Re: Verbatim Cd-R's are junk!!

From: Chris Carlen (crcarleRemoveThis_at_BOGUSsandia.gov)
Date: 03/04/05 

Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2005 18:06:13 -0800

John Larkin wrote:
> On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 16:21:10 -0700, Jim Thompson
> <thegreatone@example.com> wrote:
>>Taiyo Yuden are the best, bar none. Costs slightly more than the
>>junk, but worth it. I buy them a 100-pack at a time.
>>
>> ...Jim Thompson
>
> We back up everything (entire company library) weekly onto a few
> Office Depot DVDs, and they seem fine. The Brat discovered a cave
> under our garage at home, so we take each week's backups and original
> release media (floppies or CDs), pop into a ziploc, and throw into
> that into a big cardboard box, one for each year. I figure that if we
> have a server disaster, we'll figure out the mess then.
>
> John

I don't think it's wise to use no-name media, CD or DVD, for data archival.

I have had quite an obsession with this subject for the past few years
and have done mass amounts of research. About CD-Rs I can confirm Jim
Thompson's assertion that Taiyo Yuden are the best. He must have done
his homework.

I hesitated to use writable DVD media until just recently after backups
to CD-R(W)s became cumbersome due to needing too many disks.

I settled on the use of cartridge DVD-RAM for daily backups. It's neat
because I can use one cartridge to implement my two-disk scheme for
dailys. I alternate between two re-writable disks each day, so there's
always a record of the past two days. DVD-RAM is really cool. And
having a DVD-RAM compatible drive means I can stick my DVD-RAM video
recorder disks in my PC and play the files.

Then at the end of the week I burn a recordable, DVD+R in the new scheme.

Jim, you might want to process this unsettling tidbit: Taiyo Yuden
DVD+R media hasn't been so perfectly reputable. If you ever move to
DVDs, you'll have to do your homework all over again. I have a stack of
TY 8x DVD+R lot TG001133 that have a problem with tiny specks toward the
outer rim. This causes some folks to be unable to use them past 2GB.

For CD-Rs it works like this:

There are good, medium-good, and el-cheapo factories. There are only a
few factories. Brands like Sony, Verbatim, etc. buy from any of the
factories, and put them in the same branded boxes. So you don't know by
buying Sony that you are getting the good stuff. One box of Sony may be
crap factory, and the next might be the best.

It's even more bizarre with a manufacturer like TDK that makes their
own, generally considered in the good category, but also brands other
factories' CD-Rs into the same packages, depending on the phase of the moon.

So the only way to know if the stuff is good is to look at the
manufacturer data on the disk. The brand tells you little.

So buy TY, which aren't branded but are the best.

For CD-RW, I found Yamaha 24x to be very good, but expensive.

For DVD+-R(W) things are rather new to me. I have bought a bunch of
Verbatim, since I heard it was TY anyway. Unfortunately, my Linux
software that tells me an abundance of technical info about CD-Rs works
differently with DVD media, so I am not sure who really made these
DVD+RW and DVD+R disks. (See an example below, I just get a code, no
readable Manufacturer.)

crcarle@mango2:~> dvd+rw-mediainfo /dev/dvdrw
INQUIRY: [MATSHITA][DVD-RAM SW-9573S][AZH3]
GET [CURRENT] CONFIGURATION:
  Mounted Media: 1Bh, DVD+R
  Media ID: MCC/003
  Current Write Speed: 4.0x1385=5540KB/s
  Write Speed #0: 4.0x1385=5540KB/s
  Write Speed #1: 2.4x1385=3324KB/s
  Speed Descriptor#0: 01/2295103 R@4.0x1385=5540KB/s W@4.0x1385=5540KB/s
  Speed Descriptor#1: 01/2295103 R@2.4x1385=3324KB/s W@2.4x1385=3324KB/s
READ DVD STRUCTURE[#0h]:
  Media Book Type: A1h, DVD+R book [revision 1]
  Legacy lead-out at: 2295104*2KB=4700372992
READ DISC INFORMATION:
  Disc status: blank
  Number of Sessions: 1
  State of Last Session: empty
  Number of Tracks: 1
READ TRACK INFORMATION[#1]:
  Track State: blank
  Track Start Address: 0*2KB
  Next Writable Address: 0*2KB
  Free Blocks: 2295104*2KB
  Track Size: 2295104*2KB

Oh but a Google on the media code reveals it's Mitsubishi.

Good day! 

-- 
_______________________________________________________________________
Christopher R. Carlen
Principal Laser/Optical Technologist
Sandia National Laboratories CA USA
crcarleRemoveThis@BOGUSsandia.gov
NOTE, delete texts: "RemoveThis" and "BOGUS" from email address to reply.