High Quality CD-Rs

[Theodoric]

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.

[Matth]

The ever increasing clamour for CHEAP media, drove some of the good media (like Kodak Gold) out of the market - I don't know Hi-Space.

Thy most highly respected media seems to "Taiyo Yuden" not sure if I spelt it right, but it's usually abbreviated to TY.

Fujifilm - MADE IN JAPAN only, is normally TY - in fact, most media that's made in Japan will be TY.

Many of the other name brands, like 3M, TDK and a few others either use CMC (real junk media) or can be one of several, good or bad - Sony tends to be "Lead Data". another very poor choice.

A friend swears by Infiniti http://www.medeainternational.com/infiniti/ - seems to be ok (a lot more relaible than previous unbranded silver, which frequently de-laminated if labelled), and found at my local computer fair for under £20 a 100 tub

[Shaun]

Verbatim are very good, can be expensive but good. I think the storage conditions can efferent the lifetime quite considerably too. Have you thought about buying an external hard drive so you can transfer the files quickly and then store it safely. I'm guessing the data on it should last a hell of a long time.

[eerrrr]

Ritek are very good, most CD-R sites recommend them. They can be hard to find and a bit pricey though. However I recently discovered BigPockets.co.uk, you can get 50 for £8.99 there, or 100 B-grade for £12.99. Then a pack of 100 jewel cases for £9.99. I haven't tried them yet, but it sounds pretty good.