CDRW Media ?

[drewwpb]

I have upgraded my CDRW from a 4x4x6 to a faster 24x10x40. My question is that I have about 200 or so Blank CDR disks and I don't remember what speed they are . is there anyway to find out the X of the CDR media ?

 

[deuce]

they would have to be 4x or less, so you have just a few choices. you could try timing it the next time you record something and figure it out that way. (compare it to the time it takes to record at 1x -- a music cd might be easier... it took x minutes to rip a 60 min cd...)

 

[drewwpb]

How do you know they are 4x ? Is that the only way to find out the speed of CDR Media ? Manual Timing???

 

[Toddles18]

If you're planning on just using the old cd's on the new burner and have that many your could just kinda do a "shot in the dark methodology," my guess is that unless you purchased them very recently they are either 8X 12X or 16X. Try burning one at 8X, if that works next time try at 12X, continue until they don't burn correctly, it may not give you your answer right now, but you'll get it eventually. Hope that helps

 

[deuce]

well, I figured if your burner was 4x4x6, and you had that many, you might have had them for awhile, but it was late when I wrote that post. (so bear with me) Since then I haven't thought of any other methods for finding out what they are, but toddles' method might be easier. That is odd that it doesn't say... I can't recall seeing a cdr that doesn't say the speed on it. Does it matter that much that you know what speed it is and you want to go through the trouble of figuring it out?

 

[slipe]

Most new burners do a test on the media to determine the maximum speed it will record at. Just set it to record at 24X (from the HD) and see what it wants to burn them at.

After burning at the highest speed the burner will burn them at you might check the errors. Music is fairly easy as it is readily apparent if the music is crisp. Data is a little tougher. I like to record a few highly compressed jpg files and a little zipped program. If the program will unzip and install and the jpg images don’t have artifacts, your error rate is probably within reason. Compressed files are very vulnerable to corruption.

A better way is to download a program that will compare the recording with the original files. Both of these are freeware: http://www.lester.co.uk/fc32/ and CDCheck http://fusion.zejn.si/

If you are lucky the max speed might be on the ATIP, but most manufacturers aren’t including it anymore: http://www.gum.de/it/download/english.htm

 

[drewwpb]

Thanks for the input...Here's the story and Deuce_mn your right in that I really don't won't to go through allot of trouble to find out what they are just wondered if they was a way , and easy way...Ok before I bought my new burner my wife was at a Yard Sale and calls and says she found a guy that has some blank CDR's . I ask how many and how much , 200 blanks for $1.00 !!!!! WOW ! I figured if they are no good I'm only out a buck , so they worked fine on the old CDRW...Then I buy a new TDK 24x10x40 and I tried them on it using NERO and they work fine on it too. Now Toddles I tried your idea a few days ago ,in fact that is what brought on this post and Slipe , I did what you suggested also...I set the CDR at 24x and have done both data and music CD's and they work perfect. So I was a little stumped when they worked because I have had the blanks for over 6 months and who knows how long he had them. I just can't believe he would sell 24x CDR 's for $1.00 or if they even had 24x then....Thanks for the help and ideas , I guess I should just be glad they burn at 24x. What would be a reason to buy 24x if lower x will burn at higher speeds ???

 

[deuce]

(Drew... you can call me Mike or Deuce) anyway... wow... that is really interesting. They are at least 6 months old and probably older, and they burn at 24x. They can't possibly be 24x, but you may have discovered some sort of scam. Just like the limitations in Xp where MicroSoft wants to get you to buy Xp Pro, maybe that is the same with cdr, and they are all the same, just a higher x comes with a higher $ but is just the same as its lower x counter part. Hummm... it could be like the whole supermarket thing where all the store brands are the same product, just with their name and price on it. Now I see why you were so interested in finding it out. Nevertheless, you landed quite the deal. Now only if we could come across a deal like that... =) Have fun with your 1/2 cent cdrs! How is the new TDK? I am thinking of getting one of those 24x10x40 myself. (I was looking at Yamaha, though) This is very thought provoking...

 

[slipe]

I doubt if they were sold as 24X. I think the reason they stopped putting the speed in the ATIP was so they could just label them at a higher speed when faster burners were released. Hopefully the better vendors test them first.

I’ve read many posts by guys burning 16X labeled CDRs at 24X with no problem.

I got my 200 cheaper than yours. There was a deal online for 200 700Mb 16X CDRs for $45 with a $45 rebate and free shipping. I got a $10 new customer discount and actually got the rebate check – so I made a $10 profit by accepting them. Good CDRs too. I use them mostly for music.

I put my important backups and stuff on my TDKs. They were free after rebate from CompUSA but they didn’t rebate the sales tax. I consider that 100 to be my really expensive ones since I had to pay the sales tax out of my own pocket.

Glad I stocked up during the glut.

 

[deuce]

do you have any links to any of those deals? ...I guess an industry scam has been uncovered.

[Edit: Yes! I made 100... senior status baby! ...but who's counting anyway?]

 

[slipe]

They were from a few months ago during the big CDR glut. Haven’t seen any deals quite that good for a few months.

 

[drewwpb]

Mike....this is very interesting , did some testing with a program that Slipe suggested CDR Identifier....I have 2 different brands of CDR blanks 100 PNY / 100 Memorex , ran 5 from each and it tells me who makes the disc and the capacity but the record min and max says unknown....I then tried the 2 24x discs that come with the TDK and gives SAME Min/Max info as unknown....So I tried some CDRW discs ones I know are 4x and 10x and that it shows as 4x and 10x Max.....Just tried one more I found an old CDR from Memorex that shows 12x write speed and it too shows Min / Max as unknown......


The TDK , I love it !!! It's fast and comes bundled with 2 24x CDR's (Not sure if you need 24x now) and a 10x CDRW ,a CD Pen , plus Nero 5.5 ,INCD and some music software...I would recommend the TDK as a very good CDRW.....Plus the price is right , is it still $149 ??

 

[deuce]

Wow Drew, maybe I should look at the TDK... the Yamaha I HAD wanted was $200. I must agree, that is very interesting about the min/max as being "unknown"... I think we are being kept from knowing something... where's Mulder? Haha, well, that is odd. When I get my cd writer I will have to investigate that. Until then, I guess it's settled... all cdrs are just the same record speed. I remember someone a long time ago telling me something like this about cdroms, how that was a scam and a 4x was just as fast as a 16x. Well that wasn't exactly true, but this one looks as it is. Who do they think they are? Oh well... now I know that I won't need to buy the 24x cdrs. Single speed will do for me. I wonder were I could get some of those. I bet you could get a nice positive return on taking some of those off someone's hands, if they exist.