Making my own CD's

[1999]

I got a $50 gift card recently and would like to know where I could buy blank CD's, a cd burner, and jewel cases for cheap? I looked on amazon and new egg they are kind of the same price

[Needfuldoer]

Wait, burning CDs is a retro novelty now?

 

 

Used to be you could buy all of those things at your local big-box store. Just order a USB DVD burner and CD-Rs off Amazon. You'll probably get a better price for jewel cases on eBay, and you'll be able to find printable jewel case label templates online. (Not sure if the Avery sheets for that are still in production, but they probably are.) Don't bother with those "CD stamper" printable paper labels if you happen to come across them; they were crap 20 years ago and they're still crap now.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

On 1/10/2024 at 4:09 PM, 1999 said:

I got a $50 gift card recently and would like to know where I could buy blank CD's, a cd burner, and jewel cases for cheap? I looked on amazon and new egg they are kind of the same price

You can get a 100 Pack of CDs for 29 bucks.

https://www.staples.com/verbatim-94554-52x-cd-r-700mb-capacity-gray-100-pack/product_479609

 

Cheap external burner (of questionable quality)  for 16 bucks.

https://www.amazon.com/Yaeonku-External-Portable-Rewriter-Compatible/dp/B09KLQLLBT/ref=sr_1_10?crid=38A57U95JPBBA&keywords=cd%2Bburner&qid=1704934995&sprefix=cd%2Bburn%2Caps%2C124&sr=8-10&th=1

 

I would spend a bit more and get the ASUS one. 

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-ZenDrive-External-Compatible-BackItUp/dp/B076CY7PW5/ref=sr_1_4?crid=310HYBXNBGAP7&keywords=asus+dvd+burner&qid=1704935138&sprefix=asus+dvd+burne%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-4

 

100 Jewel cases for 35 bucks.

https://www.staples.com/verbatim-storage-cd-dvd-slim-jewel-cases-assorted-colors-100-pack-97836/product_24539443

 

On 1/10/2024 at 4:25 PM, Needfuldoer said:

Wait, burning CDs is a retro novelty now?

 

 

Used to be you could buy all of those things at your local big-box store. Just order a USB DVD burner and CD-Rs off Amazon. You'll probably get a better price for jewel cases on eBay, and you'll be able to find printable jewel case label templates online. (Not sure if the Avery sheets for that are still in production, but they probably are.) Don't bother with those "CD stamper" printable paper labels if you happen to come across them; they were crap 20 years ago and they're still crap now.

A couple of months ago I started ripping my collection and burning copies with CD-Text embedded to keep at my workplace. Spotify is blocked on our computers but there's just something charming with switching CDs when I'm in the mood for something else. 

 

None of my cars also have Apple Carplay or Bluetooth built-in. So instead of fiddling around with an external BT receiver, it's just start the car and hit CD to start playing tunes immediately. The problem with modern car infotainment is it just takes too long to boot and select your media of choice. 

[Macfox38]

41 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

Wait, burning CDs is a retro novelty now?

 

 

Used to be you could buy all of those things at your local big-box store. Just order a USB DVD burner and CD-Rs off Amazon. You'll probably get a better price for jewel cases on eBay, and you'll be able to find printable jewel case label templates online. (Not sure if the Avery sheets for that are still in production, but they probably are.) Don't bother with those "CD stamper" printable paper labels if you happen to come across them; they were crap 20 years ago and they're still crap now.

Its been 84 years

[Erioch]

1 hour ago, 1999 said:

I got a $50 gift card recently and would like to know where I could buy blank CD's, a cd burner, and jewel cases for cheap? I looked on amazon and new egg they are kind of the same price

I was there, Gandalf, 3000 years ago...

 

Too late, man.  I threw away spindles of blank CDs and DVDs and my burners years ago.  Like hundreds of blanks...

[1999]

20 hours ago, Needfuldoer said:

Wait, burning CDs is a retro novelty now?

 

 

Used to be you could buy all of those things at your local big-box store. Just order a USB DVD burner and CD-Rs off Amazon. You'll probably get a better price for jewel cases on eBay, and you'll be able to find printable jewel case label templates online. (Not sure if the Avery sheets for that are still in production, but they probably are.) Don't bother with those "CD stamper" printable paper labels if you happen to come across them; they were crap 20 years ago and they're still crap now.

Lol its not really a novelty I just like physical media

[Mark Kaine]

12 hours ago, 1999 said:

Lol its not really a novelty I just like physical media

you can just buy this stuff on Amazon or sometimes even local supermarket (at least here)

 

i don't really understand the question i guess...

 

cds aren't that outdated as internet wants you to believe...  

tbf i haven't checked for ages but im pretty sure you can still buy cds, and even records in electronic stores nowadays... (not sure about tape lol)

[Mark Kaine]

On 1/11/2024 at 2:06 AM, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

You can get a 100 Pack of CDs for 29 bucks.

https://www.staples.com/verbatim-94554-52x-cd-r-700mb-capacity-gray-100-pack/product_479609

 

Cheap external burner (of questionable quality)  for 16 bucks.

https://www.amazon.com/Yaeonku-External-Portable-Rewriter-Compatible/dp/B09KLQLLBT/ref=sr_1_10?crid=38A57U95JPBBA&keywords=cd%2Bburner&qid=1704934995&sprefix=cd%2Bburn%2Caps%2C124&sr=8-10&th=1

 

I would spend a bit more and get the ASUS one. 

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-ZenDrive-External-Compatible-BackItUp/dp/B076CY7PW5/ref=sr_1_4?crid=310HYBXNBGAP7&keywords=asus+dvd+burner&qid=1704935138&sprefix=asus+dvd+burne%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-4

 

100 Jewel cases for 35 bucks.

https://www.staples.com/verbatim-storage-cd-dvd-slim-jewel-cases-assorted-colors-100-pack-97836/product_24539443

 

A couple of months ago I started ripping my collection and burning copies with CD-Text embedded to keep at my workplace. Spotify is blocked on our computers but there's just something charming with switching CDs when I'm in the mood for something else. 

 

None of my cars also have Apple Carplay or Bluetooth built-in. So instead of fiddling around with an external BT receiver, it's just to just start the car and hit CD to start playing tunes immediately. Sort of the problem with modern car infotainment, it just takes too long to boot and select your media of choice. 

i will never not buy a car with a cplayer, tape player or even 8track over "BT"...

 

those cars typically also drive much better,  manual transmission,  no abs, no rev limiter, no "autonomous driving" nonsense...

[LAwLz]

7 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

i will never not buy a car with a cplayer, tape player or even 8track over "BT"...

 

those cars typically also drive much better,  manual transmission,  no abs, no rev limiter, no "autonomous driving" nonsense...

Now you're speaking my language!

All these modern features in a car are ruining the youth.

 

Power steering? That's for weaklings! In the golden era of cars, we had arm-strength steering. If driving your car to work didn't feel like a gym workout then what is even the point of driving? If your biceps weren't sore after your Sunday drive, how would you even know you had driven a car?

 

Don't get me started on air conditioning. We had the best cooling system ever invented. It's called "rolling down your windows". Want things to be cooler? Just drive faster!

 

Adjustable seats are another modern monstrosity. In the good old days, the car molded you, not the other way around. If you weren't comfortable, that was your problem, not the car's. Today's cars are like living rooms on wheels with their adjustable everything. It's ridiculous!

 

 

FM radio? It's the Devil's invention. In my family, we worship the powers of amplitude modulation. Too clear audio hurts my ears. We used to play games where we tried to guess what song was playing through the various static noises.

 

Electric starters? Ha! In my time, if your car didn't start, it was a personal failure. You'd crank that starter until your arm fell off. And diagnosing car problems was an art – no need for fancy diagnostics or warning lights. You listened to the engine, smelled the exhaust, and sometimes just gave it a good kick.

 

This complicated thing called seat belts is also a pain in the neck. I can never figure out where the ropes should go. I tell you, I was once in a crash which obviously wasn't my fault and the darn thing almost strangled me to death. If I instead had flown out of my windscreen like in a normal car then I'd have landed in a snow pile totally unharmed. These modern cars are like cosplaying a mummy with all the various straps.

 

 

Cars today are too soft, too easy, and too complicated. Give me a car from the days when driving was a skill, an adventure, and a test of physical endurance, not just a leisurely jaunt in a computerized lounge chair on wheels. Driving a car should feel like a fight for your life where you're never quite sure if you're winning or losing.

Cars aren't meant to take you from point A to point B. You aren't supposed to just enter an address and then drive according to some satellite navigation system robot dohickey. Driving should be an experience, preferably not a pleasurable experience. It should be a gamble with your life to jump into a car. If you never have to experience the feeling of possibly dying because you have to break and your wheels completely lock up, then how do you even know what living is? And you knew that failure to break would most likely kill you since these fancy schmancy "crumble zones" didn't exist.

Driving should be an adventure, an expedition equivalent to going into the woods and wrestling with a bear butt-naked. That builds character and weeds out the weaklings. 

 

Ah, those were the days. Back when men were men, women were women, and cars were treacherous death traps that you had to battle with. Even a drive to the grocery store was a tale to tell if you survived.

[Needfuldoer]

1 hour ago, Mark Kaine said:

i will never not buy a car with a cplayer, tape player or even 8track over "BT"...

My car doesn't have a CD player, but it reads NTFS flash drives full of MP3s. Honestly, I like that better. 

[cooky560]

My car is reasonably modern in that it talks to my phone, but it also has a cd player, this seems to be something that is dying though.

 

I wouldn't refuse to buy a car without a CD player, but I do admit there was something fun about making "mixtapes" to use in the car back in the days when mix tapes were actually tapes.

[APCNewbie209]

On 1/11/2024 at 3:22 PM, 1999 said:

Lol its not really a novelty I just like physical media

Valid.  But hear me out.  Do you guys have floppy disks?  

[RejZoR]

On 1/11/2024 at 1:25 AM, Needfuldoer said:

Wait, burning CDs is a retro novelty now?

 

 

Used to be you could buy all of those things at your local big-box store. Just order a USB DVD burner and CD-Rs off Amazon. You'll probably get a better price for jewel cases on eBay, and you'll be able to find printable jewel case label templates online. (Not sure if the Avery sheets for that are still in production, but they probably are.) Don't bother with those "CD stamper" printable paper labels if you happen to come across them; they were crap 20 years ago and they're still crap now.

I now know I'm old now because I've lived through vinyls in my very early childhood (though they were on their way out already at that point), audio cassettes, CD's, USB flash drives to current latest fad, the streamed music. And back to vinyls because they are so old now they are cool again.

[Zodiark1593]

On 1/12/2024 at 4:06 AM, LAwLz said:

 

 

Ah, those were the days. Back when men were men, women were women, and cars were treacherous death traps that you had to battle with. Even a drive to the grocery store was a tale to tell if you survived.

I’m now imagining a rendition of GTA set in the early 1900’s, when the Model T ruled the roost. 
 

I keep a small set of Verbatim CD-RWs for the car, and have an Asus BD drive, usually for ripping Blu Rays, but also sometimes pulls duty for CD burning. Highly recommend the Verbatim discs. Very durable, and has survived multiple California Summers. They’re also reusable if you feel like changing things up (hence the RW). 

[Erioch]

54 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

I now know I'm old now because I've lived through vinyls in my very early childhood (though they were on their way out already at that point), audio cassettes, CD's, USB flash drives to current latest fad, the streamed music. And back to vinyls because they are so old now they are cool again.

You missed out on an even worse media format than vinyl, 8-Track tapes.

[TetraSky]

Here I am, having thrown out nearly a hundred colored lightscribe blank CDs/DVDs, jewel cases and my external lightscribe disc drive a few months ago because I will literally never use that stuff again... It had been gathering dust for the past 5+ years. Could've made money selling them to GenZ thinking this stuff is "retro" and worth more than a dime.

[RejZoR]

8 hours ago, Erioch said:

You missed out on an even worse media format than vinyl, 8-Track tapes.

Never seen those in person. I guess I'm not that old after all

[Erioch]

5 hours ago, RejZoR said:

Never seen those in person. I guess I'm not that old after all

They were horrible.  But, each track only held like 22 minutes of music so it would switch to a different track mid-song.  And switch was a loud "clunk" that took several seconds.  Oh, and they wore out quickly.

 

The only "upsides" were that It was a continuous loop so  it could play forever and you could "hot swap" tapes.  No ejecting and loading.