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What is the Best DVD-R Blank media

post #1 of 97
7/14/04 at 7:15am
Thread Starter 
I have another post with my issue dvd recorder. I wanted to what the best blank DVD-R media out there. Price is not an issue quality is . So what are your opinions.
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post #2 of 97
7/14/04 at 8:56am
There have been discussions of this in other threads, but I don't think it's a bad idea to have a thread expressly devoted to this subject. In fact, I'm going to stick it to the top.

As you may know, it's a tricky topic, because the brand name on the disc doesn't tell you much. The manufacture of DVD recordable media is almost always subcontracted out to different plants. You can buy five different spindles of identically labeled discs, and they'll all be from different sources.

That being said, I've had the best luck in my E80 with TDK's 2x discs in the 25-unit spindles. Best Buy and Staples routinely place these on sale, and I stock up whenever they do.

M.
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post #3 of 97
7/14/04 at 9:06am
I am still waiting to purchase a set-top dvd recorder however I own several pc dvd burners and I have always had great success with Ritek dvd-r/rw. There is a very reliable site called Rima that sells these disks for a very good price. Most of the people over at Doom9, which is a good site for dvd authoring related information, recommend Riteks as well.
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post #4 of 97
7/14/04 at 9:41am
Thread Starter 
Thanks guy's for the information!! Michael I did not know that about the production being sub contracted.
I have herd that the RITEK 's were good. I just picked up a couple of Sony's which i have not tried yet and virbatem digital movie dvd-r's will see if they are any better.

I just ordered a spindle of the ritek's .60 each per disk .


thanks again for the help as I'm feeling that it's not the unit but the media.
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post #5 of 97
7/14/04 at 4:15pm
I've had great luck with Compusa brand DVD+ and - discs...maybe 1 in 50 had a hiccup.

I also use Verbatim and Memorex with zero problems.

There are tons of sales these days for blanks(under a dollar each in many cases), so buy whatever bargain you find and you should be ok.

Alfer
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post #6 of 97
7/15/04 at 10:34am
Thread Starter 
The Verbaitm and Memorex were a total waste for none worked at all. All failed. I bought some of the digital movie verbatim media and will see how that works.
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post #7 of 97
7/15/04 at 10:45am
It's important to specify on which machine(s) you've tried the discs. There appear to be real differences in compatibility/adaptability.

M.
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post #8 of 97
7/15/04 at 11:38am
Thread Starter 
The virbatims and memorex's did not work well in my panny e30 I hope this helps.

Michael did you see my other post in my frustration thread
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post #9 of 97
7/15/04 at 1:02pm
It is difficult to go by brands as different batches come from different manufacturers, but so far I've decided to avoid any brands I have a problem with. Last year I bought a lot of CompUSA DVD+RWs since they were cheapest, most have worked fine but a couple don't always want to play when first inserted (I usually play them on my Pioneer DVL-909, as it's an older player I figure if they play flawlessly on that then they should play on anything else as well.) I bought 4 CompUSA +Rs (non-rewritable) and ALL of them would not play on any machine without freezing up! So CompUSA discs are now out for a while. I have 2 Sony +RWs which freeze up towards the end, checking them in a machine with the cover open I saw the discs were a bit warped, so I haven't bought any more of their blanks either.
I've heard that Memorex should be avoided, but I've bought packs of their discs since they're often a lot less expensive than other brands and have had no problems recording or playing back so far. My friend says that the best blanks are made in Japan by a company called Taiyo-Uden, the easiest way to spot them is to check the package where the discs were made. Most of the ones I've used are made in Taiwan, where there are several manufacturers, some good and some not so good.
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post #10 of 97
7/16/04 at 11:37am
Panasonic E50
Maxell - zero failures
Memorex -2 failures
TDK - zero failures
Since most recordings I make have some value, I refuse to try any bargain brands.
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post #11 of 97
7/17/04 at 7:02am
I have a Toshiba RD-XS32 and a Powerbook and I've been using the Prodisk brand for a the last couple of months.

