My basic question is this: how can one select CD-R (or DVD-R) media with optimal shelf life as a consideration? I have done some searching here and elsewhere and found quite a bit of brand specific (e.g. Kodak) testimonial information but very little test data or comparisons among specific brands and types of media. Is anyone here aware of brands reputed to be good vs. bad? One article I read specifically dissed Ritek, a brand I have favored for some time. Much of the information I did find was several years old, so there is also the chance that the situation has changed in the interim -- with luck for the better. Any informed thoughts hereabouts?
Well I can attest to the poor record of older Ritek discs - I've got craploads of them! Of course these discs I purchased several years back (back when thr 16x burner was hot stuff). I have yet to buy recent Ritek discs (since i'm still going through the discs I already have hehe) but i've heard good things about Ritek in recent times. One company you should definitely stay away from IMO, is Memoerex. I have extremely bad experiences with them and I'm sure I am not the only one. For archival purposes I would suggest you look into Verbatim and TDK, both excellent media brands.
Thanks for the feedback. I know this is an ongoing concern among serious, professional archives people. Apparently one of the issues with optical media generally is the proprietary & secret nature of the formulae & processes used to produce the various disks. This makes accuracy in ongoing evaluations of media life rather difficult. Often as soon as one type of disk is found to be of good quality in this regard, it disappears from the market to be replaced by a new, allegedly improved, but again untested type. So, I'm curious to hear of current information, and about as soon as I do I'll order a bunch of good ones. I've had it with quality issues as an ongoing problem. I don't even care much about speed any more -- I just want product reliability.
