Is There any DVD brand that is a sure thing ? or is the best

[Scottie]

I used to buy Memorex and Maxells all the time but I've gotten alot of crappy Memorex Spindles and I used to never have troubles with Maxells but lately I seem to be getting the crappier one of thoose to.

Is there any one Brand that is great no matter what it's Code is or where it's made ?

And is there anyway easy way to tell what DVD media is good it ?

Thanks for all your hlep.

[budz]

Is there any one Brand that is great no matter what it's Code is or where it's made ?

TAIYO YUDEN from www.rima.com!

[888888]

There is no such animal as a "sure thing" in DVDR media. Different burners like different media. People do get coasters with Taiyo Yuden too (granted not too many)!

That said, in terms of brand, Taiyo Yuden seems like the best option because they only use their own discs. Maxell used to use their own discs but now they use Ritek as well as TY and their "brand" no longer means anything. Pioneer is also supposed to be a good brand for media but it's rare and over-priced.

I suggest you go by media code and forget about brand.

[lordsmurf]

www.nomorecoasters.com

[Bodysurf]

I used to buy Memorex and Maxells all the time but I've gotten alot of crappy Memorex Spindles and I used to never have troubles with Maxells but lately I seem to be getting the crappier one of thoose to.

Is there any one Brand that is great no matter what it's Code is or where it's made ?

And is there anyway easy way to tell what DVD media is good it ?

Like LordSmurf wrote above, his NoMoreCoasters site has what I consider to be a very accurate list of overall media quality.

With that being said, I would use ONLY what he calls "1st Class Media". True Maxell, Taiyo Yuden and Verbatim MCC media codes are what I have found to be the best. TDK is also on his list, but in my experience it's not as good as the others in that section.

And remember, it's the media ID, not the Brand as LordSmurf writes. Old Verbatim CMC is junk, while Verbatim MCC is one of the finest. True Japanese made Maxell media is great, while Ritek is not (usually).

And the price for "1st Class Media" is cheap.

[Scottie]

So I have to buy the media before finding out if it's any good ?

[Bodysurf]

So I have to buy the media before finding out if it's any good ?

Well, yes.

But by using references like NoMoreCoasters and other anecdotal information, you get an idea of what is likely to be the best media.

There is usually no way to know for sure if media is good until you buy it and use it. Many of the "1st Class Medias" have warranties and some retailers will take media back if you say it is defective.

Once again, Taiyo Yuden, Verbatim (MCC) and Maxell DVD-R media for most people end up being great most of the time. Nothing is 100% perfect.

And with media being as cheap as it is, it's not like you have to spend a fortune to find out whether a particular DVD-R media ID works great for you or not. It wasn't that long ago when 4X CD-R media (Mitsui Gold -- mid 1990s) was costing me $10.00 a pop, and now top quality 16X DVD+R media is less than $1.00 each and 8X DVD-R media is under $0.60 each.

[samijubal]

I've used over 1200 Prodiscs and maybe saw 1 bad one, or it may have just been the standalone. www.rima.com as stated earlier.

[888888]

So I have to buy the media before finding out if it's any good ?

Well, yes.

But by using references like NoMoreCoasters and other anecdotal information, you get an idea of what is likely to be the best media.

There is usually no way to no for sure if media is good until you buy it and use it. Many of the "1st Class Medias" have warranties and some retailers will take media back if you say it is defective.

Once again, Taiyo Yuden, Verbatim (MCC) and Maxell DVD-R media for most people end up being great most of the time. Nothing is 100% perfect.

And with media being as cheap as it is, it's not like you have to spend a fortune to find out whether a particular DVD-R media ID works great for you or not. It wasn't that long ago when 4X CD-R media was costing me $10.00 a pop, and now top quality 16X DVD+R media is less than $1.00 each and 8X DVD-R media is under $0.60 each.

Great post bodysurf. I think you've pretty much covered all the bases.

[Scottie]

so If I was to go and buy some discs right now what are the main things I should look for ?

or these good.

Made in Japan or Sinapore ?

Can you recommend a brand to me and what to look for, I was going to stick with Maxell but the last 100 Pack I bought were pretty crappy ?

Thanks for all your help guy's !