Supermediastore.com sells them (I got them for around .35/disc). They have a compatability chart on their site, but I've burned 25-30 of these DVDs and never had one fail.
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post #12 of 97
7/17/04 at 6:23pm
I've had the best luck with Prodiscs too, and bad luck with Optodiscs, too many with bad spots. Panasonic E20, E50, JVC DR-M10 they work the same in all of them.
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post #13 of 97
7/22/04 at 4:31am
Dennis - if you're paying $.60 for your Ritek's you might want to find another vendor. I routinely get them for $.50 at places like Shop4Tech(.com) or Meritline(.com) and usually with FREE shipping (at S4T usually).

I have done over 1500 recordings with Pana HS2, E80, and E85. I have found what other Pana users told me back before I bought the HS2 - I had more failures with 25-pack spindles of Memorex and Verbatim than with all my 100-pack spindles of Ritek and my #1 choice for high-end stuff which is Fuji. They're twice the cost but I have had so few failures it's amazing.

In reading here I also realized that different recorders/mfgrs had different brands that did or did not work so your mileage may vary of course.

Hope this helps.
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post #14 of 97
7/22/04 at 12:42pm
Best I've used are Ritek G04's
44¢ each right now, if you purchase 100 from Meritline < link >

order 100 at $52, then use coupon code: "techbargains-g048off" to get them for $44 delivered free

Scott
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post #15 of 97
7/31/04 at 7:59pm
I've been using Ritek/Ridata disks for a while now with no problems at all. Can find them on special all the time through Ben's Bargains. I've also used Matrix, Memorex, Phillips, TDK and Verbatium. Stay away from Sonic.
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post #16 of 97
8/2/04 at 7:04am
i use verbatim 4.7gb/go data on my sd-xs32 and haven't had any problems at all.

also, they come with quality cases.
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post #17 of 97
8/13/04 at 1:55pm
Having just gotten a computer that can duplicate DVDs, I've found that disc types are a lot more critical than they are with the stand-alone recorder. The Pioneer showed several glitches when playing Memorex DVD+RWs recorded on the PC drive, but played the same recording fine when it was put onto a Maxell DVD-R. Another player was able to play the Memorex disc fine, but I use the Pioneer as the acid test since it's the older player. Again, the Pioneer hasn't had problems playing the Memorex discs when they're recorded off the stand-alone, but does when they're off the PC drive.
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post #18 of 97
8/17/04 at 11:36am
Check out this website:

www.dvdrhelp.com

Lot's of info on standalone and DVD-ROM drives including info on many brands of media and compatability. Lot's of other interesting stuff too!!
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post #19 of 97
8/25/04 at 10:38am
I'm a newbie to DVD burning since I purchased my first computer burner last week. So far I have only tried a few Ritek DVD-R discs and they appear to work great with my Plextor PX-708A with no coasters after 2 tries!

Also the discs appear to play fine on 4 out 5 stand alone DVD players I own. Even my first and oldest DVD player a Pioneer DVL-909 will play the media. But my only complaint with the recorded disc on the Pioneer is that it appears to looked washed out compared to my other players. I will have to look into it further and see if the original copy looks better on the Pioneer.

However my Toshiba 3109 will not recognize the discs. I get a blue screen with a message of disc error and to check the disc. But otherwise the quality of the RiDATA DVD media appears to be good, and the price very reasonable at about $0.50 each.
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post #20 of 97
8/26/04 at 12:46pm
** Canadian Members **

Futureshop has Maxell DVD-R/+R discs on sale this week for $29.99 when they are regularily $54.99 (40% off).

I picked up 3 spindles myself and ran DVDInfoPro on them to get the media ID which is MXLRG02 which is rated #1 media at Digital FAQ Media Guide. I also ran the read error test after 3 burns and there were no read errors and readable at highspeeds. Very solid media. I would highly recommend picking these up!
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post #21 of 97
9/3/04 at 12:27pm
I was rather disappointed when Pioneer stopped making/selling discs.

By preference, I use Imation DVD-Rs at work, although we've run a number of TDK and Maxell discs, too.

Leo Kerr
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post #22 of 97
9/10/04 at 1:02pm
Never had a problem with the Maxell DVD-R's from FutureShop.

They regularly put the 100 spindle pack on sale for around $49.00.
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post #23 of 97
9/10/04 at 1:04pm
Hey

MAxell DVD-R are fantastic quality, actually rated #1 on the Digital FAQ media guide.

