"I've heard that CDs and DVDs burned at home can go bad over time, but the way the CDs are made for mass-production is different and holds up much better - that's why I went with the boxed version" << It's a little OT, but this is true production CD/DVDs are 'stamped' on a metal plate before the clear plastic coating goes over them. DVD=r/cd=r use ink coated on one side of the plastic. Your laser on your burned burns the 'pits' that woud normally be stamped. Though this is less of an issue anymore, we're talking a self life of like 50 years vs one that has yet to be measured (the first CDs made are still good and their is no real data on the break down of the plate. Estimates are in the hundreds or thousands of years.) The ink will 'fade' if kept in direct sunlight to long though so keep those cd/dvd-rs in their jewel cases.