Taiyo 4x "value dvd-r" @ shop4tech - any good?

[godbeer]

I'm about to place an order for a couple of hundred discs. In the past, I've always ordered the Ty 8x discs from Rima.com, 200 at a time, and haven't had any problems. Even though the discs are 8x, I always burn at 4x just to be on the safe side.

I was browsing through techbargains last night and found a deal on 4x Ty "value dvd-r" - I can get 200 discs at shop4tech shipped for $54 (with coupon) plus you get a free 5 pack of dvd-rw's. The link is:

http://www.shop4tech.com/user.htm?go=view_item&id=3007&cata=&s_cata=

The cost at Rima (for 200 of the 8x discs), including shipping, is $75 and change.

So, on the surface the shop4tech option seems like a good deal - 4x discs, which is all I need, some free dvd-rw's (Optodisc - may be crap, I've never used them, but they're free, so no risk), free shipping, and $21 less than Rima.

But before I order, I just wanted to see if there were any opinions on the 4x "value dvd-r" discs and shop4tech in general, since I've never used either. I did some searches, and opinions of shop4tech are mixed, and the few comments I've found about the "value disc" ty's were generally favorable. My main concern is the quality of the discs. If the Rima discs are better quality, then I'll just buy those - but If the shop4tech discs are equal quality but just slower burning, I may as well just get those since I only need 4x anyway.

So, should I spring for the shop4tech deal or just stick with Rima?

Any advice/comments, etc. are appreciated.

Thanks,

Roy

[lordsmurf]

Yes, good discs, good price.
Not fakes, not crap.

[gjb]

great quality, good price, i just went thru 100 disc with no problem

[ozymango]

These are the ones in the shrink wrap, right? I've purchased about 300 of these babies through a couple of different places (whoever had 'em on sale!) and I've had not one coaster. And I've burned these full and I mean full to the end on a couple of different projects and no problems playing all the way through on several different decks (sent these to friends).

Enjoy!

[godbeer]

These are the ones in the shrink wrap, right?

Yeah, the picture shows them shrinkwrapped with a wraparound brown label printed "value dvd-r".

__________________________________________________ ___________


Thanks to everyone for the replies. I ordered a couple of hundred this morning after Lordsmurf's reply. Now that everyone is praising them I may have to purchase a few more - 4x discs are hard to come by, especially quality ones.

The reason I was hesitant about these is that I remember reading a post sometime ago where someone claimed that these weren't actually 4x discs, but rather discs that were deemed not up to snuff for 8x or 16x, but were "ok" for 4x burning - thus they were packaged and sold as the 4x "value dvd-r" to get rid of them.

Thanks for the help!

Roy

[chas0039]

The reason I was hesitant about these is that I remember reading a post sometime ago where someone claimed that these weren't actually 4x discs, but rather discs that were deemed not up to snuff for 8x or 16x, but were "ok" for 4x burning - thus they were packaged and sold as the 4x "value dvd-r" to get rid of them.

Thanks for the help!

Roy

Not the case. Some people are getting TYG02 instead of TYG01 and the general impression is that these discs have a potential for more block errors.

Some people have encountered a few bad discs and most have not. The only scan I have ever had with zero PIF came from these value discs. They are a very good deal.

BTW, allmediaoutlet.com also has Ricoh 4X for $19 per 100 after the ricoh4off coupon. These should be RICOHJPN R01 which is very good media.

[handyguy]

Yes, but if they are 4x, how old could they be?

[samijubal]

What is the coupon code for Shop4tech? I didn't get an e-mail this time for some reason.

[godbeer]

What is the coupon code for Shop4tech? I didn't get an e-mail this time for some reason.

The code is "techbargains" - it's 10% off.

[Mtajr1]

Yeah I bought 200 of these and they work great on my stand DVD players but some of my business partners weren't able to play them in their players so I had to go back to my old reliable ProDisc 8x

[mikeski488]

I have recently started using these disc too, and have had no problems burning them on my Pioneer DVR-107D, and have had no problems with play back on a few dvd players. I will defenetly get more of these discs when i run out.

[bhamill]

I've used at least 500 of these, NO coasters. My NEC writer will burn them at 8x, but I opt for 4x anyhow. Can usually get a good deal on them at meritline, 30$ or so per 100 delivered.

[capvid0429]

I used this code last night for my 10% discount. "TURKEY10"

[godbeer]

I received my order Thursday, and finally got some time today to burn a few of them.

So far, so good. The only complaint I have is with Shop4Tech's packaging - the 2 shrinkwrapped disc bundles were wrapped in Bubble Wrap and put in a larger box than needed with no extra packing material. The 5 free dvd-rw were each in a seperate paper sleeve with a rubber band around them to hold all five together. They were just tossed into the box with the 2 100 packs. The box traveled from California to Georgia and was in pretty bad condition. With everything bouncing around loose during the 5 day UPS trip, I'm surprised there wasn't any damage.

