which cd blanks?

[RobertR]

when ripping cd's I notice that certain kinds (verbatim in particular) do not read as well on playback when the pcdp is held vertically. I have no problem with memorex. My son says it must be a difference in reflectivity of the cd.
Has anyone had this problem? are there certain blanks that should be avoided?

 

[Strogian]

Wow. That IS interesting. I wonder what would cause the difference depending on how you hold the PCDP. I know that hard drives fail more quickly when oriented vertically, but I don't exactly know why. I wonder if it's just a problem with the transport. (transport is the laser/reader thing, right?

)

 

[Wes]

Could be an artifact more of the operating position rather than of disc quality. When held vertically, the player mechanism will have a gravitational force pushing one way across the direction in which it needs to move by tiny, reliable increments. With standard CD's the pits may, with their higher reflectivity, be casting a more concentrated beam than on writable ones. This tighter return beam might correct the tendency to wander more quickly than the more diffuse writable CD return beam. Add the push from gravity to the broader tolerance for wandering off the edge of the track, and the player may not be able to recover.

Just wild speculation, of course. And, even if correct, maybe some writables return tighter beams than others.

 

[The Quality Guru]

Hmmm, I suppose the reflectivity of some CDR's could vary some depending on brand, but it should not vary to a degree that it would cause the CD's to not work when playing in a PCDP situated vertically. Sounds like a problem with the PCDP, perhaps it has a cheapie transport. This is interesting, though.