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  1. Member
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    I picked up a couple 50-packs of Verbatim's new white-labels at Best Buy a few weeks ago not realizing they were a value line and not rebranded DataLifes. I've seen the comments here (afterward, natch) about CMC MAG M01 discs, but mine show as CMC MAG AM3. Is that last syllable of the ID significant in any way?

    Also, it's been a while, but I seem to remember the TDK 100-packs I used to get from Costco also being CMC MAG discs, and I never had a problem with those. Is is possible for a brand to demand/screen for a specific quality level from a manufacturer or is it a crapshoot for everyone?

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    Calidore
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    The main difference is CMC MAG M01 are DVD+R, CMC MAG AM3 are DVD-R.

    There are good disks and bad disks from every disk manufacturer. I expect TDK buys the good ones as they have a brand name to protect. However I would still test each purchase before using them.
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    Originally Posted by Rosenrot View Post
    The main difference is CMC MAG M01 are DVD+R, CMC MAG AM3 are DVD-R.

    There are good disks and bad disks from every disk manufacturer. I expect TDK buys the good ones as they have a brand name to protect. However I would still test each purchase before using them.
    Thanks for the clarification on the disk IDs.

    Re. good/bad disks: That's what I figured. Hopefully Verbatim also wants to keep their rep intact. I've used about half a 50-pack of their new DVD-R discs at 12x with not a problem so far. I'm sure some people have horror stories all ready to support their preemptive shrieking, but I'd be interested if anyone has actually had a bad experience with the Life series thus far. Personally, I'm expecting a lot of sore knees around from all the jerking.
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  4. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    crap vs crap.
    CMC media can be okay, but can also be a spindle of duds. Very variable quality there.
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    Originally Posted by Calidore View Post
    Hopefully Verbatim also wants to keep their rep intact.
    Evidently not if they are starting to outsource a line of their media to CMC

    Originally Posted by Calidore View Post
    I've used about half a 50-pack of their new DVD-R discs at 12x with not a problem so far.
    After what ? a day or week ?
    Come talk to us in a year or two, tops, when you can't view or rip anything you burned to them.


    Originally Posted by Calidore View Post
    but I'd be interested if anyone has actually had a bad experience with the Life series thus far.
    Are you serious ?
    They have not been around very long, the longest i have known of the "life series" is like 4-6 weeks.


    I have seen some really bad media in my day where upon burning and viewing back within minutes you knew they were crap!!

    But some, you don't know they are crap until a year later, which anyone here with years of experience knows, which goes to,
    Originally Posted by Calidore View Post
    Personally, I'm expecting a lot of sore knees around from all the jerking.
    The type of comment that only people with limited experience with the different types of dvdr media over the last 9-10 years make.


    It is known what is good and what is not, or questionable at best, when it comes down to the same price or maybe a penny or two per disc, why mess around.....

    If you want to play russian roulette with something that may be important or irreplaceable, well, have fun and good luck

    I bought 1 - 100 hundred pack, because i wanted to see what they were, and used it up already for transferring files & BS stuff so i am not out anything important, but i will never ever buy another pack of "life series"!!
    Last edited by Noahtuck; 21st May 2010 at 02:02.
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    Hi, Noahtuck.

    Re. Rep: This goes back to my original question above: (Rephrased) Do DVD mfrs put out discs of different quality levels for different brands? Rosenrot was the only one who answered this, and his answer matched what I would expect. I can see Verbatim going to CMC and saying, "We're willing to buy your stuff for our new value line, but we have a respected brand to protect, so we don't want the crap you sell to Memorex."

    Re. longetivity: Just out of curiosity, I pulled some of my old TDK CMC disks (bought LOTS of these from Costco back when) and did copies from a few. No problems yet. I even tried a couple of six-year-old TDK 4x disks (Ricoh manufacture, also identified in the DVD Quality Guide as 2nd class media). Also fine. Obviously, the most accurate test would be to check every DVD I have for CMC and do a full copy of them all, but hell no.

    I can also say that I haven't had a fail on those occasions when I've gone back to an old TDK disc for something.

    Re. "It is known what is good and what is not, or questionable at best": I'm certainly not disputing the validity of the accumulated knowledge. I simply asked whether all discs from one mfr are necessarily equal, and also wonder at people's inclination, given one positive (Verbatim's excellent rep) and one negative (CMC's reported variable quality), to assume the negative will win rather than the positive.

    Your (and others') suggestion not to commit anything irreplaceable to these discs is perfectly good. That would apply to any "value" discs, really. But for general usage, based on no bad experiences with CMC via TDK, I'm willing to give Verbatim the benefit of the doubt.

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    Calidore
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    Originally Posted by Calidore View Post
    Do DVD mfrs put out discs of different quality levels for different brands? Rosenrot was the only one who answered this, and his answer matched what I would expect. I can see Verbatim going to CMC and saying, "We're willing to buy your stuff for our new value line, but we have a respected brand to protect, so we don't want the crap you sell to Memorex."
    Not really, no. The "downgraded" discs are sold to bulk markets in poor countries, and re-branded as no-name stuff. More common, bad product is recycled in-house.
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    Originally Posted by lordsmurf View Post
    The "downgraded" discs are sold to bulk markets in poor countries, and re-branded as no-name stuff. More common, bad product is recycled in-house.
    I guess those poor countries ship them to the UK flooding the market with crap. Or maybe the UK is the poor country where they send them to.

    I made a review a few weeks ago of some discs from Ritek. I compared them with some from Maxell. Both had the same RitekF1 mid codes. The Maxell discs were good, the Ritek unbranded failed. This is the kind of good disc/bad disc scenario that I keep coming across.
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    You'll notice Ritek and CMC are the ones that seem to have media ID's under no-names and fail.
    It's just not a reliable disc, even under HP/Maxell/Memorex/etc brands.
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    The North American market for media demands low prices. The average consumer is fairly ignorant and is just looking for the lowest cost. Maybe 5 or more years ago in North America you could buy good media from a lot of different manufacturers. I think TDK was using Taiyo Yuden at one time to make the discs they sold here. Other brands like Sony were using good manufacturers like MCC. I would guess that Verbatim is losing market share here on price and the only way to compete is to sell the same crap everyone else does. For example, my best friend buys his DVDs in bulk from Frys and he honestly believes that the cheapest no name discs are just as good as the more expensive ones. In fact, he'd go so far as to say that only an idiot would pay more than he does for discs. When maybe 99% of the customers have similar viewpoints, companies like Verbatim have no choice but to give the customers the crap they want.
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    if u want that media code with good scan results, buy the "Imation" brand at Office Depot. (both CMC and RITEK but I normally get the RITEKF16). I get em all the time, mainly the +r's, and the scans consistently turn out like this one below with my Pioneer 116d and my NEC 7240. Plus their always $10 a 50 pack. If you can help it though, get the better Verbatims and not the value line series.
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