[budz]

Can you recommend a brand to me and what to look for, I was going to stick with Maxell but the last 100 Pack I bought were pretty crappy ?

if you're going to a retail store look for spindles of MAXELL that say "MADE IN JAPAN"! OFFICE DEPOT has MAXELL's on sale right now 25 pack spindles for $12.97. if the spindles say "MADE IN TAIWAN or SINGAPORE" don't purchase them.

make it easier on yourself and just purchase online from www.rima.com,
100 pack spindle of TAIYO YUDEN for $55.00 they are "MADE IN JAPAN".

[louthewiz]

This is a touch and go subject ,like me for instance I have been using riteks g04 and sony media with good results . While other prople can't stand riteks so it really depends on your burner and what type of media it likes.

[Scottie]

My burner burns almost anything the problem is skipping and freezing in stand alone players. really good media would stop this from happening.

[Scottie]

OK I think I'm going to order some DVD's from www.rima.com what would you get. I looked up the Media codes and these both seem good ?
I'd like to try the 8X speeds also do you think I should get these ?

Taiyo Yuden DVD+R <-----
8X / 4.7GB
$0.55 per disc

or these

Ritek DVD-R
4X / Silver Matte
$0.42 per disc

[samijubal]

Trade that LG in for an NEC 3500, the discs will play flawlessly in everything.

[budz]

OK I think I'm going to order some DVD's from www.rima.com what would you get. I looked up the Media codes and these both seem good ?
I'd like to try the 8X speeds also do you think I should get these ?

Taiyo Yuden DVD+R <-----
8X / 4.7GB
$0.55 per disc

or these

Ritek DVD-R
4X / Silver Matte
$0.42 per disc

Get the TAIYO YUDEN DVD+R 8x or even get the DVD-R. Don't waste your time in getting the Ritek when you can get the best quality TAIYO YUDEN.

[Capmaster]

Taiyo Yuden for DVD-R. TYG01 (4X) or TYG02 (8X). The TYG02 is currently the only media I buy, but both are flawless

[Scottie]

I think I know why all the troubles tell me what you think.

My old burner I only used CloneDVD then I got my new one and switched to Nero I use shrink and Reaurthur just the main movie and take all the extra Audio and save it as an image.

then I use Nero and burn the image to disc but I have to choose all files before it sees the image I think this is way all the bad burns.

what do you think ?

Going to buy a 25 Spindal of Merorex tomorrow and test it out.

[FulciLives]

Lately I have been mostly buying Taiyo Yuden from RIMA.COM but a few weeks ago or so STAPLES had 15 packs of MAXELL made in Japan DVD-R discs.

I bought 4 packs. Each pack had at least 1 bad disc (never got past the lead in at the start of the burn). 1 of the 4 packs had 3 such bad discs in it!

Since then I've burned almost a whole 50 pack of Taiyo Yuden DVD-R discs from RIMA.COM without a hitch so I don't think it's my hardware etc.

I always thought that Maxell DVD-R (made in Japan) and Taiyo Yuden DVD-R discs were pretty much "neck n' neck" quality wise but now I'm just sticking to Taiyo Yuden ... the price is more than cheap enough these days.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

*** EDIT ***
I just wanted to point out that those recent batches of Maxell DVD-R discs (and yes the packages all said MADE IN JAPAN) were the first time that ever happened. They were MXGL2 or whatever they are ... they weren't Taiyo Yuden (that has happened to me as well ). I've used the Maxell made in Japan DVD-R discs many many many times over and only this most recent "batch" had problems.

[Sabro]

I've had a 100% success rate (knock on wood) with the FujiFilm +r 4x's. They say "MADE IN TAIWAN " but give the following info :

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD+R:RICOHJPN-R01-002]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc Type : [DVD+R]
Manufacturer ID : [RICOHJPN]
Manufacturer Name : [Ricoh Company Ltd.]
Media Type ID : [R01]
Product Revision : [002]
Disc Application Code : [General Purpose]
Recording Speeds : [1x , 2.4x , 4x]
Blank Disc Capacity : [2,295,104 Sectors = 4,482.6MB = 4.38GB (4.70GB)]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[DVD Identifier - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

So far so good so hell yeah! Am pleased with those =)

Sabro

[disturbed1]

It isn't just the media though. Some burners like certain media better than others.

Let's look at my Pioneer A05s, they hate anything by Prodisc. The 4x and the 8x will burn perfectly until the 3.7gig mark, after that, it's pure crap. 1x,2x,4x burning results in the exact same results. These are perfect in my NECs (2500 & 3500)

Optodisc 4x DVD-R. My NECs will do a good burn at 8x, but pretty shitty at lower speeds. Pioneer loves these at 2x.

