DL Media advice.

[MeekloBraca]

Where can somebody find some good DL media at a reasonable price?

[Gen-An]

Verbatim is the only DL media you need bother with. Since you're in Canada I'd suggest Futureshop or whatever Best Buy is called up there.

[Denvers Dawgs]

I 2nd verbatim.......30+ used no coasters....sure they're a little more expensive, but again you get what you pay for...

[mysticmel]

I echo this .... Verbatim's the way to go. Never, Ever, ever, never buy Ritek doubled layer!

[jimbucc]

Another vote for Verbatim. Try SuperMediaStore or Meritline. The inkjet printables are a little pricy but they have a nice surface and burn at 6X.

JB

[BCdave]

Hey, MB, I got a spindle of 20 Verbatim +RDL's at Future Shop 2 weeks ago for $29.99 !! It's back up to their regular price of $64.99 right now, and it's $49.99 at blankmedia.ca, so if you can hold off for awhile, FS will probably have them on sale again.

Incidentally, I got the DL's for use in my new LG LRH-780 recorder, and I haven't tried them yet, so I can't comment on their effectiveness.

Dave

[TBoneit]

I echo this .... Verbatim's the way to go. Never, Ever, ever, never buy Ritek doubled layer!

Well I tried the Ritek +R DL and they were a disaster with a Pioneer 109 (509)

I used the rest of the spindle in a Lite-On allWrite drive and every one burned and played fine.

Bottom line the Lite-On for me is a better burner and burns everything good. The Pioneer has always been picky and now has gotten worse. It always made a few coaster with verbatim Sls and Sony MIJ etc. The Lite-On burns everything flawlessly the same as My original DVD burner a Sony DRU-500a did.

The brand of burner can make a difference.

[CrayonEater]

Supermediastore has a 20 pack of Verbatim DLs, for $32 after rebate and with free shipping. Yesterday they were $30. Grab 'em while you can.

http://www.supermediastore.com/verbatim-double-layer-dvd-plus-r-white-inkjet-printable-95123.html

I have had good luck with RitekD01 on my NEC 3550A, but Verbatim now is cheaper than any of the second-rate or questionable brands, if you shop around. So, why take the chance?

[TBoneit]

I wasn't saying go against the general verbatim is better. I was just saying in a poormanner that as some drives like Verbatim better than Ritek DL there are most likely some that treat themn the same and most likely some that burn the Ritek better.

Choosing good media for a drive more of an art than a science due to the many differences in burners.

[slickster]

My vote is for Verbatim. Don't touch anything else.
Never had a problem with these guys.
Not one coaster yet. Use about 30-40 of them so far.

Just my 2 cents.

8)

[pepegot1]

I agree, Verbatim is a way to go.

[MeekloBraca]

Is Ritek usually Memorex branded?

Reason I ask is Futureshop has a good sale on for them right now. 50 for 70 dollars.

Is there a reason behind not liking this brand? Poorer quality, doesnt work all that well? Anything like that?

Thanks

[TBoneit]

memorex could be anything as they do not make their own media.

The reason for not liking Ritek or memorex is that Ritek quality is variable.

Using Memorex DL, Ritek in this case, from the same spindle a Pioneer 109 burned approx 25% good, A New Lite-On Super AllWrite burner they all burn good.

IOWs the burner can make a difference too. Whereas most members experiences are that Verbatim will always burn OK.

If your burner likes a Ritek then they'll be a good purchase. If it doesn't like the Ritek DL discs then what?

[MeekloBraca]

YOu take them back since futureshop will return anything? lol.

[bobkart]

You already have all the answer to your question that you need.

Verbatim. Don't mess with anything else. Unless you like wondering if your burns will succeed.

[handyguy]

buy.com has a Verb 20 pack for about $27 AR. Don't log on to your buy.com account & check out & youll see a $10 savings on the bottom of the page.

Verbatim 20pack 8x DVD+R Dual Layer $27 with google check out @buy.com

also verify rebate date.

[bmiller]

Memorex are Ritek,at least the ones i got from future shop were.Fujifilm from future shop were Ricohjpn,and worked great.Then the fujifilm i got from best buy were ritek.The ritek's are junk.I have 15 or 20 sitting in a drawer collecting dust.I now use verbatims.Dvddecrypter and anydvd iso read.img burn to burn the iso.Perfect.

[Edmund Blackadder]

I would also like to give a vote for Verbatim. However, there's finally another DVD+R DL that deserves respect, and please don't laugh at me: CMC MAGD01. Over here they are currently sold as HP DVD+R DL.

Why do I like them? Well, first of all, my old Pioneer DV-535 never consistently liked anything (i.e. Ritek and some later Ricohjpn) on the second layer of DVD+R DL, except for Verbatim. Those always play perfect on that player. Usually it also makes noisy tracking sound if the second layer is about to fail playing back. Not on Verbatims, and guess what? - not on CMC MAGD01! It plays beautifully and tracks quietly.

