WinData DVD+R DL

[lordsmurf]

You guys are spinning the old "disappearing data" myth and incorporating that into even more faulty logic.

Discs do not just mysteriously go "unreadable" in 6 months.

What almost always happens is the disc "burns fine" (not tested!) and 6 months later somebody finally gets around to watching/accessing it, and the data is corrupt. The piss-poor assumption is that the "data disappeared" instead of more logical conclusion that the disc burn was not "fine" at any point in time. In many more cases, the player/reader/burner used to read the disc is the true root of the problem.

If half of the WinData discs don't burn well -- which is usually the case -- then your actual cost is 10 for $12, and for that price, you may as well have just bought the better Verbatim media.

I'm so tired of the "disappearing data" bullshit. There's no science to back that up. Read some of the research from Verbatim, NIST, etc. It can happen, yes, but out of thousands of reported cases in the years, I have only been able to verify TWO of them as a disc actually having "gone bad". And in each case, it was a marginal quality Ritek (RITEKG04 DVD-R) disc that degraded just enough to become worthless.

[tmacan]

Thank you lordsmurf for your informed POV.. When I buy Verbatim I am usually only looking at inkjet printable media which is pretty expensive, so your post has prompted me to consider the cheaper, non-printable Verbatims as an alternative to Windata, thanks for that.. I wouldn't say that my fall-out rate with Windata is 50%, probably more like 15% or less, and for whatever reason I occasionally burn a bad Verbatim, so I still don't feel too bad about making the choice to use Windata for some things. About the "disappearing data" vs an original "bad burn", it's been my assumption that using verification (Nero 7) after the burn should guarantee that the data from disc was accurately burnt to the dvd. Isn't that true? My assumption has been that eventually "disappearing data" occurs due to poor optical quality of the media or perhaps problems with the dye. I don't claim to be an expert on burning (nor is it an ambition of mine to become one), so I appreciate hearing what anyone has to offer, although I'm a bit puzzled by why some evidently get agitated by the comments less-informed people may make. I'm always open to learning something new.. thanks!

[lordsmurf]

No, Nero verification is not at all reliable. It reports way too many false positives and false negatives. You would do just as well to flip a coin.

Your assumption is based on limited understanding of media, and no, it's not correct. What you say is so generic that you honestly didn't even say anything at all, you just drew a random conclusion that something "disappeared".

Why get aggravated? Somebody else that doesn't know anything sees your post, assumes it's educated/knowledgeable info, and then they parrot it. Eventually so may people start to say it, that their false logic of "it must be true because enough people say it" starts to take hold. Stupid begats stupid, and somebody has to stand up to it. (Not that you're stupid, but those down the line often are.)

If I sound mean in this post, know that it's not the case.

[jjeff]

Wow, Googled Windata +R DL DVD and this thread came to the top
Like earlier in this thread I also purchased the infamous Windata +R DL 10 pack for $10(green spindle) many years ago(my first experience with DL media) and like others had horrible luck with them. Most weren't even recognized in my Panasonic standalone DVDR(EZ-27 at the time, later I had a EZ-28 which would at least read them but most failed somewhere during the burn, usually at layer change). The few OK burns I had were on my PC, several copied OK on my PC but failed verification.

