Cable Forum - View Single Post - High Quality CD-Rs

Theodoric · 08-06-2004, 21:59

An inexorable law of computing life seems to be that however generous the amount of storage space is when you buy your system, it is never enough a couple of years later. I have now reached the stage where I need to seriously consider archiving a significant amount of material (photos, video clips and some data) onto CD-Rs and deleting them from the hard drive.

I innocently assumed that there would be no problems with CD-R storage, but after doing a fair bit of Internet searching it seems that the question of CD-R lifetimes is a subject full of uncertainties. I have now come upon claims of a hundred years down to only a few years before the CD-Rs become unreadable.

Assuming good storage, that is in a jewel case and away from direct sunlight and extremes of temperature, I get the impression that my best bet would be to be prepared to pay for quality. As I'm talking mainly about irreplaceable family photos and video clips (I'd hate to lose the data, but it's not as important), I am all ears for recommendations for high quality CD-Rs. As I said, price is not of the first importance; if they cost over a pound each (or even more), but had some sort of guaranteed lifetime, I'd be interested.

One source suggested that Hi-Space Gold CD-Rs are high quality.

08-06-2004, 21:59	#1
Theodoric Inactive Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: London Posts: 2,974	High Quality CD-Rs An inexorable law of computing life seems to be that however generous the amount of storage space is when you buy your system, it is never enough a couple of years later. I have now reached the stage where I need to seriously consider archiving a significant amount of material (photos, video clips and some data) onto CD-Rs and deleting them from the hard drive. I innocently assumed that there would be no problems with CD-R storage, but after doing a fair bit of Internet searching it seems that the question of CD-R lifetimes is a subject full of uncertainties. I have now come upon claims of a hundred years down to only a few years before the CD-Rs become unreadable. Assuming good storage, that is in a jewel case and away from direct sunlight and extremes of temperature, I get the impression that my best bet would be to be prepared to pay for quality. As I'm talking mainly about irreplaceable family photos and video clips (I'd hate to lose the data, but it's not as important), I am all ears for recommendations for high quality CD-Rs. As I said, price is not of the first importance; if they cost over a pound each (or even more), but had some sort of guaranteed lifetime, I'd be interested. One source suggested that Hi-Space Gold CD-Rs are high quality.