Memorex Black - possibly the best there is... (Memorex CD Media)

Member Name: MichaelR

Product:	Memorex CD Media
Date:	10/05/01 (1351 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: High Write Speed, Good Compatibility on a number of standards, High Capacity, Look nice!

Disadvantages: Expensive, Only available in tens, Not sold in many places

Yes, that's right, BLACK CDRs!

The underside of the Memorex Black is, as suggested by the name, black. Just like a Sony Playstation CD.

Now, for anyone thinking of backing up Playstation games onto a black CDR, let me tell you that the colour of the reflective layer doesn't actually make a difference to the encoding of the data - therefore your Playstation will still need to be chipped to play backups, even if you record onto a black CDR.

Where the black CDR does have an advantage though is in the quality of reflectance. Games consoles tend to have much weaker lasers in their CD ROM drives than PC's, and therefore they can sometimes have problems reading off of standard CD media. This is why Gold Discs have become a favourite for backing up console games.

The Memorex black is even better than a gold disc and is now my preferred choice for backing up console games. I can now tuck the originals away safely and play from the backup discs without ever worrying about skipping or any other problems associated with CD media.

The Memorex black isn't just for use on consoles though. On the box, it says "Universal Compatibility - Premium Quality". Memorex isn't just blowing it's own trumpet when it says that - these CDRs are amongst the best I have ever seen in terms of support of different standards.

I have used the Memorex Black CDRs for normal Mode 1 and Mode 2 data, for mixed mode, for Audio CDs, and even for Video CDs and the quality has been superb each team I have used them.

The statement concerning compatibility is also a reference to the huge number of supported writing speeds. You can burn at up to 12x quite safely with the Memorex Black and be sure that you won't produce a coffee coaster at the end of it. They only times that I have ever had to throw one away have been when I configured the software wrongly. (Doh!)

They can store up to 700MB - which is more
than most CDRs and they come in rather fetching black and gold boxes!

Memorex is my favourite brand of CD media, just because their discs are so reliable, but the black is probably my favourite CDR out of the whole range because it can be used for absolutely any purpose and has a high capacity.

They are expensive at £15 for a box of ten, and as far as I know you can still only buy them in tens, but they are worth paying that little bit extra for.

If Dooyoo decides to expand on this category (I did ask for the black to be put into its own little section but they seem to have gone for brands rather than specific CDRs) then I will go over some of the other Memorex CDRs and CDRWs as they do have quite a selection, otherwise I will try to come back and add to this op in the future.

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