World's Crappiest Drives (was Re: A&J Microdrive)

From: Eric Smith <eric_at_brouhaha.com>
Date: Wed Dec 6 16:27:22 2000

I wrote:
> Copy your aluminum CDs, CD-ROMs, and silver CD-R to gold CD-R before the
> bits fall off. Gold CD-R lasts at least five times as long as the
> silver crap.

John Foust <jfoust_at_threedee.com> wrote:
> And the technical difference between silver and gold crap? :-)
> Different dyes?

No, the actual reflective layer. AFAIK, all discs with a gold-colored
reflective layer actually use gold. The dye may be clear or green,
which results in "gold/gold" or "gold/green" discs.

The dye used may have some effect on the longevity (especially when
subjected to extremes of temperature), but the reflective layer is
*much* more significant.

The silver discs may have various dye colors, so they end up being
"silver/silver", "silver/blue" or other colors. I think the CD-Rs
with a silver-colored reflective layer all actually use silver, although
perhaps they could use aluminum. Either way they will oxidize, while
gold will not. When they oxidize, they become insufficiently reflective
for the optics of the player to distingush the pits from the lands.

I imagine that eventually they will come up with a reflective layer
that looks gold but isn't. It will be a marketing breakthrough.

I'm unimpressed with the discs that claim to be a mix of silver and
gold. If it looks silver, I doubt that there's enough gold content
to make a difference.

Unfortunately it is often impossible to tell what the reflective layer
is from the packaging. However, because there's so much difference
in manufacturing cost, there is now a rule of thumb to use on new
media: if they don't claim it's gold, it almost certainly isn't.

If you shop around, you can find the Kodak gold discs (not the silver/gold)
for $0.80 each in spindles of 50. I occasionally see silver discs for
$0.15 each. I sometimes use silver discs for non-archival purposes,
but for anything that I care about I use gold.
Received on Wed Dec 06 2000 - 16:27:22 GMT