DVD media.. Does the brand name make any difference??

[Mark_Venture]

Since I don't usually burn that many DVDs I was purchasing a 15 pack at a time of Verbatim 4x DVD+R discs at Best Buy (had Reorder #94589 on the side.) They we not too expensive, considering they were local, and work GREAT at 4x in my Sony DRU-500A drive, still on firmware 2.0E. And movies play fine in my Pioneer and RCA DVD players as well in all of my PC's. Plus data backups read fine in my PCs.

Now, I needed more (have a bunch of stuff to backup), but Best Buy no longer carries those Verbatim. They have Memorex, TDK and Fuji. Having remembered many threads here about quality of media, compatibility of certain drives, etc... I know when I first got my drive, Memorex wasn't considered very good. I wasn't sure what to get.

Since the Memorex 4x DVD+R 50 pack (part number 3202 5544) on the shelf was on sale for $49.99, I just got that and figured lets give them a shot and if they don't work, I'd take them back...

Well, According to the free (ad supported) DVDinfo Pro, I get the following from each blank disc....

from the Verbatim
Media Information
Region information....................................N/A not a DVD-VIDEO
Media code/Manufacturer ID....................................RICOHJPNR01
Format Capacity.......................................... ...Not Formatted
Free Blocks............................................ .........405405696
Free Capacity.......................................... ....4.38GB(4.70GB)
Book Type.............................................. .............DVD+R
Media Type.............................................. ............DVD+R
Media Id Code Speed.........................................4.0x 5540KBps
Available Write Descriptor...........................CLV 4.0x 5540KBps
Available Write Descriptor...........................CLV 2.4x 3324KBps
Available Write Descriptor...........................CLV 2.0x 2770KBps
Data area starting sector..........................................30 000h
Linear Density........................................... .....0.267um/bit
Track Density........................................... .....0.74um/track
Number of Layers............................................ ............1

From the Memorex
Media Information
Region information....................................N/A not a DVD-VIDEO
Media code/Manufacturer ID....................................RICOHJPNR01
Format Capacity.......................................... ...Not Formatted
Free Blocks............................................ .........405405696
Free Capacity.......................................... ....4.38GB(4.70GB)
Book Type.............................................. .............DVD+R
Media Type.............................................. ............DVD+R
Media Id Code Speed.........................................4.0x 5540KBps
Available Write Descriptor...........................CLV 4.0x 5540KBps
Available Write Descriptor...........................CLV 2.4x 3324KBps
Available Write Descriptor...........................CLV 2.0x 2770KBps
Data area starting sector..........................................30 000h
Linear Density........................................... .....0.267um/bit
Track Density........................................... .....0.74um/track
Number of Layers............................................ ............1



Well, I see no difference. And they both are a blueish-purple on the writeable side.

Does that mean they are exactly the same media, just one has the Verbatim top size, and the other has Memorex?

Is it safe to assume that I will have the same good luck with these Memorex that I have with the Verbatim?

So in this case, brand name doesn't matter?

[Redhawk]

From what I've read before the Ricoh discs are very good and are used by several different brands including Verbatim, Memorex, and TDK(?) for +R discs. I've only used the Memorex discs and they have worked perfectly. I believe the Memorex -R discs are made by CMC which I've read some negative things about. In short, who care what the brand is if you can get the good Ricoh discs? Btw, you can buy 25 packs of the Memorex +R discs from amazon.com for $30 with free shipping, the best deal I've found.

[lordsmurf]

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