Verbatim CD-R Archival Grade Disc, 700MB, 52x, Spindle, Gold

Good quality blank CDs. I use them to burn music CDs to listen to my favorite music in my car in high fidelity that you can't get from radio or cassette. The plain unlabeled surface lets me write on the label side of the disk without writing over other stuff. If you really want something to last for a really loooooong time, you need M-discs (and a special CD drive that can burn them), but these are still better quality and longer lasting than standard blank CDs.

I thought that these would work on a CD Recorder, but they do not. However, when making copies of a completed CD by ripping to Legacy Windows Media Player, (be sure to select the highest bit-rate setting), they do provide first rate archival copies. They expected dark-storage life is said to exceed 200 years. That certainly long enough to match Bern Convention Copyright (Life Plus 125 Years), and protect one's rights well into the 4th generation of one's family, when needed for proof. They're relatively inexpensive, given their lifespan, and actually do have a gold layer. (Gold does not readily oxidize or form chlorides).

These cds are at a pretty good price for a gold archival disc . I could not give 5 stars longevity because they sould outlast my life time .

I had been looking for this kind of Verbatim CD-R for some years since I saw a spindle on eBay many years ago. However, I chanced upon this spindle of UltraLife CD-Rs just this year. I promptly bought a pack and started using it for valuable recordings. The CD-Rs are shiny gold discs fit for treasured recordings or data. They remind you of gold disc awards when a music release sells 500,000 copies. After recording on a few of these discs, they record effectively and play well on any audio CD machine. Whether they last well is another matter. There are some improvements I would have liked Verbatim to make for these discs. Firstly, I would have liked it if the discs were customisable. The label surfaces are plain gold and have no protective coating. If you want to label your discs, you might have to write with a marker and deface the beautiful shiny gold surface. It would be good if Verbatim could consider making this UltraLife CD-R with a printable label surface and a metallised hub. This will make the discs look like the professional CD-Rs. Also, I am a bit worried about the durability of the product. The recording dye might be the usual cyanine dye on the typical CD-R. I know that you can never tell how well a burn lasts, but I am worried the dye may not be worthy of the product quality. Also, the polycarbonate plastic that is used for these discs is soft like most commercial CD-Rs. For a premium-grade CD-R like this, the plastic needs to be thicker and stiffer. Verbatim already has MediDisc CD-Rs with thick, stiff plastic. If you're paying more for these CD-Rs, the product quality needs to be higher than the more everyday discs. These improvements are only small things and I hope Verbatim can consider them as options for people who want to buy the UltraLife CD-Rs in the future. In general, I am satisfied with the burns I've done so far on these discs. They still record well on my burners and sound god on my players. I am hoping that Verbatim could add a little more to this product so it can feel more durable and assure customers their burns will last on these discs.

I like the product but the protection for shipping was inadequate. Plastic case falling apart.