At 10:42 PM 3/19/2003 -0500, [log in to unmask] wrote: >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Mike Richter" <[log in to unmask]> > > the last media I have which recorded well at that speed passed > > their shelf life and were tossed due to excessive errors. (The batches of > > media I buy now are small enough so that I am not usually concerned with > > shelf life.) >Now, if they have a shelf life as blanks, do they have a similar >life span after recording? If so, will recorded CD-R's gradually >become unplayable? That is the implication of the few data we have. The quoted values are of the order of 10 years for shelf life and 100-200 years of recorded life. My experience suggests that shelf life longer than 2 years depends on your tolerance for errors. There are also strong indications that the 1000 erase cycles quoted for life of erasable media is a vast overstatement. You are free to believe the 100-year and 200-year quotations if you wish. Unless they are very far off from reality, I do not expect to be around when there are unequivocal data. Mike [log in to unmask] http://www.mrichter.com/