So...what is the best label for cd/dvd media ?

The rotational speed of CDROM discs can exceed 10,000 rpm. It does not take
much for a slightly misplaced label to produce out of balance forces that
will introduce vibration. With the highest speed CDROM drives 52X + it is
not unknown for discs to shatter. At least a label might keep the bits stuck
together.

Audio CDs rotate at 1x (in a CD player - in a PC drive they may play by DAE
and spin faster). I have never known a label to cause a problem when affixed
to an audio disc, but I have occasionally noticed vibration in CDROM discs.
It is also true that manufacturing tolerances being what they are that you
can get discs that vibrate even without a label..

Even the best applicators - the Stomper is arguably the best - make it
extremely difficult to ensure perfect centering. I have also seen commercial
discs that do not have the hole exactly in the centre. I have known the
centre hole to be too small for the disc to sit correctly on its turntable,
and I have experience discs that have been warped - all full priced
commercially pressed audio discs. I would not expect CDROM or DVD discs to
be any better produced.

The best quality labels - Stomper glossy labels are the best, at a price! -
are relatively heavy. They can, when correctly applied, even offer a measure
of damping to the disc which should improve rather than detract from
performance.

Personally I would have no hesitation in applying labels to my discs of
whatever type. However as many of my discs are copies of audio discs
produced for the car, I tend no longer to bother labelling them.

The best solution, as has been mentioned earlier in this thread, is to print
directly on the discs themselves.

Frankly this is a non-issue. If you want to label your discs - do so. If you
prefer not to - don't. Neither approach is any more correct than the other.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<>
 Graham Mayor
<>>< ><<> ><<>

"ZigZag Master" wrote

Oh brother.

One reason removable media is so much slower than fixed disks is because of
balance problems. Disks spin extremely fast inside a modern player.
Imbalance or a defect can cause vibration or disk shattering. At best, it
might limit rotation speed.

Sticking a label on a CD is plainly asking for trouble.

Use a permanent marker.

None !!!!

buy a little thermal printer or an inkjet CD printer.I have 2 inkjet CD
printers for sale if you are interested.They are top of the line trace
digitals.They are modified by trace and can't be used with paper.CDs only.

One uses HP ink and the other used epson ink.If you are interested let me
know.

Thanks
Troy

Nope, it's a proven fact and should be obvious to anyone with some common
sense.

I have been making audio CDs and have applied adhesive labels for a number of years now. I have used various label brands, including Fellowes and Memorex. I think the question of whether or not you experience label peeling depends on how old the label is. My experience is that, when applied properly, CD labels that you apply yourself will last for many years. However, I do have some CDs which have labels that start to "bubble" or peel off which are at least 6 - 7 years old. Once this happens, they usually do not play properly in a CD player. I'm not sure what the best solution is to this problem. - Bill F. Aug2, 2009

I haven't been trying this long enough to be absolutely certain yet, but I'm
wondering if the scare over DVD labelling is overblown as well.

I've only been burning DVD discs since November of last year, but have had
no issues with the few I've applied labels to as of yet, in two different
standalone DVD players, one of which is a very inexpensive model. A friend
that I've sent labelled DVDs to on a few occasions has experienced no
problems as well.

I did experience some problems with two discs freezing periodically to
date--but they were two I had applied no labels to. I later re-burned those
titles to a different brand of blank media, and those two play back
perfectly.

Cute. I'll go get a water can and start sprinkling my labelled CD-R discs.
Guy, you're grasping at straws here.

Put a drop of water on it. Label gone. Player ruined.

  I've labeled over a hundred DVDs with my Dymo Labels with
no problems at all.

  The few "Proven Facts" I've run into had very narrow definitions,
and a slew of defined conditions.  This subject is a long way from
the established "Fact" stage.  Some might say that whatever sense
I may have, is very common.

  Despite the large number of posters that believe any labels are
bad, the number who even make the claim that they have had such
problems themselves is extremely small.  Most who believe that labels
could cause the destruction of their gear or other serious problems
are not going to take such a risk, too find out.  Those who have had
a problem with one brand and/or approach tend to say that all must
be bad. They certainly don't seem to be willing to try others, and
who would blame them.

