Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
Lynn Allen wrote: > > > There was another significant reason listed: a lot of small companies geared up their factories and went "b*lls-out" to produce discs without purchase orders. Then they were stuck with inventories which they sold at bankruptcy prices (in fact the case with many companies). Hence, the 10-cent CD-R. > > PC World didn't speculate whether the "Three-times Increase" would be for the 10-cent discs, or across the board. We'll see. :-) > > Best regards--LRA I realize that CD-Rs are not directly a film scanner issue, but I'm sure we all are using them to store our images at this point, so I'd like to make a few other comments about the matter of CD-R quality. Some of us rely upon these disks to store our very precious data, some of which is literally irreplaceable. We use them to back up our computers, and to store our images, among other things. I think we all know that they don't last forever, and we also know that some storage method or media will come along and eclipse the CD format over the next 10-20 years, if not sooner. The comment about the small companies making CD-Rs and them going for $.10 each is important to consider. The number of CD-R manufacturers is far greater than the brands you see on the shelves. Why? Because many of those "branded" products are not made by the company on the label at all. The "brand" companies simply contract companies to produce disks which either meet their specifications, or at least have their name and logo on them. When someone says "I buy 'Maxmembatim' disks and they are good/bad, even when taking the issue of the burner, software and computer configuration they use out of the equation, usually the brand name is relatively meaningless. The reason is because these companies buy from whomever can meet their purchasing requirements at the time. I have in front of me 4 "brand name" disks which all have the same brand name on them. Every one of them is made with a different dye type and different reflective surface, and when I go into them with a little utility called CDR Identifier -downloadable freeware at: www.gum.de/it/download/english.htm that reads the name of the manufacturer, not one of them says it was made by the company whose name is on the disk and packaging, in fact all four are made by different companies. TWO stories, one short one long: I bought a 50 spindle of disks. I'll even mention the name on the outside label since they obviously have no pride as a company anyway. PINE Technology, sold by Samtack. It was one of my first CD-R purchases, and at the time disks were expensive, so I tried a basically unbranded product. The disks didn't even have a label on the non-recordable side, so one had to look carefully at both sides to know how to place them in the CD-R burner. The dye was almost clear, and the disks were silver. These were the first disks I burned, and of the 50, 12 failed. I thought the problem was either my software or my nice (and costly) Plextor drive. It wasn't until I spend some time with Plextor's chief engineer that we were able to determine, via the error codes, that all the problems were media related. Those disks came with a one year warranty, so I emailed the company and requested a refund on the 12 disks (that's nearly a 25% failure rate, and proved a big waste of my time to have to redo all those disks). They informed me that they didn't refund money, but would ship me replacement disks. And they did, by Fed-X no less. They asked me for the bad disks back, which I offered to ship them at their expense. Then they lost interest. The interesting part is the disks they sent me as warranty replacements. They were a different product completely, claiming "Ultra Speed 12X" on the label. They sent me 15 disks. Of them, 3 had visible defects in the reflective coating (I'm taking numerous holes varying from pin prick sized to paperclip wire diameter). So that's a 20% reject rate before even burning any). When I emailed the guy asking if he thought that was an acceptable rate of visible defects, and asking if the company even had a QC system... he ignored me. These disks are sold in Canada under the PINE (and other brands) at Radio Shack and Staples, and I wouldn't go near them again. The LON story: (Yes, the one above was the short one ;-)) I am, this very day, involved in a disagreement with a major CD-R "brand", which has been going on for over one month of calls, faxes, emails, etc. regarding the fact that when I bought these disks (in early 2000 -- I have about 500 stockpiled) I did so because they showed a gold disk on the box, and they indicated a "Lifetime Warranty" on outer packaging as well. It was only recently that I broke open one master pack and to my surprise, noticed the inner jewel case paperwork stated that the disk had a one year warranty from date of purchase (in other words, it had already passed). However, the Jewel case image
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
