I always bought the cheapest discs for backing up my media and out of maybe 1000 disks, checked last year, only 15 or so were either partly or completely unreadable
The last burnt CDs were in 2k2, I just kept em on their spindles on my bottom shelf (not protected any more than that thru hot and cold) and all but 15ish were toast. Might have gotten lucky
I had some CD-Rs that rotted within a few years. I was devastated, because at the time CD-Rs were hyped up as the most durable of any consumer media, and storage was expensive. I had tons of stuff that was ONLY on CD or DVD. That’s how I archived everything.
There was an old site that did a comprehensive analysis and ranked different brands of CD-R and DVD-R discs into tiers. My main takeaway at the time was Verbatim or bust. There were some other brands that got discs from the same manufacturer, but not consistently so it was something of a gamble. IIRC Sony was one of the better ones, but Verbatim was the safest choice.
I can’t say I’ve tested any of my old discs in the past 10 or maybe even 15 years. I copied my most important data into newer media, but I still have a ton of discs I should probably clone to my NAS. One of these years…
Then came M-discs, which as far as I know are still considered legit. They never really caught on, and production has either halted entirely or is at least limited. I never used them myself.
I’ve got music CDs from the early 90s that still work fine. Even CD-r and rw discs from the late 90s and early 2000s work.
Hell, I recently found a stack of 3.5" diskettes that still work.
The only time I’ve had an issue with media is when it’s been physically abused (I.e. scratched or damaged).
I always bought the cheapest discs for backing up my media and out of maybe 1000 disks, checked last year, only 15 or so were either partly or completely unreadable
Same for me; pretty much all my CD-R are blank now; despite being stored properly 15 years ago.
The last burnt CDs were in 2k2, I just kept em on their spindles on my bottom shelf (not protected any more than that thru hot and cold) and all but 15ish were toast. Might have gotten lucky
I had some CD-Rs that rotted within a few years. I was devastated, because at the time CD-Rs were hyped up as the most durable of any consumer media, and storage was expensive. I had tons of stuff that was ONLY on CD or DVD. That’s how I archived everything.
There was an old site that did a comprehensive analysis and ranked different brands of CD-R and DVD-R discs into tiers. My main takeaway at the time was Verbatim or bust. There were some other brands that got discs from the same manufacturer, but not consistently so it was something of a gamble. IIRC Sony was one of the better ones, but Verbatim was the safest choice.
I can’t say I’ve tested any of my old discs in the past 10 or maybe even 15 years. I copied my most important data into newer media, but I still have a ton of discs I should probably clone to my NAS. One of these years…
Then came M-discs, which as far as I know are still considered legit. They never really caught on, and production has either halted entirely or is at least limited. I never used them myself.