  Those of us who have found applied labels that work for us,
tend to stick with what we have.  We are somewhat reluctant to
try others to make a broader point.  Therefor we only know one
approach, using specific resources, that works.  This obviously
does not mean that all similar efforts will also work.

  So, if a poster is saying that they won't work and will cause
problems; he most likely has never made a real effort to find
and use such labels.   In other words he has no actual experience
to base his statements on, just theory or the reports of others.

   If a poster truthfully says that his approach works for him,
this could establish that at least when done a certain way, with
certain materials it can work.  [With no failure there is no way
say the label is the cause of a problem]

   If a poster truthfully says that he tried an approach that
resulted in problems, this could establish that at least when
done a certain way, with certain materials it could be the
cause of a problem ( although the problem could still be
from another cause)

Luck;
    Ken

On 7/31/2004 6:18:16 PM, Pug Fugley wrote:

Odd, I've been burning and labeling CD-R(W)s for years and have never had
a *single* instance of this happening.  Granted, I haven't tried labeling
any DVDs (except with hub labels), because of the doom and gloom I've
read, but it makes me wonder if that's overblown, too.
--
"I'm scared to close my eyes.  I'm scared to open them."

Now playing: the radio

Seems to be the case - good point.   They may just be repeating poppycock
they heard somewhere.


You have to use a device?   I thought you could just center it by eye.


Sounds reasonable.    I really can't imagine how a thin lightweight paper
label could really throw off the balance significantly in these cases.

They add weight, cause the disc to become unbalanced, and they can come
unpeeled inside the player once it gets hot therefore ruining the player.

"Bill in Co." wrote in message



DVDs spin faster and the jitter tolerences are *extremely* small, much
smaller than for a CD...particularly for dual layer.  Any perturbation can
cause problems.

The weight is miniscule, I've never had any balance problems with the discs
I've applied them to, and the labels I've applied are on there to stay,
through hot and cold. Fact is, I'd like to see someone try and pry one off
successfully.

I've seen poorly made labels curl/peel off of VHS cassettes, but those are
different types of labels with substandard adhesive--and the worst offenders
always came from bargain basement prerecorded cassette distributors such as
Goodtimes Home Video. None of the CD labels I have applied (from 3
manufacturers--Imation, Fellowes, and to a lesser extent Memorex) have ever
separated as much as a fraction from the CD surface.

I've had no issues with CD-R discs that can be traced to labels in two and a
half years of burning CDs. I've definitely had issues that can be attributed
to the ***manufacturer*** of the CD-R disc though, which is why I'll never
purchase another "Made in Taiwan" batch of discs.

This is all very interesting. So far we have a lot of people saying don't
use labels, but don't give a reason.

The one guy that does give a reason clearly has little understanding on how
to apply labels. I use labels on all of my CDs and DVD's and do not have a
balacnce problem. You see the device I use to apply them guarantees that
they are centered. Besides DVD drives spin much much slower than CD-R drives
do so if anything way going to have a balance issue it would be CD-R's in a
52X drive yet this doesn't seem to be a problem do I hardly think a DVD at
8X is going to be one either.

Then you have the added protection that a paper label offers your discs.
Since the weak side of the CD is not the bottom, but the top where you only
have a thin layer of a clear laquer a paper label can and does off a great
deal of protection.

The only media that one would not want to apply a label to or run through a
CD printer is CD-RW or DVD (RW) the reason is that the information on the
disc could change and you wouldn't be able to change the label. And, you
never ever want to apply more than one label to a disc or ever try to peel
one off. So don't apply one unless you are sure the data is what you want
and you don't plan to change it. I do not ever apply labels to multi-session
discs until I am fully finished with the disc.

John

I've been burning CDs for three years and have had no problems with applied
labels. I use high quality labels from Fellowes and never apply them without
the assistance of a label applicator.

Fred Langa, several months ago in his newsletter, reported a high rate of
data errors in CD-Rs that he had burned with paper labels applied.

In testing of my own media, I've also turned up CD-Rs with high error
rates--but the manufacturer of the CD-R seems to be the issue in every case,
***not*** whether a label was applied.

