Do Burned CDs Have a Short Life Span?

Source: http://msn.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,124312,00.asp?GT1=7645 Optical discs may not be your best bet for storing digital media long term, expert says. John Blau, IDG News Service Tuesday, January 10, 2006 Opinions vary on how to preserve data on digital storage media, such as optical CDs and DVDs. Kurt Gerecke, a physicist and storage expert at IBM Deutschland, has his own view: If you want to avoid having to burn new CDs every few years, use magnetic tapes to store all your pictures, videos and songs for a lifetime. "Unlike pressed original CDs, burned CDs have a relatively short life span of between two to five years, depending on the quality of the CD," Gerecke says. "There are a few things you can do to extend the life of a burned CD, like keeping the disc in a cool, dark space, but not a whole lot more." The problem is material degradation. Optical discs commonly used for burning, such as CD-R and CD-RW, have a recording surface consisting of a layer of dye that can be modified by heat to store data. The degradation process can result in the data "shifting" on the surface and thus becoming unreadable to the laser beam. "Many of the cheap burnable CDs available at discount stores have a life span of around two years," Gerecke says. "Some of the better-quality discs offer a longer life span, of a maximum of five years." Distinguishing high-quality burnable CDs from low-quality discs is difficult, he says, because few vendors use life span as a selling point. Similar Limitations Hard-drive disks also have their limitations, according to Gerecke. The problem with hard drives, he says, is not so much the disk itself as it is the disk bearing, which has a positioning function similar to a ball bearing. "If the hard drive uses an inexpensive disk bearing, that bearing will wear out faster than a more expensive one," he says. His recommendation: a hard-drive disk with 7200 revolutions per minute. To overcome the preservation limitations of burnable CDs, Gerecke suggests using magnetic tapes, which, he claims, can have a life span of 30 years to 100 years, depending on their quality. "Even if magnetic tapes are also subject to degradation, they're still the superior storage media," he says. But he's quick to point out that no storage medium lasts forever and, consequently, consumers and business alike need to have a migration plan to new storage technologies. "Companies, in particular, need to be constantly looking at new storage technologies and have an archiving strategy that allows them to automatically migrate to new technologies," he says. "Otherwise, they're going to wind up in a dead-end. And for those sitting on terabytes of crucial data, that could be a colossal problem."

Don't feel like reading all that but I got some burned ones that are 5 years old and still kickin.

Don't feel like reading all that but I got some burned ones that are 5 years old and still kickin. :iagree: I just found it interesting. I got some that are probably 7 or 8+ years old that still work fine

:iagree: I just found it interesting. I got some that are probably 7 or 8+ years old that still work fine :withstupi But you will always find that these smart aholes that do these studies can even find their own ahole!

I to have several that are several years old. I found in my own study that my home made CD's are easier to scratches and messup. The slower speed you burn the disk. The better it sounds and last. IDK if it burns deeper or just better quality.

I bought a rack of 500 discs at Circuit City for $5. :yikes: Yeah, thats right FIVE BUCKS. These CD's are the biggest pieces of $H!T I have ever encountered in my life. :bash: I am lucky to get a year out of these C*ckSuckers. :cursin: Pieces of $H!T. $H!T. :cens:

I think I'm rockin Memorex now.

My ex bf burned me a CD back in 02' and it still sounds great. It's also Memorex. I don't burn a lot of music anyway, but when I do I use just a regular old CD-R and steal (yes steal) my music from Shoutcast using stream ripper.. :) for those who want it.... http://www.shoutcast.com/directory/?maxbitrate=999 http://streamripper.sourceforge.net/sr32/

My guilty concience will not let me tell you I steal music. So I just chill out enjoying a lime on a wire. :wink:

My guilty concience will not let me tell you I steal music. So I just chill out enjoying a lime on a wire. :iagree:

I'm a member at the CD exchange...for 2 bucks I can buy an "exchanged" CD, I'll take them home and copy them and then exchange for another. Even If I buy a new CD...I copy it immediately and put it up and play the copies till they trash and then burn another copy. Of course, I learned it from ruining records, so I would tape my record the first time I played it to an 8 track or cassette and played those, I have some mint condition original vinyls...

Record...what the hell is a record?:scratch:

Record...what the hell is a record?:scratch: :rofl3: do you know what a 8 track or reel to reel is? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e0/Reel-to-reel_recorder_tc-630.jpg/607px-Reel-to-reel_recorder_tc-630.jpg

:rofl3: do you know what a 8 track or reel to reel is? Come again? Seriously...Im not that young.:willy:

at work, we use the sony AIT 4 tapes for backup. thats 200GB native and 520GB Compressed. On a similar note. I have 3 spools of 50 CD-R's purchased from different stores at different times. Each spool is Imation CD-R, and I believe max writing speed is stated at 52x. Each spool will not burn without error over 16x. I tried at least 3 from each spool, and I get the same result. I think The quality of discs is going down. Seems like Companies are cutting corners probably for profitable reasons.

Come again? Seriously...Im not that young.:willy: 8 track http://www.totalmedia.com/images/8track.jpg and record or vinyl http://www.umo.com/images/KeepOnPlaying-Vinyl.jpg http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/images/us/local/products/productsall/p125962b.jpg

My guilty concience will not let me tell you I steal music. So I just chill out enjoying a lime on a wire. :wink: +2....... I can remember the first record I ever bought, it was the Sugar Hill Gang.:dthumb:

:lol: since I am in the audio industry and I work with old guys that's all I ever hear is vinyl, 8 tracks, and reel to reel. These guys still use them and :cursin: about the new technology of cd's. I just sit back and :lol: about it.

I still have a Marantz system in my house...including turntable It has 15" liquid cooled woofers, and the mids are liquid cooled also...it will rattle the windows...:wink: I have found better amps...but try to find 15" cooled woofers today... And back at the farm...I have my Grandma's working Victrola and quite a collection of pancake 78 records from the 20' and 30's...

I believe I once read the typical CDR has a life of like 10,000 plays. Which is a hell of alot. But its strange, now my copy of "O-Town" is not working anymore. :lol:

Same thing happened to my Vanilla Ice CDR. That's ****s classic, son!!

And back at the farm...I have my Grandma's working Victrola and quite a collection of pancake 78 records from the 20' and 30's... I hope to some day inherit my Granddads working Victrola that my Mother now has.

I believe I once read the typical CDR has a life of like 10,000 plays. Which is a hell of alot. But its strange, now my copy of "O-Town" is not working anymore. :lol: :gary:

You know what? At the price of CDR's who gives a **** if they have a short life span. Just buy more. They're like $10 for 9 million of the bitches.

You know what? At the price of CDR's who gives a **** if they have a short life span. Just buy more. They're like $10 for 9 million of the bitches. tru tru!

You know what? At the price of CDR's who gives a **** if they have a short life span. Just buy more. They're like $10 for 9 million of the bitches. That reminds me. I need to pick up a fresh stack tomorrow.