Blank CDs & DVDs

[Michael Rowley]

I am completely new to burning CDs & DVDs, and I should like advice on what makes of LightScribe blank disks to buy. Probably I am not wrong in imagining that there are many old hands here.

[annc]

I am completely new to burning CDs & DVDs, and I should like advice on what makes of LightScribe blank disks to buy. Probably I am not wrong in imagining that there are many old hands here.Bearing in mind the special care needed with LightScribe discs after burning, is it really worth the effort?

I get great results with printable discs and a cheap inkjet printer. For the few occasions when I consider this necessary or desirable.

[Michael Rowley]

Ann:

Bearing in mind the special care needed with LightScribe discs after burning, is it really worth the effort?

I am completely innocent of any knowledge of burning disks, so I could not anwer your question, even if I understood its implications. I know only that the supplier of my present computer has provided a program for burning disks, a program for writing on them (LightScribe), and a the requisite apparatus for reading them and writing them, which bears the LightScribe logo.

I know the only subject has been discussed here, and the participants seemed very knowledgeable. But thanks for the warning—if it is one!

[Steve Rindsberg]

LightScribe is a technology for imprinting the "non-data" side of discs. If you don't need that particular ability, you can use regular blanks instead (at a considerable savings, I'm willing to bet).

[Michael Rowley]

Steve:

LightScribe is a technology for imprinting the "non-data" side of discs

Thank you for that: but I had got the idea, though I wonder if there is a better program. What I do want to know is what brands of disk are OK, and what brands should definitely be avoided! I gather forum members have definite ideas about this

[annc]

LightScribe actually scratches the special coating off the discs to create etched 'labels'. But the instructions (Google LightScribe) indicate that these discs have to be stored in fairly restricted environments after etching.

As Steve says, you're probably better off just using standard discs and using Windows to do the burning. No special software or discs needed.

I used to buy TDK discs in bulk on spindles but had a few duds, and have now gone back to the imation inkjet-printable ones, which I sometimes print on and sometimes just write on with a special CD pen.

[Steve Rindsberg]

>> As Steve says, you're probably better off just using standard discs and using Windows to do the burning. No special software or discs needed.

I'm not especially fond of the way Windows' own CD burning works. It seems to lead users by the hand to making un-closed CDs ... things that won't necessarily be universally readable.

Anything that lets you treat a CD like a lettered disk drive and write to it is evil, in fact.

OTOH, I've had reasonably good luck with the various CD burning apps that came with various computers. Roxio, Sonic Record Now and that bunch, though they can be difficult to tame. I mostly use Nero 6. FWIW. Which isn't all that much, I expect. <g>

[Michael Rowley]

Ann:

LightScribe actually scratches the special coating off the discs to create etched 'labels'

That is not what LightScribe says: the reverse side of the disk is coated with a coloured layer, which is burnt away by the laser where you want it ‘scratching’, and as the same beam is used for writing on the other face, I do not see where the scratching can come from.

No special software or discs neededI do not have to acquire special software, because the maker of the computer supplied it; I would have to buy the special disks. I do not know yet how well the software performs, and it may turn out that Vista provides all I need, and it may perform better.

gone back to the imationThank you: Imation is one brand that is recommended then.

[Michael Rowley]

Steve:

I'm not especially fond of the way Windows' own CD burning works. It seems to lead users by the hand to making un-closed CDs ... things that won't necessarily be universally readable.

Anything that lets you treat a CD like a lettered disk drive and write to it is evil, in fact. Unclosed CDs? Oh, Oh: I have much to learn! But perhaps using Vista may be OK . . . or not. Nero I have heard of, and I think it is on my wife’s laptop.

[annc]

I burnt my first CD in Vista the other day, and it basically wouldn't let the thing go until I'd closed it. It's not terribly intuitive to use, however. Like most of Vista.

[annc]

That is not what LightScribe says: the reverse side of the disk is coated with a coloured layer, which is burnt away by the laser where you want it ‘scratching’, and as the same beam is used for writing on the other face, I do not see where the scratching can come from.Semantics. ;)

I do not have to acquire special software, because the maker of the computer supplied it; I would have to buy the special disks. I do not know yet how well the software performs, and it may turn out that Vista provides all I need, and it may perform better.Vista works, but it's not terribly intuitive. It does pop up a button to remind you to close the disc after it's been burnt, and you must do that, to allow it to be used on different machines, and also to stop viruses hopping on when it's used in machines with viruses on them, then hopping off onto uninfected machines later. This happened to us at the library a couple of years ago, and it was very embarrassing. Our IT people cleaned the borrower's machine and the supplier sent a closed CD. But I still manually check every CD-ROM we purchase.

Thank you: Imation is one brand that is recommended then.I went off them for a few years after a couple of bad experiences, but decided to give them another go about 12 months ago and haven't had any failures.