Lynn Allen wrote: > > > There was another signifficant reason listed: a lot of small companies geared up their factories and went "b*lls-out" to produce discs without purchase orders. Then they were stuck with inventories which they sold at bankrupcy prices (in fact the case with many companies). Hence, the 10-cent CD-R. > > PC World didn't speculate whether the "Three-times Increase" would be for the 10-cent discs, or across the board. We'll see. :-) > > Best regards--LRA I realize that CD-Rs are not directly a film scanner issue, but I'm sure we all are using them to store oure images at this point, so I;d like to make a few other comments about the matter of CD-R quality. Some of us rely upon these disks to store our very precious data, some of which is literally unreplacable. We use them to back up our computers, and to store our images, among other things. I think we all know that they don't last forever, and we also know that some storage method or media will come along and ecilpse the CD format over the next 10-20 years, if not sooner. The comment about the small companies making CD-Rs and them going for $.10 each is important to consider. The number of CD-R manufacturers is far greater than the brands you see on the shelves. Why? Because many of those "branded" products are not made by the company on the label at all. The "brand" companies simply contract companies to produce disks which eitehr meet their specificatiions, or at least have their name and logo on them. Whne someone says "I buy 'Maxmembatim' disks and they are good/bad, even taking the issue of the burner, software and computer configuration they use, usually teh brand name is relatively meaningless. The reason is because these companies by from whomever can meet their purchasing requirements at the time. I have in front of me 4 "brand name" disks whcih all have the same brand name on them. Every one of them is made with a different dye type and different reflective surface, and when I go into them with a little utioity that reads the name of the manufacturer, not one of them says it was made by the company whose name is on the disk and packaging, in fact all four are made by different companies. TWO stories, one short one long: I bought a 50 spindle of disks. I'll even mention the name since they obviously have no pride as a company anyway. PINE Technology, sold by Samtack. It was one of my first CD-R purchases, and at the time disks were expensive, so I tried a basically unbranded product. The disks didn't even have a label on the non-recordable side, so one had to look carefully at both sides to know how to place them in the CD-R burner. The dye was almost clear, and the disks were silver. These were the first disks I burned, and of the 50, 12 failed. I throught the problem was either my software or my nice (and costly) Plextor drive. It wasn't until I spend some time with Plextor's chief engineer that we were able to determine, via the error codes, that all the problems were media related. Those disks came with a one year warranty, so I emailed the company and requested a refund on the 12 disks (that's nearly a 25% failure rate, and proved a big waste of my time to have to redo all those disks). They informed me that they didn't refund money, but would ship me replacement disks. And they did, by Fed-X no less. They asked me for the bad disks back, which I offered to ship them at their expense. Then they lost interest. The interesting part is the disks they sent me as warranty replacements. They were a different product completely, claiming "Ultra Speed 12X" on the label. They sent me 15 disks. Of them, 3 had visible defects in the reflective coating (I'm taking numerous holes varying from pin price sized to paperclip wire diameter). So that's a 20% reject rate before even bruning any). When I emailed the guy asking if he thought that was an acceptable rate of visible defects, and asking if the company even had a QC system... he ignored me. These disks are sold in Canada under the PINE (and other brands) at Radio Shack and Staples, and I wouldn't go near them again. The LON story: (Yes, the one above was the short one ;-)) I am, this very day, involved in a disagreement with a major CD-R "brand", which has been going on for over one month of calls, faxes, emails, etc. regarding the fact that I bought these disks (in early 2000 -- I have about 500 stockpiled) and when I bought them, I did so becaus ethey showed a gold disk on the box, and they indicated a "Lifetime Warranty" on outer packaging as well. It was only recently that I broke open the master pack of one and to my surprise, the inner jewel case info stated that the disk had a one year warranty from date of purchase (in other words, it had already passed). However, the Jewel case image also showed a gold disk. Then I opened one up. Turns out iyts a silver disk (cold be aluminum or silver or who kn
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
