What type of marker to use? (writing on top of DVD+/- disc)

[btiger]

I was told that some markers R not safe/good and just wondering what would be a safe bet?

Thanks.

[rdgrimes]

Most anything is fine on a DVD, not so with CDR.
Sharpies are popular and cheap, and also appropriate for both DVD and CDR.

[btiger]

Thanks, Sharpie will do.

[dolphinius_rex]

agreed, Sharpies are fine. Chances are your discs will degrade on their own FAR sooner then a marker will kill them!

[CowboySlim]

Michael Jackson's lipstick.

Now, Beat It!

[btiger]

agreed, Sharpies are fine. Chances are your discs will degrade on their own FAR sooner then a marker will kill them!

Ops...I thought by using more expensive (hopefully better quality) discs (those with lifetime warranty), should last at least 10 yrs right? (see I'm not greedy, disc company says Lifetime...I am just hoping 10 yrs!).... "10 yrs" is it a reasonable expectations? (given the discs are kept betwwen 5 - 25 C)

[dolphinius_rex]

Well, so far this is what I've seen from my own experience:

Mitsui: variable life span, could be 3-4 years, could be better, could be worse.

Mitsui Gold: No problems yet

Prodisc Silver: 2-3 years and then C2 errors or complete unreadability

Ritek Silver: Minor problems after 2-3 years, I would expect about 5 years of usability

Ritek Gold: No problems yet (no longer available either! )

Maxell's own media (Not Ritek): Noticable degridation in 2-3 years, nothing serious.

Taiyo Yuden: No problems yet

[Halc]

I wouldn't really write with anything.

My strict hard rules for archival:

1) Only write in the clear plastic inner ring of the disc (not on the label area, even if it's printable). Reason: avoiding abrasion and chemical corrosion on top of the data surface area

2) Do not use felt tip pens that have a ALCOHOL SOLVENT based ink (only use water based permanent inks). Only use soft felt-tip pens that have permanent water based ink (with NO solvent). This is to minimise the risk of additional chemical corrosion.

Granted, I'm a nitpicker and try to be ultra-conservative, but for archival purposes, I wouldn't use solvent based pens.

regards,
halcyon

PS Off-topic: 'Sharpie' is apparently another North American brand which has turned out to be a common nominator for certain type of pens, right? It's interesting how common household brands develop into common non-brand words in America: xerox, polaroid, sharpie, etc. Quite uncommon in my native language, so I find it intrigueing.

[dolphinius_rex]

for archiving, I completely agree with you Halc

fyi: When I say Sharpie, I mean the actual brand name official sharpie. I don't like using generic knock offs.

Re: The sharpie thing, it's much more common to see people ask for a DVD Amaray case, and be satisfied with a generic DVD case made in Hong Kong. Only Nexpak has the official brand of Amaray for their DVD Cases, but it's been generically adopted as a "term" for DVD Case... which I'm sure pisses them off.

[dodecahedron]

do you know if the Staedtler LUMOCOLOR markers are water-based?
they say 'waterproof on most surfaces' and 'also for CD'.
can't find anything on the marker/package about what kind of ink it uses.

Re: The sharpie thing, it's much more common to see people ask for a DVD Amaray case, and be satisfied with a generic DVD case made in Hong Kong. Only Nexpak has the official brand of Amaray for their DVD Cases, but it's been generically adopted as a "term" for DVD Case... which I'm sure pisses them off.

what's a Amaray DVD case ?

[MadBurner]

I prefer TDK's CD/DVD Markers. However, they have several variations of their pens and only one variation writes consistantly on all disc surfaces.

MB

[dolphinius_rex]

do you know if the Staedtler LUMOCOLOR markers are water-based?
they say 'waterproof on most surfaces' and 'also for CD'.
can't find anything on the marker/package about what kind of ink it uses.

Re: The sharpie thing, it's much more common to see people ask for a DVD Amaray case, and be satisfied with a generic DVD case made in Hong Kong. Only Nexpak has the official brand of Amaray for their DVD Cases, but it's been generically adopted as a "term" for DVD Case... which I'm sure pisses them off.

what's a Amaray DVD case ?

Specifically?

this

or the newer version 2

[dodecahedron]

thanks, dolphin.
didn't know these DVD cases had a brand name. thought they were as generic as CD cases.

PS Off-topic: 'Sharpie' is apparently another North American brand which has turned out to be a common nominator for certain type of pens, right? It's interesting how common household brands develop into common non-brand words in America: xerox, polaroid, sharpie, etc. Quite uncommon in my native language, so I find it intrigueing.

off topic, this is a very interesting linguistic/cultural phenomenon, which i've contemplated many times.
interesting the examples you chose.
off the top of my head, i would've chosen a few others:
Frigidaire, Jeep are the first that come to mind.

is this an American thing only? i don't think so.
an example: in Israel, a mobile phone is commonly called a Pelephone. Pele = Wonder, and Pelephone was the first mobile phone provider and for a few years the only one. the word Pelephone stuck.
in recent years the other providers are trying to get people to say "your Cellcom" or "your Orange" (names of other providers), trying to push their brand name deeper into our conciousness. but it doesn't sound as natural as saying "your Pelephone".
referring to it as "your mobile phone" is less common in Israel.