I've only opened one pack of the discs, and to my surprise they are 16x Ty G03's. So, it seems like an even better deal, but since I burn at 4x it doesn't make any difference to me. However, the paranoid side of me makes me wonder why they would package and sell 16x discs as discounted 4x discs.

The reason I burn at 4x is simply that I've read a lot of posts stating that the slower burning speed results in better quality burns. On the other hand, I've also read posts stating that burning discs at a slower rate than what they were designed for (burning a 16x disc at 4x for example) could also cause problems. Anyone have any info on this - why is a 4x burn more reliable than an 8x or 16x burn, and what (if any) problems could arise from burning a 16x disc at 4x, etc.?

I'm considering bumping up my burn speed to 8x, which would save some time since I can burn a disc at 8x in about 5 - 6 minutes instead of 10 - 12 @4x. I don't see any reason to burn at 16x, since the disc only reaches 16x at the end of the burn and the time saved is maybe a minute at best. My pc is new and fairly fast (P4 3ghz HT, 2gb ram, sata drives, etc.) I've burned at 8x and 16 before, and everything came out fine - However, the buffers fluctuate a lot at higher speeds, while they stay at 100% @ 4x. Like I said above, I've just stuck to 4x burning lately because I've read so many post saying it is more reliable to burn at a slower speed, although I've never read anything that really explained what problems could result from burning at faster speeds. If I bump up to 8x burning, could it really cause any problems or cause the disc to be less reliable than if burned at 4x (and if so, what kind of problems).

Thanks for any info/advice,

Roy

[cal_tony]

I've bought them and every once in a while I have a problem with the disk but not often enough to even think about how often. However, even though these disks will write just fine at 8x, I burn all my disks 8x or 4x at 6x.
These 4x ty's are my disk of choice and I buy them whenever they are on sale. A great disk even to the very end.

[chas0039]

Anyone have any info on this - why is a 4x burn more reliable than an 8x or 16x burn, and what (if any) problems could arise from burning a 16x disc at 4x, etc.?
If I bump up to 8x burning, could it really cause any problems or cause the disc to be less reliable than if burned at 4x (and if so, what kind of problems).

Thanks for any info/advice,

Roy

These are genuine TY; a number of people are reporting that now the "value discs" are TYG01, TYG02, and TYG03. Burning at 4X is not always a better burn when you do so on discs rated for higher speeds, especially with -R media. It really depends on the burner.

I would absolutely burn these at 8X, depending on the burner and firmware you have you could go to 12X which seems to be the sweet spot for most people who have burned a lot of these.

[ybeard]

Just ordered 200 of these puppies myself. Have bought the Value DVD-r's from Shop4Tech before and got Ty01's. They burn just fine at 8X for me and nary a coaster.

[skeg64]

I burn a lot of the 4X TY value discs on a NEC3520A at 8X, and find there are more PIF errors at the start of the disc, where it burns at 4X. So it seems they are better off burnt at 8X on this burner.

[NiteLite]

BenQ states a 1, 2, 4X write capability with the TYG01 "value" while Plextor adds 8X.
Strange but I only write at the rated speed so no biggie.
The only problem I had with the ones I tried were probably related to the packing and shipping across country. Not a good job and a few off the top and bottom had to be thrown away due to severe scuffing, again, probably due to shipping. The others burned fine.
The 8X from Rima @ 32.99 /hundred are excellent and write fine at 1X on the standalone.
According to scans my writers like 8X over 4X but I'm not one to make decisions solely based on scans.
Good price and free shipping always a bonus. Enjoy,
NL

[deck]

I got this email the other week from JPL the official distributor of taiyo yuden discs in australia.

There are also some changes in the TY OEM's, the 4x Inkjet Printable has now been discontinued so we have limited stocks of the TYG01 but it has bee replaced with the TY 8x OEM Inkjet printable TYG02. The TY OEM 4x Thermal printable will still be available for a little while yet so there are no changes to the Thermal Printable version at this stage. Currently we are talking to Taiyo Yuden about the possibility of finally adding some retail packaging to all of there products (other than the OEM). As we all know there are quite allot of fraudulent Taiyo Yuden's produced which Taiyo Yuden are certainly aware of but it is certainly time for Taiyo Yuden to step up with some retail packaging for their consumer products.

[mikesbytes]

Clicking on world wide shipping doesn't bring anything up.

[chas0039]

I burn a lot of the 4X TY value discs on a NEC3520A at 8X, and find there are more PIF errors at the start of the disc, where it burns at 4X. So it seems they are better off burnt at 8X on this burner.

Be aware that TY 4X Value line does not tell you what the rated burn speed is.

TYG01 are 4X, TYG02 are 8X, and TYG03 are 16X. Most often the 4X are best at 4X, the 8X are best at 8X and on SOME burners at 4X, and the 16X are best at 12X.

[zanos]

I really wish these were 8x.

[godbeer]

I really wish these were 8x.

In some cases they are. In fact, the ones I got from Shop4tech were 16x (Ty G03). Luck of the draw I guess.

Roy

[scoooott]

Good disc with best price.