10 Pack Maxells ARE NOT THE SAME!!

[Mechworker]

Hey all!

As you can see from a previous post, I have invested a lot in the Maxell 10 pack DVD-Rs that are on sale this week at Future Shop.

I figured they were the same disks as the 5 packs with which I've had 100% success.

They ARE NOT. The 'cover' paper of the individual DVDs has a blue watermark, not a grey, and the ink on the back cover paper is a different blue. Nothing to freak about, right?

Well, no, BUT...

The very first disk of a 10 pack I burned was a coaster. The second has a few scratches.

So far, the rest seem okay, but I've got 250 of these things, and so far I'm not impressed.

The most worrisome thing though is the disks in the (now apparently defunct) 5 packs and 10 packs have DIFFERENT product numbers.

5 pack: PN: 050652-00/QC
10 pack: PN: 050652-00/MDM

I don't have a DVD burner in my computer, so I can't do a DVDInfoPro on it or anything. However, can anyone out there run a check on the 10 pack media to see what it says.

I'm telling ya, I'm not very happy right now...

[jaxxboss]

You dont need a burner to check with infopro.
By the way:
How do you burn ur discs without a burner?

[budz]

jaxxboss wrote:

By the way:
How do you burn ur discs without a burner?

I was just thinking the same thing. Do you have a tv dvd recorder?

[lordsmurf]

It may be RITEK discs if they are blue. Need PC to check.

[ROBERT BLACK]

I bought one of those 10 packs this weekend too. They indeed have different Product numbers. Here's what DVDInfoPro listed. Same media code as the 5 packs.


Region information N/A not a DVD-VIDEO
Media code/Manufacturer ID MXLRG02
Format Capacity Not Formatted
Free Blocks 411107328
Free Capacity 4.38GB(4.71GB)
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 2.0x 2770KBps
Available Write Descriptor CLV 1.0x 1385KBps
Write Strategy Speed 4.0x 5540KBps
2x Speed OPC beta 0A
2x Speed OPC power 0E
2x Write Strategy field 1 15 87 78 90
2x Write Strategy field 2 88 80 00 00 00 00
4x Speed OPC beta 05
4x Speed OPC power 16
4x Write Strategy field 1 0D 0F 0B 08
4x Write Strategy field 2 97 07 0E 0B
4x Write Strategy field 3 A4 00 24 00
4x Speed OPC beta multi-pulse 05
4x Speed OPC power multi-pulse 19
4x Write Strategy field 4 17 A8 89 75
4x Write Strategy field 5 C6 89 88 80 00 00
4x Write Strategy field 6 00 00 D0 00 00
Data area starting sector 30000h
Linear Density 0.267um/bit
Track Density 0.74um/track
Number of Layers 1

[aggies11]

I'm looking at a 5pack (Yellow top, 4x, DVD-R MXL RG02 discs)

and they have a Product Number of:

PN: 050650-00/SH (Reorder #: 635042)

And a 15pk spindle of the same discs:

PN: 050618-01/SH (Reorder #: 635035)


Our 5pk product numbers seem to be different, but they are all the same on all the 5pks I have.

Would product numbers of 10pks and 5pks necessarily be the same?

The reorder #'s are different, and so are the product numbers for all other Maxell media I have seen (even 5pk vs 15pc)

Aggies

[Mechworker]

Just so you know, I do burning on a Panny E50. I go straight from tape to DVD, or DVD to DVD, although without a TBC I'm having a problem there.

Interesting that the 5 pack numbers would be different.

Just so that I'm being clear, the numbers I quoted are those ON THE DISKS THEMSELVES. The PNs for the 5 and 10 packs are both different on the outer wrapper, as expected, but both are also different from the numbers on the individual disks.

The dye is still the purply-pink it usually is. Sort of a metallic dusty rose colour.

I've burned 5 others, and they seem to be fine so far. They are yellow topped disks, and look identical to the others, except for the packaging variations (blue vs. grey watermarks) and the different PNs on the individual disks.

[HyperYagami]

It's highly unlikely they have the same product code. The code is used for the inventory people and sure that's a lot easier to deal with diff product codes than the whole product description "maxell dvd-r 5pk"/"maxell dvd-r 10pk".

Until someone posts a diff product code then MXLRG02 I believe they're all the same as ROBERT BLACK already pointed out.

[Mechworker]

I see your point, but I don't understand why the disks themselves would be different in the 5 and 10 packs. I mean both are yellow topped 4.7 Gig disks with max speed of 4x.

Why would the jewel cases have different PNs unless the disks were somehow different?

I don't quite get it.

Oh well.

Maybe I hit a bum batch, then? I really don't like the thought of that, but still, I guess it is possible for Maxells to crap out too once in a while.

Or is it? Has anyone else ever had a Maxell frag on them before?

Thanks!

[aggies11]

Ah, the # on the discs themselves. (I was indeed checking the packaging). I assume you mean on the jewel case themselves (I just got one in front of me now)

I imagine the disc pn's may be indicative particular manufacturing lots/batches/lines etc.

Here is the PN from a jewel case of a pk (purchased in january)

PN: 050652-00/MDM

That would seem to be the same as what your getting on the 10pks.

Checking a disc from my most recent purchase (March), we have:

PN: 050652-00/QC

Interesting indeed!

I imagine the QC/MDM might be a plant code or something?

So it would seem that all maxell jewel cases are either

A. Random, either one of the two

B. Used to be MDM but now are switching over to QC

I can't seem to find any PN indications on the jewel cases of the orange 2x media.

Hmm, even more interesting

My old January MDM disc had a blue watermark (on the front of the jewel case, it is a background image of a disc)

Where as my new (March) QC media has the grey water-mark.

