Can I buy 80 min. Congratulations also to the other 30 winners and thanks to all of you who entered the contest. The laser burns from the bottom up. On top of the dye is a reflective surface, and on top of that is a protective coating - and maybe also a printing surface. Since there is a reflective surface, the laser is reflected and probably hits part of the drive arm that carries the laser.
CD recorders do get warm, but only to the same degree as the hard disk in a computer.
Another question is can the laser damage your equipment if it were to hit a chip or something else caused it to deviate from its normal course. Again, the power of the laser is very low, and the CD recorder has a metal shield above the disk area. A major misconception is that it is the bottom of a disc that is the most vulnerable to damage. Since the dye and its protective coating is on TOP of a CD-R disk, it is very important this side be protected. Most people take great care of the bottom of a CD, and this is not where the vulnerability is located.