How to tell if these Taiyo Yudens are authentic or fake...

[Gordy]

Since "Made in Japan" FujiFilms are so hard to find these days, I took the advice of a very tech-savvy friend and ordered a 100-pack cakebox of 52x Taiyo Yudens from Newegg.com. They arrived today, and are silver on the top and blue on the bottom. No labels or markings anywhere.

Being anal and paranoid to a ludicrous degree, I just wanted to know if any experts here could tell me how to identify if these are authentic TYs. I'm so used to looking for the Made in Japan label on the packaging and the CDRs themselves that I'm a bit worried and suspicious when nothing shows up. Thanks!

[Tubular]

Put one in your drive and use Nero or EAC to identify it. Those programs have disc identification features.

[ijwthstd]

You can pretty much tell by looking at the bottom. If it's a darker aqua blue then it's TY. If it's a real light see thru green then it's some other Made In Taiwan or India brand.

[weedwacker]

Imgburn or dvd decrypter will also work in reading a blank disc and reporting the manufacturer. In dvd decrypter you need to set the mode to iso first.

[AAR.oner]

after getting the info as pointed out above, cross check the model/batch #s online at sites like:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm

fwiw, i highly recommend ordering TY's from supermediastore.com -- some of the most competitive pricing out there, and you can choose which "line" of TYs you want, Premium or their Value Line [i would of course go with Premium only]...not many online retailers give you that option

[Gordy]

I appreciate all the responses. I can't seem to find the disc identification features in either EAC or Nero; I'll keep looking, though.

The website AAR.oner listed is helpful, but it doesn't list CD-Rs. Mine has two verification codes on it: the first is 80 PG7489, the second is WK673B0289080.

Oh, and if it helps any, I just completed an audio burn with it, and it was flawless. But of course, the main concern here is if it's a TY, in which case it's archival life will be crucial.

[Jimbob Macaroni]

TY CDs have a frosted hub.

If the packaging says "Made in Japan", Maxell Audio CDs and Maxell CD-R Pro are TY. Maxell CD-R Pro can even be found at Wal-Mart. They aren't cheap, but in an emergency...

[pawel]

Check it with freeware http://www.cdspeed2000.com

[Al FS]

Go to burn disc in EAC. It will tell you type. Should be 6 or 8. I forget. :D

[Gordy]

The packaging was clear; it never specified whether it was made in Japan or not. That's what I enjoyed about the FujiFilms; when I looked in Best Buy, there were always some Japanese ones mixed with the Taiwanese. It was a treasure hunt, that's for sure.

Anyway, I checked the disc info in EAC, and it says that the CD manufacturer is "Taiyo Yuden Company Limited," and the write strategy is "Type 1 (Cyanine: blue/green)". So I guess that's a definitive answer...but I've learned to ask for second opinions before I get too comfortable. ;)