[Joker]

do you know if the Staedtler LUMOCOLOR markers are water-based?
they say 'waterproof on most surfaces' and 'also for CD'.
can't find anything on the marker/package about what kind of ink it uses.

Even their web site doesn't say:
http://www.staedtler.com/Lumocolor_CD_D ... .Staedtler

I find that the tip is too soft, and makes too wide a line. I much prefered the TDK CD Mark, but mine dried out, and the Staedtler was the only "CD" marker I could find locally.

Joker

[dodecahedron]

the ones i use don't have that huge CD/DVD label on them.



here's what they look like (pic below).

too bad Staedtler don't say what their markers use for ink

by the way, the thinnest tips - superfine (S) and fine (F) are'nt soft. the thicker ones (i have M) are.


hmm...
aparently what i use is what they call Lumocolor permanent universal pen, not their "specialized" CD/DVD marker pens.
http://www.staedtler.com/Lumocolor_perm ... iveID=2316

Universal pen for use on overhead film and almost all surfaces; S and M also suitable for use on CDs/DVDs

[dodecahedron]

2) Do not use felt tip pens that have a SOLVENT based ink. Only use soft felt-tip pens that have permanent water based ink (with NO solvent). This is to minimise the risk of additional chemical corrosion.

OK good advice.
the question is: does anyone know of CD/DVD marker pens that have a water-based ink?
as per the discussion above, it's not clear what kind of ink is used in the Staedtler markers.
how about the specialized CD/DVD markers sold by TDK? Memorex?
Sharpie markers - i mean the actual Sharpie brand, not sharpie-like markers by other manufacturers.

I prefer TDK's CD/DVD Markers. However, they have several variations of their pens and only one variation writes consistantly on all disc surfaces.

can you elaborate a bit? which are the good ones and which are not good?

[KuoH]

DVD's have 0.7 mm polycarb protective layers on BOTH sides of the disc, so I wouldn't worry about writing on them. It would take some strong chemicals to eat through that and get to the data layer. As for CD's, I still write on or label them when I feel like it, but I don't archive anything on them so it doesn't really bother me if they became unreadable in 5 years. I actually do still have some old CDs that were burned more than 7 years ago, when 4x was breaking the speed barrier, that have been sharpied and are still readable, though it's rare if ever that I've needed to install Windows 95/98 and the accompanying applications.

KuoH

[Jim]

I bought a pack of four colored water based markers under the Fellowes label at Best Buy. I've been using them for quite some time. The markers say Fellowes Neato CD Marker.

Jim

[CowboySlim]

I use my Paris Hilton signature series Eyeliner Kit.

[hiwass]

I've been using return address labels to label the dvd's. Is that a bad choice?
These come 80 labels/sheet (1.75"x0.5"). I just peel of the label and stick it to the media.

[dodecahedron]

very bad idea.
even labels specifically designed to be used on CDs/DVDs (round, exact size etc.) are not a good idea. they mess with the balancing of the disc, they can peel off etc. lots of problems.
mailing labels - that's just so much worse!

[MadBurner]

can you elaborate a bit? which are the good ones and which are not good?

That's the problem that I'm having. I've ordered several sets from a variety of places but none of them are as good as the original TDK CD/DVD pens that I purchased a couple of years ago.

It seems that they changed the manufacturing process and now the pens are terrible!

MB

[Rich]

My Plextor manual approves the Sharpie ultra fine permanent marker and gives the number which I'll look for and edit it in here when I get home.

Recently I started sticking scotch magic tape 1/2" wide on my DVD-RW's and marking the tape with the sharpie. I leave one end of the tape dog-eared and when I put it in the drive I just pull off the tape and stick it on the drive; then back on the disk when I remove it. Erase and reuse means just to give it a new piece of scotch magic tape. IT'S MAGIC!

I did have one piece of tape leave some glue and cleaned it off with alcohol.

Hope that helps,
Rich

[CowboySlim]

I got something that is kind of a lipstick makeup kit deal with a fine brush that works great. It is far more permanent than regular makeup like Elizabeth Arden, Estee Lauder or Maybelline because it is not intended to be easily removed by washing.

I got it from a MORTICIAN!

[Rich]

My Plextor manual approves the Sharpie ultra fine permanent marker and gives the number which I'll look for and edit it in here when I get home.
Rich

Ok, here is the pen info it is a Sharpie Series No. 37000 and it:

Conforms to ATSM D-4236

Rich