[Michael Rowley]

Ann:

SemanticsThat is not a word I use, but if is a way of saying, ‘You know perfectly well what I meant!’, I honestly thought you meant . . . er, scratching. Women!

Vista works, but it's not terribly intuitiveNothing is, as far as I am concerned, but I just follow the recipe. But I was rather put out that there are two kinds of writable CD.

[Hugh Wyn Griffith]

I suggest you ignore Lightscribe -- it's a nice idea but it isn't here yet.

It does as eventually said use the laser beam to burn an image into/onto the Lightscribe layer -- apart from needing a special CD/DVD drive I believe you turn the disk over to make the "label". Hoever they are monochrome and unbelieveably slow to produce -- I've heard figures like 20 - 30 minutes to burn one label. Of course you can go away and do something else but still ....

And Lightscribe disks are from 50¢ to $1 more expensive than normal disks.

Using an inkjet that can print on (again special?) disks is the best solution. HP has at least one but the majority are Epson I think.

For everyday use I have found Sony and Verbatim satisfactory.

Don't buy Music CDs to burn music on unless you feel generous. The theory is that the price is loaded and a percentage goes to deserving recording artists ...... but technically there is no need for them.

[Michael Rowley]

Hugh:

I suggest you ignore LightScribe—it’s a nice idea but it isn’t here yet That is an interesting comment: most built-in CD/DVD writers that come with new computers in the UK seem to be LightScribe-capable, and it does not appear to be a new idea (rather obvious, in fact). But I had not intended to ask about the LightScribe system, I just thought nearly everyone here was likely to to have a LightScribe-capable CD/DVD writer.

And LightScribe disks are from 50¢ to $1 more expensive than normal disks The price is not really material for me, not because I have money to throw around, but because it doesn’t seem likely that I will ever use many: the price of the better makes of CD (according to LightScribe UK) is only £0.80 a disk.

Sony and Verbatim disks, you recommend: thanks. And I don’t do music: the BBC covers my needs; the tip about music CDs is interesting though.

[Steve Rindsberg]

Steve:

Unclosed CDs? Oh, Oh: I have much to learn! But perhaps using Vista may be OK . . . or not. Nero I have heard of, and I think it is on my wife’s laptop.
Michael,

Re "closed"

Different CD-burning programs use different terms for this; I'm not sure what the "official" term is but no matter. With any CD-burning program, there'll be an option to allow you to add more files to the CD later or to close/finalize/whatever the CD so that adding more files isn't possible.

Generally, as long as you're using the CD yourself or sharing it with someone else who uses the same software, you're safe leaving the CD "open". If you want to be sure it's more widely readable, you'll want to close the CD.

All of the programs I've used have had options that allow you to close ALL CDs as soon as the burn process is done or to insert an "open" CD and close or finalize it at a later date.

I live in fear that I'll forget to do this with something important, CD blanks are cheap, so the first thing I root out in any new CD burning software is "How do I set it always to close when done burning so I don't have to think about this again?"

[Michael Rowley]

Steve:

With any CD-burning program, there'll be an option to allow you to add more files to the CD later or to close/finalize/whatever the CD so that adding more files isn't possible.

Thank you—the ‘official’ name doesn’t matter, for it would be in one ear and out of the other.

[Michael Rowley]

Sony and Verbatim disks, you [Hugh] recommend: thanks Another that LightScribe UK highly recommends is Infiniti: has anyone heard of it?

[Hugh Wyn Griffith]

And LightScribe disks are from 50¢ to $1 more expensive than normal disks


That £0.80 is $1.60 compared with 10 - 25¢ for "ordinary" disks here.

I have a Lightscribe capable drive from Plextor but I've not tried it out -- I must do that one of these days <s>

And I don’t do music: the BBC covers my needs

I use CDs in my car and make copies for this because of the tropical heat.

[Michael Rowley]

Hugh:

I use CDs in my car and make copies for this because of the tropical heat.

We haven’t got tropical heat, of course, and I haven’t got a car!

I have in the mean time found this guide to disks, courtesy of today’s The Guardian, which identifies the suppliers of first class, second class, and shitty blanks:

http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm

[ktinkel]

We haven’t got tropical heat, of course, and I haven’t got a car!

I have in the mean time found this guide to disks …A very interesting guide it is.

Unfortunately, I do not seem to be able to read the data on my DVDs. The article recommends the DVD Media Inspector for the Mac, but it doesn’t work on my Matsushita drives. My blanks are from TDK, which is listed in the first (preferred) group, so guess that is as much information as I can have now.

For Mac users whose drives work with the DVD Media Inspector, I found a crude translation of the Japanese instructions (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/DVD_Media_Inspector).