on 6/6/01 1:30 AM, Arthur Entlich at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > Jim Snyder wrote: > >> on 6/5/01 7:01 AM, Larry Berman at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> >> >>> I just read in PC World Magazine (July issue page 58) that there is going >>> to be a shortage of CDRW's and prices will triple this summer by July. Buy >>> em while you can. >>> >> >> or wait until September when the first DVD+RW drives come out. >> > I believe they are already on sale. > I haven't seen any except for a pre-announcement. Jim Snyder
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
Larry, et al, it is my understanding that the 'tripling' of cost is from the 'fire-sale' prices currently in existence. However, that appears to also be primarily in the 'junk' CD-Rs now selling as low as 10¢ each. They might be useful for temporary storage. Tripling those numbers brings one back to ~30¢ each, which is still less than a year ago. Even at $1 each for quality stock still comes out to about 15¢ per Megabyte, and still very much a bargain, compared to Zip disks, etc. Hersch At 04:01 AM 06/05/2001, you wrote: I just read in PC World Magazine (July issue page 58) that there is going to be a shortage of CDRW's and prices will triple this summer by July. Buy em while you can. Larry *** Larry Berman http://BermanGraphics.com http://IRDreams.com http://ImageCompress.com ***
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
You can get Kodak CD-R Ultima 80 (Gold/Silver 700MB, 80 Min) with InfoGuard (with printable surface) in 100 pack spindles for $59. $65 delivered. Sure others can quote equal to or better. From: "Lynn Allen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Mine are costing me about $1.50 (for CD-R's) to $3.50 (for RW's), >and if that triples, I'll be more prone to erasing and rewriting the >CD-RW's! I hope they've thought of that. :-) > >Best regards, and have a great Show!--Lynn > >> >>> >The shortages are blamed on three things: >>> >Soaring demands >>> >Consolidation among CD manufacturers >>> >High patent royalties >>> >>>There was another signifficant reason listed: a lot of small companies >>>geared up their factories and went "b*lls-out" to produce discs without >>>purchase orders. Then they were stuck with inventories which they sold at >>>bankrupcy prices (in fact the case with many companies). Hence, the >>>10-cent CD-R. >>> >>>PC World didn't speculate whether the "Three-times Increase" would be for >>>the 10-cent discs, or across the board. We'll see. :-) >> >> >>*** >>Larry Berman >> >>http://BermanGraphics.com >>http://IRDreams.com >>http://ImageCompress.com >> >>*** > > > > > > >Get 250 color business cards for FREE! >http://businesscards.lycos.com/vp/fastpath/
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
I think that everyone here can see that this is another "Ooops!" I'm trying to sort out a new email address, since the last one crashed badly. "Mia Culpas" all around, and I'm sorry I helped clog your mail boxes. (and boy, my face is red--again!!) Best regards--LRA -- On Wed, 06 Jun 2001 10:27:32 Lynn Allen wrote: >Hi, Art-- > >This is a test, and actually has nothing to do with "CD RaW Deals." :-) > >You said my earlier msg was nearly unanswerable, because of the curious wrapping. In >my limited experience, Reply's generally follow the original formatting (e.g. if the >mode is set at Replace rather than Insert, I have to play games with the keyboard to >edit something I've typed). > >As yet, I haven't a clue as to how to correct the wrapping, but with my HP down I >have adequate time to "play" with it. With your help, I might be able to answer a few >minor questions. > >So see how this one replies. It *should* work identically to yours, but it *could* >refer back to Jim Snyder's formatting. Let's see how it plays. >> Get 250 color business cards for FREE! http://businesscards.lycos.com/vp/fastpath/
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
On Wed, 06 Jun 2001 09:17:36 Larry Berman wrote: >Hi Lynn, > >Do you live near Columbus? We'll be exhibiting at the Columbus Arts >Festival this week that starts tomorrow. > DARNIT! We'll be down that way in 2 weeks, (we're closer to Cleveland), and we have "immutable" plans for this weekend. Well, thanks for mentioning it, anyway. I'm sure our respective "Marys" would get along splendidly. :-) >The article did say that despite the rock bottom prices, the companies >still had to pay an 8.3 cents per CD royalty for every CD made. That pretty well puts the "kibosh" to anything close to 10-cents, doesn't it? :-) Mine are costing me about $1.50 (for CD-R's) to $3.50 (for RW's), and if that triples, I'll be more prone to erasing and rewriting the CD-RW's! I hope they've thought of that. :-) Best regards, and have a great Show!--Lynn > >> >The shortages are blamed on three things: >> >Soaring demands >> >Consolidation among CD manufacturers >> >High patent royalties >> >>There was another signifficant reason listed: a lot of small companies >>geared up their factories and went "b*lls-out" to produce discs without >>purchase orders. Then they were stuck with inventories which they sold at >>bankrupcy prices (in fact the case with many companies). Hence, the >>10-cent CD-R. >> >>PC World didn't speculate whether the "Three-times Increase" would be for >>the 10-cent discs, or across the board. We'll see. :-) > > >*** >Larry Berman > >http://BermanGraphics.com >http://IRDreams.com >http://ImageCompress.com > >*** > > Get 250 color business cards for FREE! http://businesscards.lycos.com/vp/fastpath/
