Which brand of CD-Rs?
 

What brand of 80 Minute CD-Rs would any of you reccomend to use for KVCDs? At the moment I'm working my way through a spindle of 50 unbranded PC-Line CDs from Dixons....£15. They're generally good but I notice that towards the end of the disc the film starts to freeze and jump a little.... :roll:

Anyone know of a better brand? I dont mind ordering them online, but it would be nice if anyone knows of a shop in the UK that stocks them. :)

I use Precision which came in packs of 10 with slimline jewel case. They cast me about 54 cent a disc but thats in Ireland so I was probably ripped off. Been very good so far, haven't noticed any problems with them,

Cheers,

Re: Which brand of CD-Rs?
 

Be careful with Pc line disks. Some disks i burned a year ago have recently stopped working.

Jim

Discs made by a Japanese company called Taiyo Yuden are highly regarded by people on most video-related forums for their quality and data-integrity. Fujifilm and some TDK brand cdr's are actually made by Taiyo Yuden and then re-badged with their companies' logos. The rule of thumb is that if it says "Made In Japan" on the label, then they're probably made by Taiyo Yuden. You can also check a disc's info in Nero to make sure by going to the "Medium Info" screen and holding the 'Shift' key or 'Shift' + 'Ctrl' keys while clicking the "refresh" button...this gives you the manufacturer and some other stats about the disc.

Personally, I always buy 48x 80-minute Fujifilm cdr's and overburn them to ~825MB and have never had a single coaster with this brand (so I see why they're so highly regarded! :wink: ). I've made many coasters trying to overburn other brand cdr's up to 825MB, but I've never had to play this hit-and-miss game with Fuji's.

-d&c

i use
verbatim,
smartbuy,
fuji,
sony,
maxells...
and no probs, so far,,

ztr

i use memorex and traxdata

Re: Which brand of CD-Rs?
 

This might be due to burning at too high of a speed also. I don't burn kvcd's higher than 8x speed, even if the discs are rated @ 48x. I've noticed a bit of blocking/glitches with some brand discs when burning @ 12x speed, even though they were rated for 16x or 24x burning. I've read many forum posts where people advised going no higher than 8x when burning video material. Try it and see if it helps...can't hurt (unless you're in a hurry, that is). :)

-d&c

I'm in no hurry so I'll give that a try! :D Thanks.

EDiT: Had a look at the PC-Line discs with CDR Identifier, and they're made by CMC Magnetics Corporation...never heard of this which makes me think the discs must be quite bad....

I'm using TDK 80min 48x CDR's...they've worked wonderfully...my burner doesn't like to overburn even though it says it supports it, i've been able to overburn up to 810MB successfully (even though Nero says it failed, all the info was there, my Sony CRX145 is just retarded i think)...

I always try to get the Fuji brand cdr- never had a problem with them. How exactly do you find out the medium info with Nero?? Everytime I try it I just get the capacity- nothing else :?:

I use Fujifilm and TDK and have never had a problem

Well, I'm still using Nero 5.5.9.17, but I just insert a blank disc, click on "Recorder" at the top of the screen in Nero, then "Medium-Info...". A "Disc Info" box pops up. I hold down either "Shift" key on my keyboard while I click on the "Refresh" button, and the name of the disc's manufacturer appears somewhere on the right of that screen. And if I hold down the "Shift" key and the "Ctrl" key at the same time while clicking the Refresh button, a new "Enhanced Disc Information" box pops up onto the screen which contains some (nonsensical, to me) ATIP info about the cdr.

-d&c

cool, I didn't know how to do that before :wink: I checked one of my blank Fuji's and it's made by Ritek -also made in Taiwan is printed on the cd itself. I had big problems with a spindle of Verbatim and I checked the manufacturer and it's Mitsubishi Chemical Co.- although I've heard from others that they haven't had any problems with Verbatim (maybe it was a bad batch :idea: )

thanks,
ren

Actually, CMC Magnetics sells their discs to Verbatim and Imation (among other known brands I'm sure). It's my understanding that CMC discs aren't known for being of the greatest quality though (I'm pretty sure I read a review somewhere at www.cdrinfo.com long ago comparing different companies' discs). I've had mixed results with Imation discs and generally try to avoid them because of it. Verbatim on the other hand, I've always had good luck with (especially the newer 48x variety)...I don't know if they were made by CMC or not. I think discs rated for 48x (or higher if they exist yet!?) probably have to be of a higher-grade qualitywise and are made more carefully/precisely, so maybe that's why I've had good luck with them...but maybe not. I guess as the saying goes, "stick with the devil you know". :wink:

Yep, the key for finding Taiyo Yudens is the "Made In Japan" part...all of the 48x Fuji's I've seen on the store-shelves recently are from Japan. I've heard nothing but praise about T.Y.'s discs, and that's been my experience with them as well (plus you can get Fuji's practically for free sometimes after rebates).

-d&c

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news guys, but just in case any of the other Taiyo-Yuden Fuji CDR users/devotees here aren't aware, Fujifilm has (sadly :cry: ) recently dropped Taiyo Yuden as their CDR manufacturer in favor of Taiwanese manufacturer Prodisc. :x This means no more excellent quality, low-cost TY Fuji discs in our local stores after current available stocks run out. For anyone who doesn't feel like ordering their Taiyo Yuden discs online in the near future, you may want to consider buying some TY Fuji discs at your local store if they still have any. As always, the rule of thumb is: if it says "Made in Japan" on the label, then you know Taiyo Yuden made them. While the newly made Prodisc Fujis may turn out to be okay/suitable discs, they certainly don't have the same reputation that TY has earned over the years for consistent quality and reliability.

FYI, Office-Max currently has a deal going on 30-packs of Fuji CDRs for $1.99 after $6.00 Mail-in Rebate. The rebate is valid on purchases made between 9/21/03 and 9/27/03 in the Contiguous US; 9/28/03 and 10/4/03 in Alaska & Hawaii; and 10/5/03 and 10/11/03 in Puerto Rico and St. Thomas. (gee, you can hardly tell I'm staring at the rebate as I write this, huh?! :wink: )

*and no, I'm not affiliated with Taiyo Yuden or Office-max in any way. :lol: I just know a good deal when I see it. :wink: I also know a darn shame when I see it. :cry: Bye-bye TY Fujis!

Happy hunting,
-d&c

Thanks d&c :!:
Guess I should pay a visit to Office Max soon ;)

-kwag

:lightbulb: Seems to me theres an opportunity here for KVCD.net.
I suggest we as a group use a significant number of cd's. If we were to approach T.Y. as a buyer we could buy the cd's on a grand scale. In fact we could likely factor in an additional Nickel ( or dime) per disc to pay for this site and its upkeep. Members of KVCD would need only to agree to purchase their blank media thru kvcd.net. We'd be getting superior quality media, at cheap prices AND supporting our forum. No one loses.
Shipping jumps out as a possible problem, but there is where the extra dime could play a part as well.
Maybe a volunteer for each country could be the central "warehouse for the blank media.
Who knows, Maybe T.Y. would enter into some sort of dropship arrangement?

J :idea: ust a thought. :idea:

Hi EightBall,

Your thought is an excelent suggestion :D
I'll look into it, and probably make a poll, to see how many people would but the CDs from us. That would definitely help to pay for our hosting services, which monthly cost is beginning to make holes in the pocket :!:

-kwag

EightBall & Kwag:
great ideas!

where is the poll :?:
:wink: