Imation touts heavy-duty, scratch-resistant discs

Do you toss CDs into your briefcase on the way out the door? Do your friends use your new DVDs as coasters?

New CD and DVD discs by magnetic-media maker Imation will come with an additional polymer coat designed to make them resistant to such everyday wear and tear, the company said Tuesday.

"This means no more worries about disc scratches or smudges that can result from slipping CDs in file folders, sliding DVDs across countertops or handling discs with your fingers," Tom Lally, Imation's executive director of sales and marketing, said in a statement.

Imation said the long-lasting "memory protection" layer guards against scratches and smudges and has an antistatic treatment the company says can repel up to 100 times more dust than a conventional disc. Imation will demonstrate the DVDs at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.

The rigors of everyday use can render discs unplayable, jeopardizing the life of music and of photos, videos and other valuable files.

Recording-media company TDK recently launched an antiscratch coating for DVDs that's designed to withstand assaults from permanent markers and sharp objects such as screwdrivers.

The new storage discs, priced slightly higher than standard uncoated discs, will hit shops and retail channels by February.

Imation sucks

My dad bought me some imation CD-Rs a while ago and they all burn coasters on my friend's plextor burner and another's friend generic burner. I know plextor is the best. I use one too and it can read a scratched disc fine even though it took 45 minutes to reburn a copy.