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
Hi Lynn, Do you live near Columbus? We'll be exhibiting at the Columbus Arts Festival this week that starts tomorrow. The article did say that despite the rock bottom prices, the companies still had to pay an 8.3 cents per CD royalty for every CD made. Larry > >The shortages are blamed on three things: > >Soaring demands > >Consolidation among CD manufacturers > >High patent royalties > >There was another signifficant reason listed: a lot of small companies >geared up their factories and went "b*lls-out" to produce discs without >purchase orders. Then they were stuck with inventories which they sold at >bankrupcy prices (in fact the case with many companies). Hence, the >10-cent CD-R. > >PC World didn't speculate whether the "Three-times Increase" would be for >the 10-cent discs, or across the board. We'll see. :-) *** Larry Berman http://BermanGraphics.com http://IRDreams.com http://ImageCompress.com ***
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
Hi, Art-- This is a test, and actually has nothing to do with "CD RaW Deals." :-) You said my earlier msg was nearly unanswerable, because of the curious wrapping. In my limited experience, Reply's generally follow the original formatting (e.g. if the mode is set at Replace rather than Insert, I have to play games with the keyboard to edit something I've typed). As yet, I haven't a clue as to how to correct the wrapping, but with my HP down I have adequate time to "play" with it. With your help, I might be able to answer a few minor questions. So see how this one replies. It *should* work identically to yours, but it *could* refer back to Jim Snyder's formatting. Let's see how it plays. Best regards--Lynn -- On Tue, 05 Jun 2001 22:30:33 Arthur Entlich wrote: > > >Jim Snyder wrote: > >> on 6/5/01 7:01 AM, Larry Berman at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> >> >>> I just read in PC World Magazine (July issue page 58) that there is going >>> to be a shortage of CDRW's and prices will triple this summer by July. Buy >>> em while you can. >>> >> >> or wait until September when the first DVD+RW drives come out. >> >> Jim Snyder > >I believe they are already on sale. > >Art > > Get 250 color business cards for FREE! http://businesscards.lycos.com/vp/fastpath/
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
Larry wrote: >I can't be the only one with this magazine. > >The shortages are blamed on three things: >Soaring demands >Consolidation among CD manufacturers >High patent royalties There was another signifficant reason listed: a lot of small companies geared up their factories and went "b*lls-out" to produce discs without purchase orders. Then they were stuck with inventories which they sold at bankrupcy prices (in fact the case with many companies). Hence, the 10-cent CD-R. PC World didn't speculate whether the "Three-times Increase" would be for the 10-cent discs, or across the board. We'll see. :-) Best regards--LRA Get 250 color business cards for FREE! http://businesscards.lycos.com/vp/fastpath/
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
Larry Berman wrote: > I can't be the only one with this magazine. > > The shortages are blamed on three things: > Soaring demands > Consolidation among CD manufacturers > High patent royalties > > Larry > > Well, it is pretty obvious they have been dumping them on the market. The prices here in Canada are close to zero with rebates. And that's with a $.21 levy/disk on them, being paid to "top 40" musicians and record companies for "loss of revenue" due to CD-Rs being used to 'illegally' record CDs. I was wondering about why the problem was just CD-RW, but you have now corrected that statement. Of course, if everyone panics and buys up the store stock on hand, the prices will probably go up... a little self-fulfilling prophecy. Art
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
Jim Snyder wrote: > on 6/5/01 7:01 AM, Larry Berman at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > >> I just read in PC World Magazine (July issue page 58) that there is going >> to be a shortage of CDRW's and prices will triple this summer by July. Buy >> em while you can. >> > > or wait until September when the first DVD+RW drives come out. > > Jim Snyder I believe they are already on sale. Art
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
on 6/5/01 7:01 AM, Larry Berman at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I just read in PC World Magazine (July issue page 58) that there is going > to be a shortage of CDRW's and prices will triple this summer by July. Buy > em while you can. > ...or wait until September when the first DVD+RW drives come out. Jim Snyder
