Low Cost DVD-R discs? (1 Viewer)

I know Office Depot recently had a sale on Verbatum DVD-Rs, but the occasional sale aside, does anyone have any tips on where to buy brand name DVD-R blanks (Maxell, Verbatum etc..) at a somewhat decent price?

Greg,
Aside from last week's Office Depot sale on Verbatim media, the average price from a retail store for name brand DVD-Rs seems to be about $2.00 each.

This week for example, Office Depot has Memorex 2x DVD-R for $15.00 for a 5 pack: buy two 5 packs get a third 5 pack free. 15 discs for $30.00 - that seems to be the best deal around.

There are some cheaper no name media that can be had for under a buck but my experience is they're trash. I've encountered lots of burn failures because of the inferior dyes used on these discs.

I just ordered from www.supermediastore.com the following:

Combo: Authentic Ritek 4.7GB 4X DVD-R media Silver/ Purple 100 Pack + 100 DVD Cases Free Shipping 204.00

Subtotal: 204.00
Tax: 0.00
Total: 204.00

I've read many good reviews on Ritek media and am anxiously awaiting their arrival. I follow up with a post regarding Ritek's performance.

Regards,
-Gary

Thanks for the tips Gary! I also look forward to hearing your Ritek DVD-R report.

I've only had the opportunity to burn 6 discs so far and as I suspected, all went well, without a hitch. I burned approx. 90 minutes of video to a disc in under 15 minutes.

It took 6 days to get the discs/cases but considering the shipping was free, I can't complain. The discs come on spindles of 25, with a warning label concerning compatibility with 4X burners. There are compatibility charts available on Supermedia's site.
The keep-cases are shipped in a separate box and have hubs similar to Amaray cases.

I've read much about blank discs at:
http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdmedia

As well as at Doom9's site:
http://forum.doom9.org/

Regards,
-Gary

My personal picks for media are TDK, Verbatim and Pioneer. That being said...


Supermedia Store has a decent deal on Pioneer 4x DVD-Rs in slim jewel cases

I picked up 50 for $145 - $15 (coupon code*: DVDRW15) for a total of $130 + shipping (~$12.00) = $142


So thats $2.84 for 4x branded Pioneer media which I would feel is higher quality that the generic stuff you can pickup for $1-$2each.

* Note the coupon code was from last week and I don't think it was meant for these Pioneer blanks, but it worked for me.

-Dan

I buy blanks at shop4tech.com I have bought in 100 spindle packs for $69 in the past, although I think that price has gone up somewhat. I have used these discs in the Panasonic HS2, and my Pioneer computer burner and have never had a problem. For me, they have been just as reliable as the store brands. %100 success rate.

Hey David,

For data, I find that DVD+R is the optimal choice - it has slightly faster writing speed, and seems to be optimized for data writing.

DVD-R, on the other hand, is better for recording movies and the like. DVD-R is actually based on CD-R technology (ie, a 2048 byte packet size for data) and the data on a DVD-R is laid out very similar to how it is on a CD, whereas DVD+R uses a newer method of storing data on the disc, one that is slighly more optimized, albiet a bit less compatable with all DVD players.

If you are looking for inkjet printable DVDs (like for the new Epson Stylus Photo 900 printer), check out the 4x Ritek's:

http://www.meritline.com/neri44xdvwhp.html

Meritline has all sorts of other media too:

http://www.meritline.com/media.html

Thanks StevenK.