WHY so much #&%@$# Bad Media???

[JJ1958]

Don't post here much, but I'm in a bit of a ranting mood.....

Why does there seem to be SO much bad blank media, and why is it not consistent from brand to brand?

Case in point: I usually use Maxell discs in my DVD duplicator (primarily because I'm on a severe budget, and they seem to be most often on sale around here). Sometimes I get spindles that are all flawless, or maybe just one or 2 bad ones, which I can live with. And other times.....well!

Recently purchased one of those spindles of 50 that were on sale at Office Depot. My machine spit out at least half of them as bad. At one point, it was rejecting every other disc almost like clockwork -- one would be fine, the next bad, the next fine, the next bad, etc. Then I opened a spindle of 25 purchased at a different store across town several days before the 50. At one point, I went through about 12-15 bad ones before a successful burn.

Before someone chimes in with "well, Maxell sucks and I don't use them," I have these sorts of problems with ANY brand media. No consistency -- sometimes the whole spindle is fine, sometimes I end up tossing over half of them. (Oddly enough, the discs with the best track record are those generic "house brand" things sold at Wal-Mart -- those almost never get rejected...)

What is the deal with this? Is there just no semblance of quality control on these things? Did the market for DVD media just grow so quickly that it overwhelmed the manufacturers and they've farmed out the work to a lowest bidder somewhere in the third world?

At least with the duplicator, it spits out a baddie right away before I devote any time to it. (Though I usually start worrying that I have a bad drive in the thing when I go through one of these spates of rejected discs.) When doing a VHS-to-DVD transfer on my DMR-E50, however, I usually don't know I have a coaster until I've spent two hours plus a few minutes for finalizing, then find it won't play all the way through.

Anyway, forgive the rant -- feel free to vent yourselves on the subject or provide any advice or wisdom that may help.

[HatchetMan]

Your standalone may be part of the problem. My DMR-E55 is extremely picky with media. If it spit it out, the disc was still good and used in my pc writer. The Verbatim 8X (not the 16X) DVD-R work fantastic!

[JJ1958]

Well, my DMR-E50 has never prematurely rejected a disc -- generally, it finishes the burn, and plays fine unfinalized in the unit, but something goes wrong during the finalization process and the resulting disc won't play past about 55% of the way into the thing. Actually, this may be a hardware/software bug rather than a problem with the media.

But my duplicator will spit a bad disc out as soon as it tries to write to it. So, I think the general thrust of your point is that some machines are just more sensitive to minor flaws in the media than others -- do I get your drift correctly? Doesn't help much as I can't afford to replace that unit right now -- I may just have to switch to some other media (Verbatim, Fuji, whatever) even though they seem to rarely go on sale in my area. I guess you get what you pay for.

[budz]

MAXELLL quality control is out of hand. I've had problems with using the 8x DVD-R with my Pioneer 220 recorder and some have had probs using computer dvd burners as well. With the 220 the discs weren't even recognized at all....my suggestion to you is change dvd media to TAIYO YUDEN or VERBATIM with MCC as media code.

[JJ1958]

Unfortunately, I have no way to check media codes -- I don't actually have a DVD drive hooked to the computer, just a standalone DVD recorder and standalone duplicator. At least, from reading some of the previous posts on this subject, I have a pretty good handle on which brands are the better bets, the whole Japan vs. Taiwan thing, etc. (I did fish the wrappers out of the trash on those 2 Maxell spindles, and both were MIT -- I suspect that the ones I've had no problems with in the past were MIJ). So, at least I can increase my odds a bit.

But I should be used to this -- it seems like every piece of technology in my life is balky to one degree or another. I think technology has just changed so fast lately that often it is foisted on the market prematurely before all the kinks are worked out, then every company in the world wants to jump on the bandwagon (some great, some sucky) and there's never any consistency. I guess they figure that by the time you get totally frustrated, the "next great thing" comes along anyway, and we all buy into that. Just a way to keep separating us from our hard-earned cash.

[lordsmurf]

Quit buying by brand.

"Maxell" is a brand. While MXL is a Maxell-made media ID, they also use RICOH and RITEK, some of which can be really dodgy.

With the exception of some BenQ burner users (which is where the problem lies) or some people on older firmware on other burners, MXLRG03 media is super high quality.

Duplicators are often using the beta-grade stock firmware and is in serious need of an update. Take them out of the housing, stick in a computer, and get to it.

[pchan]

With the exception of some BenQ burner users (which is where the problem lies) or some people on older firmware on other burners, MXLRG03 media is super high quality.

Unfortunately ! Have to stick to BenQ media... Kind of like a printer strategy... must use the same ink from the printer company !

[lordsmurf]

Yeah, on some of those burners, you just have to fish around for a while. For example, BTC burners don't play nice with TY DVD-R media, so I use the DVD+R TY on it instead, no problems so far. The TY DVD-R is fine, just not a very cooperative burner on it.