Taiyo Yuden (TYG02) burns great at 4x with my 2500, so-so at 8x. But my 3500s turns these things flawless at 16x.

Order some sample packs, or some small quantities to test out.

The failsafe is Taiyo Yuden. Almost the same quality batch after batch. If your burner likes CMC media, it will perform the same with Taiwan Made MCC and TDK. Same media produced in the same factory, by the same people.

The case lot of Maxell IJPs I recieved from Shopperwiz were all made in Japan MXL-RG02s. I expect this change to Taiwan crap, like Verbatim did also.

[skebenin]

I second that. My Plextor 504 likes TY+R, but it likes Prodics+R even better. It's luke warm with Ricoh and Ritek.

[Gen-An]

I don't think MXLRG02/RG03 will ever be made anywhere but Japan. AFAIK Maxell only uses its own manufactured media for bulk thermal/inkjet printable media, and Maxell's only plant is in Japan.

[Capmaster]

Lately I have been mostly buying Taiyo Yuden from RIMA.COM but a few weeks ago or so STAPLES had 15 packs of MAXELL made in Japan DVD-R discs.

I bought 4 packs. Each pack had at least 1 bad disc (never got past the lead in at the start of the burn). 1 of the 4 packs had 3 such bad discs in it!

Since then I've burned almost a whole 50 pack of Taiyo Yuden DVD-R discs from RIMA.COM without a hitch so I don't think it's my hardware etc.

I always thought that Maxell DVD-R (made in Japan) and Taiyo Yuden DVD-R discs were pretty much "neck n' neck" quality wise but now I'm just sticking to Taiyo Yuden ... the price is more than cheap enough these days.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

*** EDIT ***
I just wanted to point out that those recent batches of Maxell DVD-R discs (and yes the packages all said MADE IN JAPAN) were the first time that ever happened. They were MXGL2 or whatever they are ... they weren't Taiyo Yuden (that has happened to me as well ). I've used the Maxell made in Japan DVD-R discs many many many times over and only this most recent "batch" had problems.

Maxell DVD-R can be either Taiyo or Ritek, depending on the luck of the draw, and how closely you examine the outer wrapper (Japan vs. Taiwan).

Like you I was happily buying Maxell branded and then reordered 100. They were Ritek G04 instead of the TYG01 DVDInfo Pro had been reporting for the Maxells. That's the point where I switched to just buying TY media from Rima.

[Gen-An]

Well, yes the retail Maxell spindles can vary, but as far as I know the thermal printables and inkjet printables (unbranded) are all MXL RG02. I wish MXL RG03 was as readily available because IMO it is better than TYG02.

[fritzi93]

If you don't want to get them online, KMart has Fuji TY02s on sale at $9.99 /spindle of 15, just got a few spindles. Not the best possible price, but not bad. I think the sale ends today. OfficeMax is okay, but you never know, they might be out or the discs you want are made in Taiwan. That's a pisser when you had to drive half an hour to get there, and don't call them either, they don't know squat. And of course good deals usually involve a mail-in rebate.

(That's DVD-R, the DVD+R I presume are Ricohs)

[FulciLives]

If you don't want to get them online, KMart has Fuji TY02s on sale at $9.99 /spindle of 15, just got a few spindles. Not the best possible price, but not bad. I think the sale ends today. OfficeMax is okay, but you never know, they might be out or the discs you want are made in Taiwan. That's a pisser when you had to drive half an hour to get there, and don't call them either, they don't know squat. And of course good deals usually involve a mail-in rebate.

(That's DVD-R, the DVD+R I presume are Ricohs)

FUJI has never made 15-packs of TAIYO YUDEN media. Only the 5 and 10 packs have historically said MADE IN JAPAN and have therefore been TAIYO YUDEN.

Are you sure these 15-packs say MADE IN JAPAN ?

If so and they are indeed TAIYO YUDEN then this is a new development in the way FUJI hs been selling media.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[fritzi93]

Yep, Made in Japan. Label says Fujifilm DVD-R 8x 4.7GB 15PK. Proof of purchase #7410172615. DVDinfoPRO says: Media Code/Manufacturer ID: TYG02, Media Id Code Speed: 8.0x 11080 KBps, etc., etc.

So that's a new development? Can't say I keep up very well with this, my burner seems to cope with anything. :P

Just noticed on my last post I typed TY02 instead of TYG02.