Taiyo Yuden CD-Rs that I burned/applied labels to in early 2002 read back in
Nero's quality check utility without a single error. Many Memorex CD-Rs
burned during that same period, with ***no*** labels applied, read back with
multiple errors, earning a score of zero on that same test.

I like the polished appearance that the labels provide, and until I see
conclusive proof on this end that a high-quality, properly applied label
causes problems, I'm going to continue to use them.

"Bill" wrote

That Fellowes sells a product which is (to me) clearly hazardous helps
me avoid their other products. And they sell it to some people who have
no idea how much centrifugal force is produced inside their removable
media CD drive.

Then there is the exploding CD, even without a label.

You are applying a destabilizing material to a fast spinning object in a
lightweight mechanical device.

I suppose that is a problem if you cannot afford a fancy labeling
machine and you have to label a bunch of CDs.

I think a good quality CD drive should slow down and do OK unless speed
is critical to playback.

Disk drives are meant to spin fast as possible. A poor quality disk is
going to cause problems too.

Good luck.

In article <2msmncFqqab @uni-berlin.de>,
zigSPAMMYzagmas @hotmail.com says...

None.  Get printable media and try one of the Epson
(R200/R300?) printers that can print on CDs / DVDs.

A superior solution is the Casio CW-50 thermal direct to disc printer.

On 7/29/2004 11:06:05 AM, John Doe wrote:

Agreed, on all counts.
--
"This is Klahn's bodyguard - he is tough and ruthless.
This is Klahn's chauffeur - he is rough and toothless."

Now playing: "Audioslave Hammerstein 03 - Light My Way"

No label is preferred to writing directly on the disc. The safest
solution is thermal printing or writing with a water-based ink in the
clear space around the hub. Next best is water-based ink on the disc
surface or ink-jet on discs and printers made for the purpose.

I find that Avery labels are reliable but expensive. They had adhesion
problems with their first formulation and withdrew it; those I've used
in the past few years have adhered well using the positioning with the
jewel case as designed. Others have had success with other labels, but I
have seen inconsistent results. Since I use an ink pen routinely and
thermal printing when neatness counts, I have not experimented with
other paper labels.

Mike
--
mrich @cpl.net
http://www.mrichter.com/

Never put a label on a recordable DVD. If you really want fancy-looking
discs, use one of the disc printers or thermal label systems.

  Best? A suggestion :

   An awful lot of people have used "Sharpie" markers,
with no reported problems.

   In the early days, there were reports of adhesive reacting
with some CDs.  A number of people are using the full size
CD Labels with their Ink Jet Printers and claim no problems
even on DVDs.  A number have claimed problems when
they tried using such labels.  By far the largest number claim
that they "know" of a problem that others have had.

  In my opinion, the adhesive issue is no longer a likely
problem.  To me, the uneven distribution of ink over the
surface of a rapidly spinning disk seems inherently
unstable.

  What I use is a "Dymo LabelWriter 330" which can make
over 40 different labels, including Envelops, VCR tapes, Floppy
disks, Price tags, Internet Postage, Name Tags (with a picture),
and many others as well as two kinds of CD/DVD labels.  I use
the 2.25" (57mm) diameter type ( there is one that only covers
the clear area around the center hole).  It uses a thermal printing
process much like a cash register uses and deposits no ink that
would change the weight distribution on the disk.  It is a 300dpi
graphic capable Black&White printer.

   These are adhesive backed paper labels, which some feel might
interact with disks in some way.  Some have had problems, with
the early full size adhesive CD labels, in this manner and some ran
into difficulties with the trayless type players (label edges coming
loose).  The first problem could take years to show up, so I can
only say that no problems have surfaced in the nine months I've
been using them.

   There is a "Dymo" commercial running in the US which uses the
330 turbo (which prints a label in ~ 1/2 sec, my 330 takes ~ 1 sec,
I'm retired so I can wait.) and you do "Save Tymo with Dymo".

  The software to make the labels is first rate, and they have plug-ins
for several popular printing and address book applications.

  I love mine and I'm not that organized.

Luck;
   Ken

NO label is good for a DVD. Avoid them, never use them, they should be
banished to hell.

I like the labels from http://www.labelgear.com They have good prices and I
have never had a problem with their labels peeling. I also like their label
software, it works just about any brand and allows for some great creative
options.

John