I was just wondering, I read that Taiyo Yuden was a manufacturer and sometimes other companies put their brand names on them, like Fuji or Maxell. I can't tell what kind of CDR's I have, how do you find out who the original manufacturer is of the CD's? I have a new burner (Lite-on 52x24x52) and I want to buy some of these CD's that everyone is talking about, but I have never heard of them, nor have I figured out where to buy them, but I have been looking. Please explain where to find the true brand of the cd's. Thanks.

It depends on which country you are in, but in general brands like "Thats" are TaiyoYuden. Also look for media saying "Made in Japan"

(in reply to buff nasty)

Yep, "Thats" is TY here!

(in reply to buff nasty)

ProDisc can be found in the e-Performance brand.

(in reply to buff nasty)

it seems as if ProDisc doesn't have a market at all here in the US

(in reply to buff nasty)

OK, I live in America and I have never seen any of the brands that you guys just mentioned. Whenever I look at the CDR package, they all pretty much say "Made in Taiwan" and I don't know if that means they are good or bad. In America, what brand should I be looking for?

(in reply to buff nasty)

I'm pretty sure e-performance is sold in the US (it's sold in Canada). But not likely in stores like BestBuy, I'd suggest finding smaller computer outlets. As for Taiyo Yuden, they can also be found in Fuji CD-Rs (listed made in Japan), and those can be found in many different stores including London Drugs (they exist in the US right?) and Blacks Photography. I think best buy would have Fuji, but I don't have any best buys near me so I can't say. Maybe check their website

(in reply to buff nasty)

BuffNasty:

Just search for media "made in Japan" here in the US... It will be marked near the UPC code. Fuji and Memorex are 2 that you can find that way very cheap......

(in reply to buff nasty)

So am I to assume then that the media that is posted "Made in Taiwan" is not very good. That's all the media that I have found so far, it's all made in Taiwan!

(in reply to buff nasty)

I wouldn't say *ALL* the media made in Taiwan is bad, there's some that is very good! however, the good is indistinguishible from the bad when only looking at the outside package. You have to be able to read the ATIP of the disc or the serial numbers on the hub to have an idea of who made it (Yes, there are some of us who spend far too much time staring at CD-Rs, and can now recognize most factories CD-Rs by serial number....don't ask!). The reason we Suggest media made in Japan is because it's really hard to find bad CD-Rs that were made there... it does happen from time to time, but somebody usually loses their job over it! (j/k!)

(in reply to buff nasty)

Some Prodisc 40X media we are testing seem to behave good with some drives, bad with others. So i guess its better to check our writing quality tests to determine which media fits better with your drive!

(in reply to buff nasty)

so just out of curiousity, do you happen to know what serial numbers I should be looking for to find these quality discs? Also, how do I check to see if I somehow have errors after I burned a CD? Is there something in Nero that will tell me if errors occured afterwards? It always says that the burn was successful, but sometimes the programs that I burn will install and sometimes they won't. How do I tell beforehand whether or not the disk has errors before I try to install from it?

(in reply to buff nasty)

I COULD tell you a couple of ways to discern what CD-Rs are what, just by looking at the serial numbers written on their hubs, but that would still require you to purchase the media before you could check it. but since you ask...I'll give you a few pointers. Please bare in mind that I only have my own experiences to go by on this, and I can't guarentee that ALL CD-Rs will follow these rules, but so far they seem pretty accurate.

Prodisc: has 2 sets of serial numbers, one is black, on the plastic hub of the disc. I havn't discerned any regular patterns for this one yet, but there may be. The second number is in the holographic circle between the main disc area and the plastic hub. This number is always 3 sets of 4 digits, and the first set of digits is usually R020. The best way to read this set of digits is to turn the disc upside down (looking at the burnable surface), especially since some brands block off the holographic hub with their labels.

Ritek: Ritek is nice to the consumer because their Serial numbers are VERY easy to recognize! They have 2 sets just like Prodisc, the inner hub one is basically useless (that I can tell), but the second one (holographic part again) is VERY useful! It will usually be something like this: RBD80M-xxxxx 80 which basically means Ritek Black Disc 80min followed by 5 numbers. On regular (non black discs) it's usually RAD80M or RAD90M (for 90min CD-Rs), and RAD74M for 74min...you get the idea.

Taiyo Yuden: These guys are EASY! Taiyo Yuden is the only CD-R that has a "crystalized" hub. So if the hub is completely transparent, it's not Taiyo Yuden.

Mitsui: Generally Mitsui CD-Rs say Mitsui in the middle of the hub. I'm still working on a regular pattern for their serial numbers. Mitsui's also ALWAYS have a protective coating on the top of the CD-R, it's one of their trademarks.

Princo: I'll get back to you on this one, I don't have Princo's Specs. Memorized yet

CMC: These guys are really easy too! again, 2 sets of Serial numbers, the first one is like Prodisc and Ritek: in the plastic hub, only the digits are written slightly larger then any other CD-R I've seen so far (though this depends, sometimes it isn't true on branded media). The Second number again is in the holographic ring. CMC is very nice to us because they always start their second serial number with the digits CD-R or CD-RW followed by the capacity rated in Minutes, and then 8 and 4 digits (ie. CD-R 80 xxxxxxxx xxxx) However, their CD-RWs are a little bit different (Different amount of serial numbers, placement of the capacity rating).

That's about everything I have so far, I hope it helps. All in all though, if you already have the CD-Rs, just run them through CD-R Identifier or cd-r media identifier (http://www.ln.com.ua/~maverick/f_cdrinfo.htm) and it'll usually tell you everything you need to know (without the eye strain)

(in reply to buff nasty)

Great forum folks. I just got back from Best Buy in Virginia and purchased a 50 pack of FujiFilm "5 Colors" CDRs. Here are the vitals from CDR Media Info:

Media Type - CD-R
Start time of Lead-in - 97m 24s 01f (Media Manufacturer Mark)
Media Manufacturer - Tayio Yuden Co. Ltd.
Media Type Code - 1 (Long Strategy I3 write pulse)
Indicative Target Writing Power - 4
A1 marker = 0

Price $20.89 incl. tax. I was desperate and needed to buy a quality CD - I took my notes from this forum, I saw FujiFilms and Made in Japan and said "WTF". Write speed: upto 40x.

BTW, is there any was to find specific ATIP number CD's anywhere? I'm looking for ATIP 97m 26s 11f (Postech Corp.). Thanks for the great info!

(in reply to buff nasty)

I can find Prodiscs under the brand name "Smart Buy" on Ebay all day long. Price usually ranges around 15$ for a 50 spindle.

TY I come across, anytime I pick up CD's labeled "made in japan". I've found them at Best Buy, Circuit City, and Wal-Mart at decent prices.

(in reply to buff nasty)

You can get e-performance Prodisc 50packs for $15.00 Canadian!

(in reply to buff nasty)