Need cheap CD-Rs?

[manono]

Hi-I know this is not a deals site, but I also know that those of us that like to back up our DVDs go through a lot of these things. Outpost.com is having a pretty good sale on some generic CD-R Media, and if you're not near a major computer chain store where sometimes you can get them even cheaper (like free with rebate), then this will be hard to beat. You can find them here (http://shop2.outpost.com/product/3073449/) .

Are they any good? Well I have been using them for a few days with no problems, although I make no claims for their longevity. CDRIdentifier says they're exactly the same as the better known Imations.

ATIP:...............97m 26s 66f
Disc Man............CMC Magnetics Corp
Recording Layer.....Dye(short Strategy;e.g. Phthalocyanine)
Media Type:.........CD-Recordable
Nominal Capacity....702.83MB (79m 59s 74f/LBA:359849)
Recording Speeds....min. unknown-max unknown

They are 24x, gold on top and bottom with absolutely no writing on the top and I don't know if Outpost will ship overseas. I ordered 10 spindles and shipping to Hawaii was $10 or $1/spindle. Those of you in the mainland US may get them shipped more cheaply if you order multiple spindles.

[wmansir]

This is a pretty good deal, made even better without any rebate hassle. I'm picking up a few spindles, I just hope they are good quality. Have you measured the overburn size?

EDIT: Forgot to add that ground shipping was $7.08 for 4 spindles, +$5 for 2nd day, another +$5 for overnight.

[manono]

Hi-I haven't had to overburn anything recently, so I don't know the answer to that question (is there a way to measure without actually doing it?).

I'm surprised the shipping was so high for you, since mine were sent Airborne Express. Maybe get together with some friends to order more and cut the cost of shipping per spindle.

[diji1]

Hi,

...is there a way to measure without actually doing it

I read that the Feurio CD-R software does that though i have not tried it myself.

[Alex787]

Memorex i found are the best for me.

[wmansir]

yeah Feurio can run a test to check the overburn size without burning the blank. I usually don't overburn unless it's by a small amount, but it's nice to know how far you can push it.

I was hoping for really cheap shipping but I didn't feel ripped off. The only thing I didn't like was that the site didn't give you a shipping price until after you enter your CC#, which isn't cool. That's why I posted my shipping charges here.

[theReal]

I'd personally recommend to only use very good brand cdrs for archiving your movies (i.e. Mitsui or Kodak). No matter how good a cdr looks when it's new, no matter if you can burn it 24x and it reads perfectly - the real quality will show in about a year or two from now!
(I've lost some nice music and stuff on cdrs that were suddenly oxidizing or just plain unreadable, so I know what I'm speaking about...)

For short time archiving I also use what is the cheapest, I only mean to archive important stuff (like my movies) I only use the best I can get.

[wmansir]

just got mine. They're silver on top though, not gold, but cdrid is the same as posted above and they have no markings on them at all. They actually look better than the cheap PNYs I've been using because those have advertising on them ("Need Memory?").

Feurio capacity test on some randomly selected blanks:
CD1: 83:09
CD2: 82:49
CD3: 88:29+, this is as much as my writer can write, ran this test twice and didn't encounter an error either time, still I have a hard time believing this size is correct.

[evilhomer]

I pretty much buy Imation exclusively. I have never seen a gold Imation disc, only silver. Has anyone else ever seen a gold Imation? Maybe they just don't have then in my area.

[cofferscuffs]

PC World sell cheap PCLine 80min CDR's £30 inc VAT for 100 on a spindle (btw this is the only reason for me to go to PC World...) they even work in my DVD Player when burned as VCD's!!

[manono]

Hi-This CD-R color and quality issue is a difficult one to resolve.
Here's a page that helps explain the differences:

Dye Info (http://www.kopyrite.com/cd/theory/cdr_dye.html)

wmansir-I can see how the tops can be seen as silver. You wiggle them around in different light and the color changes. And although the bottoms are kind of yellow-green-gold, they are commonly referred to as gold. And, of course, that's the important thing. And I thought the overburning info was interesting. So it varies from disc to disc even within the same spindle.

evilhomer-the Imations my friend has are 16x and have the same dye, and are definitely golds. These read as identical to my friend's Imations in CDRIdentifier. But as we know, the resellers buy from different manufacturers, and use different dyes from time to time, so the Imations you have and have seen may be different from these. The company that sells these (Hotan) is a part of CMC Magnetics and will only sell their stuff, whereas Imation can (and does) use different manufacturers.

theReal-I agree that the best quality ones are best for our much loved movies. But based on that web page I pointed you to, these are as good as any. And we all know that it's not a good idea to expose these things to heat and light. But as I said in the original post, I have no idea how long these will last. I'll post again in 5 years and let you know. :)

[Taric25]

I only use one brand of CD-Rs: Verbatim DataLifePlus.

First of all, I back up some of my Playstation games and older Playstations are known for overheating. It gets to the point where They Playstation has to be turned upside-down just so enough heat will vent. I keep my Playstation in a well-ventilated area, but I also have a mod-chip that allows me to play backups. Some modchips take the extra heat generated from the extra light produced from reading CD-Rs. The rule of thumb for CR-Rs for Playstation is: the darker the dye, the better.

Second of all, I don't like those "black" (actually very dark blue) CD-Rs, because of their incompatibility with other devices (eg. DVD players).

Third of all, I like the price: 50 CD-Rs @ $25 - $5 rebate = $20! That's 40¢/CD-R!

I would get Mistua if they sold them in my area and if I had the money. Mitsua are by far the best brand of CD-Rs.

[sarahjh69]

discrite
£10 for a spindle of 50 ($13)

available at computer fairs all over the UK