of computer hardware items, I always get the "they make these for ______" (insert any major manufacturer's name here).

A&T almost sounds like a "Generic Of The Week" selection.

This is the same store I overheard telling a prospective DirecTV customer that the satellite dish rotated when you changed channels, so it could locate the satellite. Ummm....yeah.

I'm interested in those 3" CDs myself, for various reasons. They'd also be good for the kids. I could burn some short music CDs for them. I don't think there is any problem burning them in my TDK CD-RW drive, but would like to hear if anyone else has tried them. A spindle of 50 may be a bit much for me, though, especially since I'd have to buy 50 slim jewel cases to go with them.

 

I wouldn't agree that AT&T are the best. The sales people usually are not as up on that stuff as they should be.

I haven't used the 3" discs personally (no need), but I hear they work well.

 

Re: Re: Blank CD-R's - 2 questions

I think the sales team is told by the corporate office what is "good" and what is not. Quality isn't the issue--profitability is. In addition to myself, I've overheard a few other customers get into arguments with Best Buy's sales personnel, usually over matters of what Best Buy is *pushing*, rather than what's right for the customer.

I won't hijack any more of this thread's time. But I could start one heck of a "customer service" thread if anyone wants to tolerate my "venting".

I'm not going to knock A&T specifically...it's very possible that a major CD-R manufacturer may have produced these. Or they may be junk. BUT, I'll let someone I know and trust recommend them to me first before taking a chance. Or I'd be right back at Best Buy with a *partial* spindle demanding a *full* refund.

 

The 3" discs burn fine. Depending on your burning software you may have to keep an eye on the size/time of the disc you're making because it might not tell you you're over the limit. Just remember they can't be used in slot loading drives/players.

 

Two things Ascot,

1) Since when did anyone consider Best Buy staff particularly knowledgeable?

2) Hope you bought the Maxell Pro's.

 

Directv satellite dishes rotate, eh? I've had one for over four years and the damn thing's never moved. It must be stuck.

The next time I see those AT&T discs I'll see if I can determine who may manufacture them. Who knows? We might all be surprised.

 

I know the 3" discs can hold up to 20 mins of audio. Glad to hear they work ok.

 

Re: Re: Blank CD-R's - 2 questions

Answers:

1) I'm sure many people trust their Best Buy personnel.

2) Yes!


Speaking of blanks, my mind is drawing one trying to remember anything else I've heard at BB.

 

You learn something every day, y'see? You need the help of your good friend B.F. Hammer to get it to turn. (Big Damn Hammer. )

 

Those Maxell pros are made by Taiyo Yuden! Get them! Forget the AT&T unless you are doing data stuff that is disposable.

Don't listen to the Best Buy people. They don't know any better!

 

Didn't Taiyo Yuden make them for Sony many years ago?

 

Yes, and it wasn't so long ago, either. They still make product for Memorex and Fuji as well. Only thing is, they make the "music only" kind for Memoreex and Fuji. If you don't mind the brand and if you can find them on sale, They are a good deal.

Sony makes their own now, but in my experience they are as good as the TYs, so far.

 

In my neck of the woods, you can get the Fuji non audio only discs pretty cheap. I have no problems with these and any burner. I know they are Taiyo Yuden media. I understand these are right up there with Mitsui. I wish Mitsui were available locally!

I also agree about the Sony, I got a spindle on sale to use at work and they seem good.

 

The AT&T discs that are found at Best Buy work fine, but like Grant said, they aren't TY at all. They are white-bread-plain-ol phthalocyanine dyed and very sensitive to light. They burn well, do even better at slow speeds. I like the way they're labeled, being another layer of thickness on the top. It does add to the integrity, I've found.

Phthalocyanine discs are found behind almost every brand right now, with very few exceptions (I found some great Polaroids that are actually TY using Cyanine dye, and make a highly accurate and prominent burn.

The main concern is, longevity. Even TY discs, and Mitsumis can fail under certain circumstances.

Tip: I've found that making a data-only backup (redundancy) fairs well for the long run. Trying to re-extract the audio from a disc, time code and all, can prove to be tedious on blanks that look good but age poorly.

I've used lossless compression and CRC recovery to boot, but as we all know, it's rare that software standards outlast the data it was written with....

 

Mitsui are extremly durable, in my tests, compared to Ritek cyanine. But, TY is the industry standard.

Those Kodak silver/gold blanks that everyone bolted for had better hold up!

My old Sanyo drive HP didn't do a very good job of burning Verbatim or TDK blanks.

 

I've had about three spindles of the data Memorex CDs over the past two years--the ones with the solid white w/ blue lettering on the label side. Never a problem with those. I got a spindle of 100 data Verbatims I'm working through now (bluish-green, with a 'frosty' label side), and those has also done well. For that matter, I've never had any problems with CD-Rs I've purchased--I still have some older boxes of Fuji and Maxell...maybe even a few TDKs in there somewhere.

Worst CD-Rs in my collection were some Kodak discs I got in late 1996 or early 1997. They had a gold label. Major problem with longevity--any of them I used has had the painted label start to peel or flake off which, unfortunately, makes the disc unplayable. Didn't have anything too important on them (just homemade compilations).

I did have some bad Fuji CD-Rs. Target a couple of years ago had a 3-pack on a clearance shelf, dirt cheap. (At least the jewel cases were salvageable. ) I'd burn the TOC and about a half minute later, the disc would eject, unburnable. All three! Found that odd, given the reputation. I've sworn by Fuji videotape for my Hi8 camcorder--it was the only blank tape I'd ever used that didn't suffer from Hi8 oxide shedding. (At $13 each, they'd better not! )

 

I have some of these AT&T CD-R's and I did a Nero InfoTool Check and they appear to be made by CMC Magnetics. It says on the spindle that ther are made in Tiawan and has a Verbatim copright on the label. They do not look like Verbatim discs, they do not have the blue color dye. They say they are rated for a 40X burner but I have made a few coasters with these at 40X in my Yamaha F1. The only way I get good discs is to burn at 24X I would say use Fuji discs, I have never had any problem with them. They are made by Taiyo Yuden in Japan.

 

I let my Yamaha F1 and Nero choose the best speed for the inserted blank. Just because a burner is rated for a particular speed doesn't mean it will burn reliable at that speed with your particular computer configuration. To use the AMQ feature, you have to let it choose the best speed anyway, which means it will usually burn at either 4x or 8x.

I never use the "burn protection" feature. The process actually creates errors on the disc. I don't want that.

 

When I started out making CD-Rs five years ago I used Fuji. They were bad news, as virtually every one of them are now unplayable. I doubt TY was making them then. But then, burners have also improved over the years.

 

I've been using CD Media World since about 1999.

They were the first ones to tell me about 80 minute CD-Rs and first to tell me about 99 minute CD-Rs.

One of the links on the main page down the left side takes you to CD-R Quality. Here you will learn about all the main CD manufacturers and what companies they produce CDs for. This is where I found that Taiyo Uden and Mistui were making some of Sony's CD-Rs.

Here is their list of what they consider the cream of the crop manufactures and what companies they produce CD-Rs for. These are the only ones I purchase.

Factories of quality CD-R's are:

CD Manufacturer - CD Brand
Mitsui Chemicals - HP, Mitsui, Philips & Sony
Taiyo Yuden Company Limited - Taiyo Yuden, 3M, Sony, Philips, Boeder & Imation
TDK Corporation - 3M, Pioneer, TDK & Yamaha
Kodak Japan Limited - BASF & Kodak
Pioneer Video Corporation - Pioneer
Ricoh Company - KAO & Ricoh

In a pinch I will sometimes go with what they consider mid-level CD-Rs.

Factories of medium quality CD-R's are:

CD Manufacturer - CD Brand
Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation - Sony, Traxdata & Verbatim
Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. - KingTech & Maxell
Fuji Photo Film Co, Ltd. - FujiFilm

One of the first things I leanred at this site was to "Stay away from the Ritek". Unfortunately in those days, the only place in Calgary, a CD mastering studio, carrying 80 minute blank CD-Rs could only get Ritek. I had to bite the bullet for about a year until Future Shop (Best Buy in Canada) started stocking 80 minute CD-Rs. This place also sold silver and gold Mitsui CD-Rs.

You can also check out another good Web site Burn World

Has anyone ever tried 99 minute blank CD-Rs?

 

Haven't tried the 99 minute CD-Rs, but one website I visited mentioned that the actual recording time depended upon which burner you used. Some, for instance, were lucky to get 90 minutes. Might be neat to try a couple, but I wouldn't depend on them for critical recording.

 

Miike,

You should notice that Media World has not updated their site in years. The digital world is always in constant change, so what may have been truth three years ago may not be true today. Ritek and CMC have long since improved their product, the burners they mention are all out of production and 80 minute blanks are now the dominat length. Even Sony produces their own 80 minute blanks.

 

Hmmm, 99 Minutes! Any Music Only CDR's at 99 Minutes? or just PC...

 

Good luck if you can even get a regular CD player to play one back!

No, just for the PC, Michael. Most manufacturers do not support them and they will not work in most burners. Most software will not support them, either. Nero and the Yamaha F1 burner will, although it's not advised to use them...