I burned CMC MAGD01 on Pioneer A09XL with firmware 1.58. The only downside is that it won't burn faster than 2.4x (though neither will the latest generation of 8x-10x MKM003 Verbatims on A09XL - that's an abandoned firmware updates issue).

My guess is that the rumors that Mitsubishi helped to set up the CMC DVD DL line in Taiwan are probably correct. On close examination, even the disc dye looks exactly the same as the Singapore Verbatim DL dye (Ritek and Ricoh look very different). The only difference is the writings on the rings.

Now, my further wild guess, that eventually these will be the discs that will be sold as Verbatim. Just like now CMC manufactures most of the SL Verbatims on Mitsubishi set up equipment in Taiwan (even though they put MCC media code on them). I think these CMC DL's are coming from the similar type of equipment and materials that Mitsubishi has in Singapore. The cosmetic and performance similarities are really that identical. The edges are sharper on CMC's though, for some reason.

So if you can find CMC's cheaper than Verbatim - give them a try. With a quality burner they should work as good as Verbatims.

I know some of you are KProbe skeptics, but here's the scan nonetheless, it shows quite a bit of quality (the slight spike at the layer break area I almost always get even on Verbatims):

[lordsmurf]

While burners can make a difference in how well a media works, it still cannot voercome crap media. RITEK DL has proved itself crap media, and there will be a sizeable pile of coasters, regardless of disc brand or drive model/brand.

MKM DL is really the only media you should get.

If you're feeling experimental, try a couple of RICOH and CMC ones, but don't go in expecting all of them to work, though they might.

[MeekloBraca]

Are these issues of this Ritek media having long term problems? Like if it does burn good and work properly will it continue that way?

I think im going to try out the riteks and see what happens. They are on sale for only 63 bucks for 50 so its worth a shot.

And if the first few discs dont work, as I said....Futureshop will take anything back, even opened media spindles.

[bmiller]

Good luck.You may get 2/3 of them to burn and work onyour dvd player,but getting them to play on other dvd players is another story.Been there done that.Not a good rate of compatability.You are wasting your money.Wait until future shop has a sale on verbatims.I just got 40 verbatims for $60 from them last month.

[MeekloBraca]

My Ritek experience.

Well it takes forever to burn but ill live with that.

But at the end of the burn it the software comes up an error message saying retry insert mew media disc blah blah blah.

But yet the disc works perfectly in all 5 DVD players I tested it in?

Has anybody else had this experience?

[TBoneit]

on a Pioneer 109 yes, a few burned Ok, the rest problems after the layer change. On a Lite-On everyone burns good and plays OK in hardware that supports burned DL discs. Some do not support burned DLs

[SCDVD]

The problem with the Taiwanese media manufacturers is that they don't like to discard anything. So if a batch of media is bad, they don't scrap it and sell the plastic as recyclable. They just sell it anyway, usually to the cut rate distributors. The "best price" resellers wind up with this stuff. The bargain hunter is more likely to get stuck with this junk. Companies like CMC are capable of making very good media BUT the key is QC. Left to there own devices, QC is almost a joke. The big brand companies such as Sony buy their media on an OEM basis from these characters but they have their own QC enforcers to oversee the "funny stuff". But the crap is so insidious that they still get bad media slid under there nose from time to time.

[MeekloBraca]

Well the question was, has anybody experienced having a media error after burning, but yet the disc works perfectly fine from start to finish?

[Jake802]

I just wanted to say I have never had an issue with Ritek. I've been using them for over a year now with no issues!

[flycat1981]

Go to the store of SPAM, very low price

[bmiller]

Yes i have.I was using fujifilm dual layer discs and record now deluxe.It gave me an error on finalizing,yet played in my own panasonic dvd player.When i passed it around,it only played in half the players it was tested in.Then i found out it was a ritek made disc.Switched to Verbatim,create an iso with dvd decrypter and anydvd,and burn with img burn.I'm also using a modified firmware with my Nec 3540A.No problems since.

[Noahtuck]

When i passed it around,it only played in half the players it was tested in.Then i found out it was a ritek made disc.

But you must also remember regardless of who makes the disc's, DL dvdr is not compatible with all standalone players, even standalones that play single layer dvd - or + r's may not play DL dvdr's.

But my vote also goes for Verbatim DL +r's & nothing else.

[discguy001]

Yes i have.I was using fujifilm dual layer discs and record now deluxe.It gave me an error on finalizing,yet played in my own panasonic dvd player.When i passed it around,it only played in half the players it was tested in.Then i found out it was a ritek made disc.Switched to Verbatim,create an iso with dvd decrypter and anydvd,and burn with img burn.I'm also using a modified firmware with my Nec 3540A.No problems since.

Think about what you're saying, you used a ritek disc with recordnowdeluxe and it didn't finish finalizing properly--so when it doesn't play in all your players you fault the disc? Then you burn a verbatim with DIFFERENT software (probably a different iso too) and it's great. Not exactly the scientific method for comparative study.