MAM-A Mitsui, Kodak, Delkin and Verbatim all offer gold media products.  We respond to a lot of questions about the differences between brands and grades of discs.  Here are a few we see often: 

Gold and Archival Gold...what is the difference?:   MAM-A Mitsui produces both gold and archival grade gold media on the same production lines. While all of their gold media exceeds the specs for gold discs, the archival grade media consists of the discs with the highest test ratings.

How should I store my discs? Discs should be stored vertically in a protective case. Standard Jewel Cases are fine. MAM-A has a technical papers section on their site; one report discusses storage and handling of DVD and CD media.

Writing on MAM-A discs: It is recommended that only water-based, felt-tipped markers be used on the surface of a CD-R. For DVD-R, any type of marker can be used, since the data is protected by a plastic layer on the top surface. Solvent based pens can be harmful to the data layer of the disc.

Branded or Unbranded? A "Branded" disc is also known as a "logo" disc. This means the company information is printed on the top surface. An "unbranded" or "no logo" disc has a top surface without writing. Usually there is some sort of identifying info in the inner hub on all discs. The bottom of the discs are not affected by being branded or unbranded.

Which is better...DVD-R or DVD+R? You will find both versions have fans.  To see what MAM-A has to say click Click HERE