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
I can't be the only one with this magazine. The shortages are blamed on three things: Soaring demands Consolidation among CD manufacturers High patent royalties Larry >>I just read in PC World Magazine (July issue page 58) that there is going >>to be a shortage of CDRW's and prices will triple this summer by July. >>Buy em while you can. >>Larry > >Did they say why? Is there a sudden demand, has a company stopped >production, is there a shortage of tellurium (if they still use that) or >some other component, are the manufacturers trying to increase >profits??? Should I invest in CDRW stock? ;-) >Did they mention if it is all types or just the '4X and over' variety >which use different technology and can't be used with the 4X and under >CDRW mode drives? *** Larry Berman http://BermanGraphics.com http://IRDreams.com http://ImageCompress.com ***
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
on 6/5/01 4:09 PM, Arthur Entlich at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Did they say why? Is there a sudden demand, has a company stopped > production, is there a shortage of tellurium (if they still use that) or > some other component, are the manufacturers trying to increase > profits??? Should I invest in CDRW stock? ;-) supposedly there was a massive oversupply which drove the price down, and some plants stopped manufacturing. Now the glut is gone and scarcity will drive the price up again. -- John Brownlow http://www.pinkheadedbug.com
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
Larry Berman wrote: > I just read in PC World Magazine (July issue page 58) that there is > going to be a shortage of CDRW's and prices will triple this summer by > July. Buy em while you can. > > Larry > Did they say why? Is there a sudden demand, has a company stopped production, is there a shortage of tellurium (if they still use that) or some other component, are the manufacturers trying to increase profits??? Should I invest in CDRW stock? ;-) Did they mention if it is all types or just the '4X and over' variety which use different technology and can't be used with the 4X and under CDRW mode drives? Inquiring minds want to know ;-) Art
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
My mistake. It's CDR's but I'm assuming it's CD's in general that there's a shortage of. Larry >Was that CD-RW only or also CD-Rs? > > >| I just read in PC World Magazine (July issue page 58) that there is going >| to be a shortage of CDRW's and prices will triple this summer by July. Buy >| em while you can. *** Larry Berman http://BermanGraphics.com http://IRDreams.com http://ImageCompress.com ***
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
Was that CD-RW only or also CD-Rs? Maris - Original Message - From: "Larry Berman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2001 6:01 AM Subject: Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal | I just read in PC World Magazine (July issue page 58) that there is going | to be a shortage of CDRW's and prices will triple this summer by July. Buy | em while you can. | | Larry | | | *** | Larry Berman | | http://BermanGraphics.com | http://IRDreams.com | http://ImageCompress.com | | *** | |
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
I just read in PC World Magazine (July issue page 58) that there is going to be a shortage of CDRW's and prices will triple this summer by July. Buy em while you can. Larry *** Larry Berman http://BermanGraphics.com http://IRDreams.com http://ImageCompress.com ***
Re: filmscanners: CD RW Deal
Walter Bushell wrote: > > Given the propensity of scanners to make large files, eg, 35mm at 2700 > with VueScan at 64 bits 50 meg *each*. OTOH I've seen pre orders being > taken for 24x writers. thought this might be of interest here. > > at > > http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=70002669 > > TDK VeloCD 12x/10x/32x CD-RW EIDE for $119 shipped > > I'd jump on it but I bough a Samsung 12/10/32 yesterday for > $85 + shipping. > These prices are getting downright silly! Since the issue of CD-RW units came up, I'm wondering if anyone has happened upon any info in regard to the life span of the write laser (or other potentially "weak components" in these units. A local computer chain here regularly supplies the info that these units are lucky to last a couple hundred writes. Of course, that's just before they try to sell you their extended warranty, so I take this with a huge grain of salt. I was wondering if anyone has read any documented info on the real life span of CD-RW drives, or if people have personal experience as a basis. I haven't burned a huge amount, so I'm a bad example (about 100-150 at this point, including CDRW disks). Of course at $89 US, who cares, but mine cost me nearly $400 CAN for a 8x drive, and I'd like to think it will at least amortize out at $1 a disk for the burning part. Art