What are the most durable, long lasting brand of "regular" cd-rs

I've heard there's "armor-plated" cd-rs or whatever, this questions applies to regular cd-rs that cost $15-$30 per 100 pack. Though it applies to all brands, I'm mainly wondering if Ritek cd-rs are as durable & last as long as more expensive Taiyo Yuden

Ritek are pretty bad at the whole recordable dvd thing, but when it comes to CDs i have found them to be of the highest quality. I'm sure alot of people on here will agree that Ritek make great cds. I only use Ritek and Taiyo Yuden cds as i have had problems with others (mainly CMC and prodisc).

Same here...after sampling the delights of Ritek DVDRs , I was pleasantly surprised to find that their CDRs hold up very well! I too use TY and Ritek CDRs, but I've found Prodisc to be pretty good longevity-wise as well (haven't had one fail on me...yet!).

It's really difficult to say which of todays media will last the longest, because the media you can buy today haven't been available for very long!

Artificial aging tests try to give an answer, but the answer doesn't necessarily reflect real life.

I can say one thing however: CD media is very fragile when it comes to damage on the top side of the disc, since the dye and reflective layers are very close to the top. On many CD-R discs the reflective layer IS the top layer.

Verbatim DataLifePlus CD-R, also known as Double-Protection or Crystal, has a tougher top layer that will make it more difficult to damage the reflective and dye layers. The bottom side of the disc is no more protected than other discs however.

Here's a link to that media on Verbatim's North American homepage.

Here's a link to all CD-R media on Verbatim's Eurpean homepage (look for the Crystal surface).

How would you say Ritek cd-rs compare to Taiyo Yuden, primarily durability wise? I've noticed that 100 packs of TYs are on average $6+ more than Riteks

Given Ritek's quality as of late, no comparison. TY is the cream of the crop and Ritek is fast approaching the bottom of the barrel.

We're talking about cds not dvds. I have found riteks cds to be very high quality.

Here, if you want the most extreme kind of "armour plated" type CDRs, these are probably one step above the Verbatim crystals :





They are MIT, probably by CMC although I've not quite figured out the serial number system yet. Quality wise, they are considered on par with TY CD-Rs. The only problem is that you probably cannot get these outside of SE Asia and Japan.

I still have no idea why you need UV protection on discs. It's not as if I am going to leave my discs in the sun, or go sun tanning with them!

I've had a cd-r suffer deterioration due to sunlight, a "sunspot" if you will, (& it was Dr. Dre - The Chronic ,) so I can understand the demand for the technology. That was in my sloppier, more careless days though & I'm trying to stay in the 20 cents per disc range. Still, a good development.

Stored away from light, the TY have proven to be extremely stable and didn't let anyone down. For careless users though, the Riteks can be a better choice because their phtalocyanine-based technology makes them more resistant to UV light.

Both are excellent choices, but for important stuff (archiving etc..) I use Plextor-branded TY CDRs. I used to rely on Maxell (own MIDs) CDRs but I can't find them anymore. Now I use the Maxell ones (which are almost all Ritek) for general purposes. Didn't have any failure or bad surprise.