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Emtec CDR 700 MB 40x gold top digital photo detail information

Posted by Jan S.
Posted on 25/12/06 12:45
Manufacturer Emtec
Product Emtec CDR 700 MB 40x gold top digital photo
Description Top end quality CD-R for Lifetime archiving of digital photos. Pure « 24 carat » gold layer coating for an exceptional......
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Conclusion

Conclusion:



As the selection of media that uses a “24 carat Gold layer” is not large at all, we have at this time no other similar results to compare the EMTEC CD-R Gold results with.

In our tests we had one coaster out of five burns, if this was due to the media or a badly supported media by the drive itself is not known.

The manufacturer and ATIP of this media state it is Moulages Plastiques de l’Ouest (MPO) and is not that common around the globe, so we would categorize it as exotic.

According to EMTEC, the media should use a “24 carat Gold reflecting layer”, this means - the media should be corrosion free and give “outstanding” molecular properties which should give the media a very long lifetime.

The results achieved in this review are the combined results of the quality of the media, the compatibility of the media with the recording drives, the quality of the recording drives, and the reading and reporting behaviour of the scanning drives.

The result was unacceptable with one recording drive. The four other drives managed to produce perfectly readable results but with more correctable errors than we would like to have seen.

The EMTEC CD-R Gold media is capable of producing good results when recorded in a drive with good support for this media, but not all of the drives tested have good support for this media in current firmware. Choosing the right recording drive for this media is important. 

 

To sum it all up, this is what we would say: "We will at the earliest - in the year 2106, know if the media really can keep up with its promise of 100 years of archiving :-)".

 

You may discuss/comment this article below or in this forum thread.

 
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Reactions on this item
So did you guys actually test at any different speeds other than the maximum supported?

Most people who want quality and longevity avoid maximum speeds to get better results. I would have liked to see some burns at 32x and perhaps lower.

CD-R media won't be used in 100 years anyway so there's no point in buying media like this, since it will most likely be overpriced. You also can't be sure it will last even half as long as it claims.
Why review an archival disc based purely off of the intial burn quality results?

Unless the media is utter crap to begin with, would't it make more sense to at least attempt some kind of accelerated ageing test?
I once had MPO made CD-R (normal, not these) and they all ended in the garbage :r after one year or more (and some of my files with it :c )
Bring back BASF, EMTEC sounds like something you would buy from Netto or Aldi and sneek in so no one sees it.
Maybe you guys should test Kodak Gold Media ?
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