dvd+rw-mediainfo
DVD+R Philips $30/25 Memorex $60/50 Ritek $40/25 Verbatim 95310 $33/20 Verbatim 95123 DataLifePlus $53/20
DVD Media ID Quick list: 1ST CLASS (A): PVC, MXL, TY/YUDEN, MCC/MKM, TDK/TTG/TTH, SONY 2ND CLASS (B): RICOHJPN, PRODISC, RITEK, FUJIFILM, OPTODISC, INFODISC 3RD CLASS (C): CMC, LEADDATA, DAXON, INFOMEDIA, MBI, MAM-E/A, PRINCO, ONID, GSC, PHILIPS 4TH CLASS (F): LONGTEN, YIJHAN, AN/ANWELL, AML, INFOSMART/ISO, VDS, UME, WFKA
Verbatim : DVD-R Gen / DVD-R Auth / DVD+R Lifetime / DVD+RW / DVD-RW
Care and Handling of CDs and DVD
DYE COLOR PROPERTIES Metal-Cyanine Blue Original CD-R Dye, Least stable Metal-Azo Very Deep Blue Increased stability over Cyanine dyes Phthalocyanine (MAM-E) Very light Green Most stable, transparent and durable
Dye Material Patent Holder Dye Color Cyanine Taiyo Yuden Blue PhthaloCyanine Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals Transparent Metallized Azo Verbatim/Mitsubishi Blue Advanced PhthaloCyanine Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals Transparent Formazan Kodak Japan Limited Light Green
The Formazan Dye is a hybrid Cyanine/PhthaloCyanine combination which has been developed by Kodak.
Brands most often recommended: Mitsui, Kodak, Taiyo Yuden, and TDK. Sometimes Pioneer and Ricoh. It appears that HP, Philips, Sony, Yamaha, and Fuji use these manufacturers for most of their disks. (Kodak no longer manufactures media.)
Brands that are often trashed: Maxell, Verbatim, Memorex, Ritek, Hotan, Princo, Gigastorage, Lead Data, Fornet, CMC Magnetics. Many "no-name" bulk CD-Rs are one of these brands.
Sometimes a particular line of discs from a particular manufacturer or reseller will be better than others from the same company. For example, Verbatim DataLifePlus discs are recognized as pretty good, but Verbatim ValuLife are seen as being of much lower quality.
MAM-A (Mitsui) 4.7GB Gold Archive DVD - 50 Count $92.50
Finally a DVD suitable for storing your most precious files! The MAM Gold Archive Grade DVD is designed for applications requiring long-term storage of sensitive data, video or music files. The reflective layer is comprised of 24 karat gold, which allows maximum resistance to chemical breakdown -- one of the major causes of disc failure. Along with choosing the right recording dye material and bonding agent (Note: A DVD-R is made of two polycarbonate discs bonded together) the long-term stability of the reflective layer is crucial. Reflective layers using your standard silver surface are subject to oxidation (rust) over a long period of exposure to moisture. Unlike silver jewelry, a gold ring won't rust and neither will the gold reflective layer in this disc. In optical discs, the use of gold can triple the life of a standard disc. Preliminary tests show that the MAM Gold Archive Grade DVD can last significantly longer than ordinary silver recordable DVD discs. Although tests are currently underway and results will soon be available, we can assume from our experience with gold layer CD-R that the expected life of these discs will be similar. The MAM DVD is offered as the long awaited companion to the MAM Archive Grade Gold CD-R, which has an expected lifetime of 300 years and has earned a reputation as the highest quality storage media available today.