Due to this experience I swor off anything other than Verbatim 2.4x for DL media. I've had very good luck over the years with only a small handful of problems. The Verbs have come down since this thread started and you can get them most anywhere for $1/disc and on a good sale I get them for $39.99/50 (80 cents per). I was fine going this route for my occasional DL use but a couple months ago Microcenter had a $10 coupon off a $10 or more single item. The item I wanted was $9.99 and they wouldn't let me use the coupon since the coupon was only good on a "single" item which needed to be at "least" $10. In desperation I wandered over to the DVD section and saw a 100 spindle of DL medianever seen a 100 spindle of DLs before) for $29.99 They were the dreaded Windata brand but this time in gold packaging. As much as my better half said run run the cheapskate in me said $19.99 for 100 DLs
The cheapskate in me won and I just wanted to pass on my experience with my 20 cent DLs. So far(burned about 60 in my PC, none on my Panasonic standalones) I'm happy to report 100% success rate They burn and verify just fine, and yes LS on the dozen or so I've played back all the way through, they playback just fine. Of course I'm still a little worried about the archive quality of these discs so I'm still burning any DLs I really care about on my 2.4x Verbs, but for the occasional program I want to record and maybe only playback once or twice in a short time, I'm not too worried. In fact I've had such good luck with them I went back to MC last week and bought another 100 (30 cents apiece this time since I didn't have anymore $10 off coupons) but even 30 cents is almost 1/3rd my best price on Verbs.

Lastly, even though these discs say 8x I don't believe it for one minute, while it takes me 28 minutes(in my DVD duplicator which automatically selects the speed) to burn a Verb 2.4x it takes 27 minutes with these "8x" discs. On my PC I manually select 4x and again haven't had a failed burn or verify yet
Oh for those interested, the ID according to ImgBurn is Disc ID: UMEDISC-DL1-64 which unfortunately according to DigitalFAQ is 3rd class landfill grade (although it doesn't really mention + or DL of this ID).

[jman98]

jjeff - Seriously? 500+ posts and over 4 years of membership here and you just had to grave rob? Geez man, it's bad enough when the newbies do it. It's even worse when you do it to tell people that this cheap crap is great. Bully for you as the Brits say, but we get posts like yours all the time and then months or a year or two later the same guy will come crying about how his burns don't play anymore. If I'm going to burn it to a DVD that is not re-writable, I intend to keep it. I find it odd that there you are playing the "cheap bastard" card with regards to price and basically saying that you don't care if your burns last. Strange. Very strange. Caveat emptor on Windata.

If you want Verbatim for DVD+R DL media, and we've discussed this a rather large number of times here, you have 2 choices for the best.
1) Verbatim's DataLifePlus DVD+R DL discs are still made in Singapore. These are officially rated at 2.4x. The media code on my most recent purchase is MKM-001-00 which is an MCC code.
2) Verbatim's silver 8x-10x media is still made in Singapore. My most recent purchase has a media code of MKM-003-00, which is another MCC code.

Verbatim's other DVD+R DL media may be made in other countries, specifically India and China. Lower speed DVD+R DL media that is not DataLifePlus is almost always made in India or perhaps China. I recommend burning such discs at no speed greater than 4x. Reports are particularly mixed about the Made in India DVD+R DL media with some insisting it's pure crap and others saying it's OK. In general I found it to be OK if burned at slow speeds, but for what little it's worth I did a compare of burning Made in India and Made in Singapore silver DVD+R DL media of the same film at the same speed and the Made in Singapore media had fewer errors via Nero's disc scanning tool. Finally although Made in Taiwan media gets a lot of crap because it was the first place where cheap, low quality discs came out of, Verbatim's plant in Taiwan is first rate and always has been. Anything Verbatim sells that is Made in Taiwan or Made in Singapore has always been the best quality.

[jjeff]

Oh I'm not saying they're great for everyone but rather I've had remarkably good luck with these gold top 100 spindles.
They may indeed not last for long which is why I said for the most part I'm still using my stock of Verbatim 2.4x DLs for more critical things that aren't easily replaceable.
Sorry for the "grave digging" but as I said, when I searched Google this thread was literally at the top of my list, I thought it was odd too but their must not be much Windata DL talk on the net...
Again not saying these DVDs are for everyone but just wanted to add my data point. Oh if I start noticing problems with the DVDs I've burnt would it be OK to update this post or would that also be grave digging?. As you said I've been around a few years so I'm not one of those one post wonders, although this is my first post in this area(I post almost exclusively in the DVDR forum).
Again sorry for digging up this old thread