I buy mine from Futureshop however I have never seen them sell for $49 for a 100 pack spindle, the 25 packs are $54.99 regular price and I picked up a few spindles a couple weeks back when they went on sale for $24.99.

Are you SURE you didnt mean $49.99 for a 50pk spindle on sale?
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post #24 of 97
10/14/04 at 8:39am
To go further into detail about the media guide Matthew referenced in the above post, here's the link.

http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm

One experience I would like to share is that it is not enough just to look at brands. For instance, Verbatim has changed their manufacturer more than once. The first Verbatims I received were coded as MCC (Mitsubishi Chemical) which are generally regarded as one of the 1st class media group. The next batch were labeled identically on the disc and package, but the discs themselves were CMC (CMC magnetics). These are generally considered to be bulk quantity discs or store branded/sales fodder. If you have a DVD drive in your computer, you can use NERO or DVD Decrypter to get the Manufacturer ID off the disc itself. I am currently using the TDK's (TTG01)
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post #25 of 97
10/29/04 at 9:56am
Any good deals on recordable DL-DVD blanks yet, or are they still costly?
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post #26 of 97
10/29/04 at 9:59am
They are still way overpriced. The cheapest I have found to date in Canada is from Blankmedia.ca and they are still at $13.00CDN. YIKES!

When I order 100pk Ritek G04 spindles inkjet printable for $61 CDN!
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post #27 of 97
11/9/04 at 9:55am
I never have any problems with Sony DVD-R's in my Panasonic DVD Recorder or my HP DVD Writer 400c. The HP actually a BenQ burner capable of DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, and also dual layer burning, if anyone else has one, I was glad to find this info. TDK DVD+R's only work about 60% of the time.

CompUSA has the Sont DVD-R's on sale this week for a good price, $9.99 for a spindle of 25.
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post #28 of 97
11/9/04 at 1:39pm
Quote:
CompUSA has the Sony DVD-R's on sale this week for a good price, $9.99 for a spindle of 25.

At our branch, they were sold out (of only about 48 in stock) within 20 minutes of opening on Sunday and they refused to give rainchecks. Second time this has happened in 3 weeks (previous sale was on the 50 pack). It's beginning to look like a shady business practice to lure customers in, hope they buy something else, and avoid taking the loss for the cheap price on too many units. I wrote an e-mail of complaint the first time it happened, and got back some mumbo-jumbo about only certain states requiring the issuance of rainchecks.

Anyhow. . .

The Ridata 4x DVD-Rs work fine in my Pioneer 420 and Toshiba XS-32 (limited experience on the Toshiba as it's new). TDK 2x are fine on the Pioneer; haven't tried the Toshiba yet. Sony DVD-Rs marked 1x to 8x were very speedy on the Pioneer -- did indeed seem to take half the time of the 4x Ridatas. Have not tried them on the Toshiba yet.

The Sony DVD-RW recorded on the Toshiba played fine on my Panasonic 120 and Philips 727. It wouldn't play on my sister's Sam Sung though (don't know model #).

Feels like I see DVD+R much more readily available instore. Don't know if they stay on the shelf because less people use them, or they are better stocked because more people do! I hope I didn't go with the wrong format a la Beta/VHS!
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post #29 of 97
11/9/04 at 2:34pm
Thanks for the heads up on CompUSA, I better call before I go. I was going to drive out there tomorrow, but it is 50 minutes away, so I will call first. Thanks, and yeah, that does sound shady. The other thing I found strange was I was going to go to Best Buy and have them price match that price. Best Buy had none in stock, either did Staples, Circuit City, or Office Max. I thought maybe they took them off the shelfs until the CompUSA sale was over, I didn't really think they would, but you never know.

I should have said in my previous post, the Sony DVD-R's always play good in my Sony SLV-D350P.
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post #30 of 97
11/9/04 at 5:30pm
Jeremy, I'm not sure if their computer shows realtime inventory, or if it's only updated at a certain time. You might want to ask them to physically go to the shelf to check what they have. Good luck! It's a great price.

That's very strange that all those other stores didn't have this product on shelf, too!
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