It could just be a packaging change. They wanted to change the colour, and thus updated the PN accordingly. It may or may not be reflective on new discs.

Are you sure your new 10pks are MDM and and blue watermarked?
- If so, it looks like they are the same as older 5pk media.
- Maybe the 10pks will switch over to the grey QC style (as the 5pks did)

Comparing the actuall Disc ID's themselves (on the clear inner ring):

January "Blue" pack: Discs start M4E(1153B)

March "Grey" pack: Discs start MAE(1243B)

Obviously disc id's will differ, the question is: by how much? Sadly I only have one 5pk from January, so I dont' have any to compare against.
(Wanna check the codes on your 5pks vs 10pks?)

I'd be curious to know if the change from M4 to MA corresponds with the change in packaging.

We are probably going a little over-board here, heh, but I too hope that Maxell discs retain the same quality standards they have had in the past.

Aggies

[Mechworker]

Aggies:

It is interesting to me that what you have is the exact opposite to what I have.

The grey watermarked disks are the ones I have from earlier, about the first week of March. The blue ones are the ones I picked up last week, in early April.

The codes are the same: QC on the Grey, MDM on the blue.

So you have grey watermarked disks in the 10 packs, then?

I'll check the codes on the disks themselves when I get home tonight, to see about the M4 to MA switch.

I don't know if it is overly anal retentive either, but it is interesting, and I don't want to see Maxell go down the tubes.

Thanks for the help!

[nf321]

The 10pack that I bought 2weeks ago has a blue watermark on the front of the jewel case.

PN: 050652-00/MDM

and the code on the hub of the disk is MAEK283B

Which ones were the bad ones? These work great for me.

[rikk]

It makes no difference what the ppackaging or product code is, just run it through DVDInfo Pro and find out the media code.

[nf321]

It makes no difference what the ppackaging or product code is, just run it through DVDInfo Pro and find out the media code.

I think everyone allready aggrees these are MXL RG02....

[richdvd]

I bought some today from Future Shop and they're the same ones that they always sell.
The ones with the blue watermark on the jewel case insert.
Media code/Manufacturer ID MXLRG02.

[ROBERT BLACK]

Has anyone else ever had a Maxell frag on them before?

Never. Try to update you're PC burners firmware. If you're using a standalone(the Panny E50) try them on another burner. Have you ruled out user error? Happened to me twice, on another brand. Could even be a problem with the E50 itself.

The different PNs seem to be just two different Maxell factories. Nothing to get uptight about.

[aggies11]

Re: Mech

I haven't purchased any 10pks. What I have are two 5pks (well actually much more than 2... )

One 5pk purchased back in January
One 5pk purchased in March

And also some 15pc cakes purchased in March, but there really not that relevant, heh.

So it looks like it's not a case of "10pks being different than 5pks", but actually of 5pks themselves being different.

Blue MDM being older and
Grey QC being newer.

Then the 10pks would be using the older MDM style, and might likely at some point follow in the footsteps of the 5pks and switch over to QC.


That being said, we really don't know if there is any correlation between these change in packaging/ product#, and any changes in the discs themselves. Or if there are even any changes in the discs at all.

So it very well may be that there are no differences between 10 and 5pks, and that current 10pks are merely using old (aka Late '03/ Early '04) packaging/discs.

For anyone else following along:

The issue isn't whether the discs are legit maxell, or even MXL RG02, it's merely one of noticing some changing in the packaging / identification of the discs. And speculation on what this could possibly mean?

(Follow up by a report on problems with a few of these discs). These problems could be an indication of Maxell Quality control problems, or just a random fluke / software glitch, rare bad batch, etc etc. Not really enough information at this point.

But as these Maxell discs are currently the best value (quality vs price) discs, we are all hopefull that nothing changes, and their superior quality remains unchanged.

Aggies

[VR-HOS]

So are these media the same?

[Mechworker]

I checked the codes in the middle of the disks, and the ones with the blue watermarks are all MAE codes.

The funny thing is that the grey ones have all different codes. M4E, M3E, M8E...

I don't know about you guys, but the jewel cases I get have a clear spine, not an opaque one like in the picture above.

I'm glad there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the disks. I don't think the problem is with the E50, since then I've burned the rest of the pack and they've been okay.

It's not that I'm trying to stir up any crud or anything, I just wanted to know what was happening. I find it odd that the 10 packs are older disks...

If I find some of my 25 ten-packs have grey disks, I'll let you know!

Thanks for the help!

[lordsmurf]

Maxell has changed there packages 3 times already ... what's another one?

What's it all mean? It means they decided it was time for a new image, though I think the last was the best looking one to date.

[Hawseman]

If there is one issue that's been posted about Maxell media...it's been the packaging. I've read (here?) that disks in a new spindle have been found with finger prints and dirt smudges. It was obvious that the factory had handled the media rather sloppily.

I make a habit of visually inspecting all media under good lighting before burning. You never know if a worker may have spilled his wonton soup during his lunch break.

[richdvd]

You never know if a worker may have spilled his wonton soup during his lunch break.

[Thorn]

I've read (here?) that disks in a new spindle have been found with finger prints and dirt smudges.

I've had a few instances where the first and/or last disc in a spindle has scratches, fingerprints, or such.

More annoying, I've had a DVD-R with fingerprints show up inside a jewel case wrapped in celophane. Why bother wrapping it up all nice if it's a bad disc?? Of course, that was a TDK and all of two batches of 2x would only burn sucessfully at 1x; I guess their quality control wasn't very good last year or so.

So yea, I check every disc visually before burning. I often use compressed air to get rid of dust before inserting too.