Buck_Naked, TDK has outsourced their "cheaper" line of cdrs to mfg's like Taiyo Yuden and Ritek. The "good" TDK's are made by TDK themselves in their Georgia factory although that info may be outdated now. In any case, the good TDK's are the ones that say "Certified Plus" and are priced accordingly. The "cheaper" TDK's have both been identified by CDR Identifier and confirmed by many people to be made by either Ritek (not that great) to Taiyo Yuden (good to very, very good). These cdrs are identified in packaging by "100% Certified".
Ritek cdrs have had the reputation for being pretty crappy. However, over time some people have remarked that they have had decent to good success with Ritek made cdrs to the point where it would not affect their purchasing decision. This can be attributed to many factors. It is possible that Ritek is getting better and their top end cdrs can compete in the retail market as decent OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) products for other brand names such as TDK. If you go to
www.cdmediaworld.com and check out their ongoing list of cdr/w media lists you will find Ritek all over the place.
Taiyo Yuden has always had a good to very, very good rep for making great cdrs. Over the last year or so it would seem that Taiyo Yuden OEM cdrs have been popping up from brand names like TDK to FujiFilm 80min which is great for the consumer. Common sense and suspicion would dictate that in terms of profitability TY must have either streamlined their production methods or have "cheapened" their cdrs in order to be considered OEM producers for such said brand names. So, one would possibly expect that TY OEM cdrs to have more problems than in the past in terms of quality ... but this remains to be seen. It is entirely possible that TY quality has not dipped but that their ability to make a great AND cheap product for OEM use has been increased thus the OEM showings in the market which in the end is great for us, the consumer.
Having said all this: it would seem that there are also other factors at work in the cdr industry. Namely, the quality of burning and the competency of computers of today. Most Anandtechers have decent setups that enable burning to be an afterthought. We have decent cdroms, great burners from Plextors to Yamahas and the like. Lots of memory and fast, quality HDD's and processors and mobos and last, but not least, great programs like Nero and CloneCd. I have a Plex and it seems to like anything. I've heard anecdotal opinions from others that say they can burn even the cheapest media and get away with it because their burners and systems can handle anything. This may be true to a point.
But if I had a choice between Ritek-made TDKs and TY-made TDKs it would be the TY's hands down (or thumbs up) especially with their rebate offer on their 100pk spindle. CompUSA had the 2x50 spindle which were positively ID'd as TY which freaked everyone out. The FujiFilm 80min cdrs with rebates were also very, very good. I've got some right now and i'm very happy ... for the moment.
The only problems i've ever had were with Ritek-made Maxells which could not be read by my Toshiba cdrom after a couple of months.
Hope this rambling answered any of yoru questions.
Regards.
Facebook
Twitter