Just another good reason to stick with Pioneer, LiteOn, maybe even NEC burners.

[handyguy]

I got some Maxell, but I only bought those that said MADE IN JAPAN, near it's UPC. Those are TY or Hitachi Maxell, but are pretty much the same in quality.

[macrovision]

Maxell has issues...I know this for a fact....I've had rw disc that wouldn't erase and the company sent me new ones without even asking for the defective ones...the new ones worked exceptfor one that gave the same problem. I used -r maxell discs....they burned half way then ejected...disc after disc( Nec ND-1300) I changed the firmware and still had the same results and to make things even worst I was buying them at a top-notch computer store and they were fairly expensive(5 for $19.99) I never used maxell again and I replaced the burner because shotty firmware caused it to die. So be careful as to which firmware you install into your burner because if the calibration isn't correct it may cost you more than you can afford to lose. My advice is that you should find one type of media that your burner accepts and stick with that and/or do research on the firmware before replacing it. Mines just happen to be NEC ND-3500ag and I've heard alot about mad-dog drives so I replaced my NEC firmware with the mad-dog firmware and never had problems like before.

[Gen-An]

MXLRG03 hasn't impressed me at all (various batches of Maxell and Apple-branded discs) with any of my burners (PX-712A, 716A, 716UF, GSA-4163B). I once had a 50 disc spindle and almost every disc would die trying to burn at 8x. TYG02 and MCC02RG20 are much better IMO.

[shelbyGT]

So far I have yet to have a disc spit out by my computer. Ever. I've had problems with not finishing a burn (as there were scratches I didn't notice before putting it in), but ever since I got this machine working, whatever media you throw at it it burns.

Am I the only one that has yet to get a crap media story? I think I'm missing out.

[MrMoody]

@SGT: No, you're not the only one. I've got a Pioneer 106 and a 109, and I've gone through many spindles of various brands and generics, nearly all -R (only a couple +R), probably better than 1200 total, and I've had a total of maybe 6-7 coasters in all that time, most of those caused by software error or trying to do to much else while burning.

[Bodysurf]

feel free to vent yourselves on the subject or provide any advice or wisdom that may help.

Choose the HIGHEST QUALITY media as listed on NoMoreCoasters.COM, such as:

Taiyo-Yuden
Verbatim MCC

but even so, remember:

What do the % numbers mean? This list is constructed from many tests on many burners from a handful of experienced people that use a lot of media. These numbers reflect the number of discs in a spindle that will give good results. For example, out of a 100 spindle of media, 1st class discs may kick out a few bad discs (0% to 5% of the media may have playback imperfections or be outright bad burns). The 2nd class media may have a dozen or so bad discs. The 3rd class discs could give you a half-spindle of duds. And the 4th class stuff can be pure trash. These are mean averages too, simple statistics math, meaning best tests and worst tests are discarded, and the middle range of tests is the basis for these numbers. You may sometimes find the rare instance where a CMC spindle will be perfect and a Taiyo Yuden spindle will be completely flawed, but those times are the exception rather than the rule (and are not part of a mean average).

[handyguy]

Media ratings:
https://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia

[kicko]

if you look you can find fuji(japan) on sale at best buy 50 for $19.99 those are the only one i will buy, i did have some memorex and those worked ok but i had to burn at 2.4x to ensure a proper burn

[sssax2003]

Right now you can get a 50 pack of Verbatim DVD-R or DVD+R for $19.99 at Best Buy. It has the Media ID of MCC.

[lordsmurf]

Fry's has Fuji DVD+R (MIJ, YUDENT002) for $19.99 for 50-pack. Happy with them.

[macrovision]

I still use media that LordSmurf informed me are fakes but listen to this: 50 DVD-r for $17....I goto a local retailer for them....I've used Ritek and not only get coasters but my entire system locks up and needs to be restarted but with these "Matrix 8x DVD-r" I never have a coaster....never a complaint from my consumers but on the contrary(compliments about sharpness in the playback and never a compatibility issue) Not to mention they are rated 8x but they burn at 12x

[ROBERT BLACK]

but with these "Matrix 8x DVD-r" I never have a coaster....never a complaint from my consumers but on the contrary(compliments about sharpness in the playback and never a compatibility issue) Not to mention they are rated 8x but they burn at 12x

The Matrix stuff goes cheap in my city. About $10.99 for 25, if you shop around. The problem with stuff like Matrix/Longten or Princo is that the long term reliability is absolute crap. The initial quality is okay, but 6 months down the road forget it. All sorts of playback issues.


Bought some Ritek G05's recently. VERY good deal at $16.99 Cad for 50. No issues on my initial 5 burned discs. But I wonder if I won't be stating something different in 8 months. Good for throwaway films,TV, temporary data backup, but I certainly won't be storing anything important for the long term.

[macrovision]

So whats good for longterm storage and where the heck can we get equipment to press dvd's ?