I'm looking for constructive input on using/buying a CD-RW unit (CD ROM) for storing digital images. I checked CNET but can't figure out which units are good or bad for digital photos. Judging by their user opinions, it seems like most units are used to store MP3 songs. The speed for writing to disk, compatibility and ease of use are factors.

I got burned on a couple of PC viruses that hit my computer including the I LOVE YOU virus, losing over a year of digital photos. I got a CoolPix 990 a few months back and having been taking pictures at the highest resolution setting so storing images on ZIP disks doesn't make alot of sense.

I talked to a couple of people who use CD ROMs to burn their images to disk for storage and are very happy with doing this. The units they own were bought some time ago. I was wondering if others could share their experiences and maybe recommend a more "up-to-date" CD-RW unit for storing digital photos.

In advance, thanks for your input!

Michael

-- Michael Chan (mchan100@aol.com), July 30, 2000

Answers

Try searching www.zdnet.com for CD-RW reviews. Their various magazines usually do a roundup review at least once a year of CD's, printers, cameras, etc. If you have specific models in mind, search for them.

You might try www.dcforum.com They have user reviews of a variety of hardware items. Tough to beat feedback from those who own things.

Good Luck!

-- Gerald M. Payne (gmp@surferz.net), July 30, 2000.

I have used one of the older Yahama 4x units with good results and just got a LaCie which records at 12x. Used Adaptec Toast with both of them and got excellent results with both. We have been so happy with the LaCie that we have ordered three more of them. The new Toast software is much more user friendly, and whit the 12x record speed the recording is pretty quick. I love CD's for storing images and use them extensively.

-- fred (fdeaton@hiwaay.net), July 30, 2000.

I have a Smart and Friendly Speed Writer 4X4x24. Very easy to setup, user friendly and haven't had any problems with it! It can make a full cd in about 19 min. Not the fastest, although not the slowest!

Anyhow, what I suggest is that you get a CD-RW. Every time you shoot pictures put them on a CD-RW. I have 2 RW's disks just for that purpose. Every month or two I copy all the files to the hard drive and make a make a CD-R named July&August 2000 pictures.

Feel free to ask any questions.

-- Thien Miller (thien777@magicaldesk.com), July 31, 2000.

Do NOT, NOT, NOT use CD/ReWriteable disks for permanent storage. The cost of these disks has fallen dramatically lately, and there's a temptation to use them instead of CD Recordables. CD/RW is not a stable medium, as I've found to my cost in the past. If you want permanent storage, use CDR.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), July 31, 2000.

That's strange - the CR-Rs and CD-RWs, that *I* have, quote 10 years data retention for the former and *30* years for the latter.

Indeed, the price of CD-RWs has fallen - in the UK CD-Rs are about sixty pence and CR-RWs about one pound.

I must say that *so* far, I've not had any trouble with CR-RWs. Anyone *else* had trouble?

-- Mark Davis (chaos@glod.net), July 31, 2000.

Yep, we have had problems with CD-RW in doing continual back-ups to the same disc. We started doing weekly back-ups of essential files to CDRW alternating between 2 discs to supplement a full network tape back-up.

Problem was 1 of the discs became 'corrupted' after about 10 full write sessions with all the data being 'lost'.

This was about 6 months ago, not sure whether the technology has changed since then.

I must admit that for personal use and archiving of images i still use CDRs normally writing in a single session, but sometimes in multiple sessions. Have now filled over 100 cdr discs with (fingers crossed) no problems.

all the best

Martin Ellis

-- Martin Ellis (inca@globalnet.co.uk), July 31, 2000.

I have heard good things about the latest HP CD burners. I have an older CDRW. I use the rewriteables as temp storage until I get enough stuff to go to CD. You also want to take a look at the COLOR of the Writable CD. If its surface is either Blue or Green, then it is of a lesser quality. If it is gold in color, then it is of higher quality.

I guess the best advise is if you intend to use CDs for Archival purposes then cheap CDs should not be on your list.

-- David Erskine (davide@netquest.com), July 31, 2000.

You may want to try http://www.pcpro.co.uk, a uk magazine that keeps an archive of reviews available on-line.

At work we use an HP CD Writer Plus 8100 which we have had problems with, aborted writing sessions etc.

At home i use a Plextor Plexwriter 8x write 4x rewrite, which i am exremely happy with (using WinOn CD software).

Martin

-- Martin Ellis (inca@globalnet.co.uk), August 01, 2000.

I use a Iomega ZipCD for storing my pic4s. I haven4t any real experience concerning what4s the safest long-time storage-media but I have heard that CD-r are considered to be more reliable.....

My ZipCD is an external device (USB) which I can reccomend - you won4t have any problems when you buy a new PC and it4s fastenough for writing purposes. U can also connect it to a laptop whenever u need to be mobile. It4s more expensive than internal dito:s but it4s more versatile.

Erik

-- Erik Drevius (erik.drevills@swipnet.se), August 07, 2000.

I bought a couple of years ago CDRW thinking I would use that format. Since that time, I've found I use CDR almost exclusively. It really isn't hard to fill a disk, and once you've begun image editing, you generally want to keep them in a non-lossy format, which could push your 1meg Jpegs up to 6Meg TIFFs pretty quickly.

If you don't have enough data to fill a disk, why not set up your CDR using the Adaptec software to use Direct CD so you can just drag & drop files? Then when your disk is full, you can close it out in a multisession format or use it as a master to make a CDR that you can read in most any computer.

I've also found the format times for CDRW unacceptable. I understand there are some HP drives that can format a CDRW in just a few minutes. My first CDRW took about an 45 minutes to prep a disk for CDRW, so I went CDR and haven't looked back.

Good luck,

Matt

-- Matt Chroust (spam@lost-oasis.com), August 12, 2000.