(TV) FW: CD-Rs versus CDs /Technical Q

["Casey, Leo J" <CaseyL@VOLPE.DOT.GOV>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Philip P. Obbard [mailto:pobbard@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 9:43 AM
To: Casey, Leo J
Subject: RE: CD-Rs versus CDs /Technical Q


Hi Leo,

> What do you know about details or likelihood 
>of life length of CDs versus > CD-rs (say 
>what's the rough average useable audio lifespan of a cd-r?

There's been lots of speculation but fewer hard facts. 
Back in 1989, they were saying that CDs had a 
lifespan of 5-15 years, but all but two of my CDs have
survived fine since then. (The two that have 
"rotted" still play, only they are slowly turning 
a weird gold-hue from the outer rim of the disc in, 
and I notice that at least one of them doesn't read 
cleanly in certain CD-ROM drives). 

> Does keeping cd-rs in not too tight sleeves 
>out of sun, away from magnets or  electric fields 
>in any way prolong the life, or is it just that 
>pressed CDs > "pit" and "recesses" are more pronounced 
>and so "wear-out/down" at a slower
> rate?

I don't know. I know the fundamental difference 
between a commercial CD and a
CDR is that a commercial CD is pressed aluminum 
(or gold for some high-end
CDs), while a CDR is chemically-based. 

You might try browsing this site: http://www.cdrfaq.org/

Steve Rovner recently reported that a huge 
batch of his CD-Rs went bad -
totally unplayable. I've had cheap CD-Rs 
(the brand escapes me, but I'll
double-check when I get home) give me 
trouble after only a year - I wound-up
transferring it to Mitsui Gold and Silver CDs, 
which reputedly have the longest
lifespan of CD-Rs (they claim 100 years, but 
I'll tell you for sure in 2100).

> ps:  I have a 7-8 year old cheap Sony cd player 
>(about $165 in 1995) that
> someone gave me, and I have never had a problem 
>with it not playing a Television/TV cd-r. 
>Is my TV/Television cd-r collection living on borrowed
> time?

Again, hard to say. My sister-in-law's CD player is 
about ten or twelve years
ago, and will ONLY play Mitsui Gold CD-Rs - 
no other kind of CDR is recognized
by it. On the other hand, my recently-departed 
Sony 5CD changer, which I bought
in 1994, worked fine (until it died a 
natural death) with any and all CD-Rs. On
the other hand, my Plextor CD-R Writer 
has trouble with many cheapo CD-Rs.


Even the argument about "the market" doesn't apply -
when you're talking about someone making that 
absurd 3CD Television boot that
came out a few months ago, you're talking about 
a labor of love. Moreover, not
everyone has the free time to burn/copy/transfer 
stuff to CD-R and mail it
around to people, or negotiate trades. At 
least with a 'commercial' bootleg, I
can find out ahead of time what I'm getting.

best,
Philip
--------------
To post: Mail tv@obbard.com
To unsubscribe: Mail majordomo@obbard.com with message "unsubscribe tv"