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Tech Talk for FamiliesHelping parents and families have fun with technology, toys, and video games |
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How to improve CD-R and DVD burning reliabilityYesterday, I was helping someone trying to burn a CD-R with her computer. She'd get it all set up, hit "burn," insert a blank disc, and...nothing. Or it would start to burn but fail the verification. She was ready to throw her computer in a snowbank or take it in for service. Then it dawned on me. I looked at the brand name of her CD-R's: Memorex. "There's your problem. Don't shop for blank optical media at Wal-mart. Not all discs are created equal." Whether you're looking for CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+R, or any other variation, you want to get quality discs. Why? Blank CD's and DVD's consist of two clear layers with a thin layer of ink between them. When you "burn" a CD or DVD, what you're really doing is manipulating the ink layer, "writing" microscopic changes to the layer. If that ink layer is not absolutely 100% uniform in thickness, you'll get inconsistencies and failed burns. When I first got a DVD burner, I started burning movies to them with iDVD and found out later that most of them had failed. I'd be watching a movie, and it would freeze the DVD player. Several brands work very well and have a high reliability rate. It's a bit complicated in that some brands actually use different manufacturers, so you may get a good set one time and a lousy set the next. I haven't tried every brand, but I've had about 95% success with Taiyo Yuden media and will buy nothing else. (No, they are not a sponsor.) I buy all my discs from SuperMediaStore.com (also not a sponsor) and have had consistently great experiences and excellent prices. If you have a favorite brand or store where you get your media, feel free to post a comment below. She asked me, "So, what should I do with these bad discs?" I said, "Try to return them to Wal-mart. If Wal-mart won't take them, write a letter to Memorex, and tell them their discs are junk. They'll probably send you a coupon for more."Â
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More than just discs need to be considered
Dale,
In my experience it doesn't matter what kind of media is used. I buy the cheapest discs I can get my hands on and I never have a problem. I'm using Tevion brand CD-R's from Aldi right now. If you have a good drive, it will write to almost anything (I tried old pizza boxes but that didn't work, so much for a cheap alternative). Many inexpensive computers come with cheap components and usually that is where the problem lies. It could be cheap cables connecting the drive to the motherboard or a problem with the burning software or the drive itself. Also, laptops have a very high failure rate, in my experience, because they're getting bounced around so much.
In a case like this where disc after disc isn't working, I'd check the components or the burning software.
John
Both of the computers in
Both of the computers in question were G4 iMacs w/ Apple Superdrives. Switching media did the difference. Of course, with anything like this, YMMV.-- DaleTech Talk for Families Cohost
Wow, that's strange. Was
Wow, that's strange. Was Apple using Sony to manufacture their Superdrives on the G4? I suppose it's possible she got a bad batch of discs. I'd like to hear how this turns out when she returns (or exchanges) the discs to Wal-mart (they take just about anything back).
BTW, thanks for the link. The discs there are cheaper than a supplier I normally use.
John