CD-RW and CD-R discs

[xcheckers]

I just bought an Acer 4x4x6 USB CD-RW mainly for burning digital photos and as a backup for critical info. I will burn a little music though.

What are the most reliable CD-RW and CD-R discs at a reasonable price and, if you know, where is the best place to get them. Not looking for massive quantities, but I want the info to last.

 

[sohcrates]

well, i buy most of my cd-r's in 50 packs from walmart. they're only like 18 bucks per spindle. i THINk the brand is maxell...i don't have them in front of me, sorry. i find it's easier to just go pick them up at walmart instead of ordering off the net

i haven't bought cd-rw's in years, so i'm not sure where best price is there. but walmart DOES sell those as well! heheh

edit: btw, since they come in a spindle and therefore don't have cases, i've found some REALLy great blank case deals at compusa, 50 for like 10 bucks.

 

[whitelight]

i've been using imation and pny's black diamonds for a while now and have had no problems with them. for cd-rw's i recommend verbatim. best buy and egghead.com have reasonable prices for these media.

 

[rw120555]

A good site to be familiar with for all your CDR Qs can be found here. As the site explains, there is no universally correct answer to your question; different brands of CDs work better in different kinds of burners.

Having said that, I personally like TDK very much. I was less fond of Imation, because it seemed like I got more vibration from them (although they otherwise worked fine).

But, if you check paper ads carefully, you can see some absurdly cheap deals, e.g. at Circuit City I got 200 80 minute CDs for $10 after a $50 rebate, and at Staples I got another 200 for $20 after a $40 rebate. I gave them to my son; I figure he doesn't have anything too terribly valuable, and he's mostly just recording audio cds of songs he has recorded himself, which he passes out to his friends.

Also periodically check places like Buy.com. I bought 100 TDKs for under $30, which I thought was a pretty good price, particularly since a few days later they went up to $50. In genral, I think you can get good name brand CDs for 50 cents or less if you look around, but there are also places that will charge far more than that.

I read an article recently that said CDR prices would be going up substantially in the near future (increased demand combined with fewer suppliers) so if you find something you like and that works well you might want to stock up if you get a good price.

 

[rw120555]

One other thing to consider: I've often heard it said that 74 Min/650MB disks are more reliable than 80 Min/700MB disks. I know that, a year ago at least, HP was saying don't use 80 Min CDs on their equipment. Of course, it is almost getting hard to find 74 Min Cds anymore, but I personally try to stick with them, unless I'm copying something (e.g. a really long music or data CD) that just won't fit on a 74 minute disk.

I also often make 2 backups of anything really really critical. I'd probably do that even more if I was using cheapie no-name brands.

 

[xcheckers]

Thanks for the comments. I too had heard about it being more reliable with 650 mb disks and plan to stick to those.

 

[morriswindgate]

I have probably burned 4000 disks since 1999, and I use the cheapest generic disks I can get (I got 1200 at the house now) and have had no more problems than people I know who swear by brandnames at 5 times the cost.
For burning audio disks for palying on CD_Players you want to get some of the Crystal or diamond CD-R disks. THese disk are pure silver in color on both sides which helps the laser reflection on players to be more accurate. Here you can get them for 32 per 100.
http://www.qtccdr.com/cgi-bin/index.cfm

 

[Touchdown]

<< I have probably burned 4000 disks since 1999 >>



Wow!:Q Just curious, why have you burnt so many?