do the dollar store CD-R last as good as the expensive grades?

Answer 1

A CD is a CD. A more expensive or higher quality CD-r will NOT yield better sound quality than a lower quality cheaper one. The reason CD-r for music is more expensive than CD-r for data is that royalties for copying music is taken out of the CD-r for music. Theoretically if you get caught with a CD-r for data with music on it you can get fined. I've never heard of this actually happening but it is against the law.

A CD is basically a piece of aluminum sandwiched between two pieces of plastic. If the seal at the edge of the plastic isn't just right air can get in and cause the aluminum to corrode. This happens to all Cd's eventually. Once the aluminum becomes corroded the laser can no longer read the data and the CD becomes useless. It stands to reason that bargain Cd's with poor manufacturing standards will not last as long higher quality Cd's

Answer 2

I'm not sure about how long they last. The thing about cheap CD-Rs is that they can be made poorly. You can buy a cheap stack and the whole stack turns out bad. This is echoed repeatedly on CD-R technology forums. (My dvd burner doesn't read or burn CDs anymore from a cheap CD-R -- it broke it.) You can get a good deal at a local electronics store or office store. I buy Sony because they're usually on sale, and they're decent. I'm a little rusty on what's good and what isn't. I know for a fact TDK makes some of the best, but that's where my expertise ends.

Answer 3

I have never tried the cheaper discs before, but I would suggest that you burn on the slowest speed possible. I think the slower the burn the better the burn.

Answer 4

yes they do, they sometimes even work better, but scratch easier...