Looking for high quality DVD +RWs

[KnightInExile]

Hello. I am looking to buy some blank DVD +RWs that have the highest quality. In the past, I bought the one from Memorex and I've attached a photo for everybody to see.
This is perhaps the worse brand I've come across because they either skip tracks or freeze out. Does anyone know a good brand that contains DVD +RWs?

[jagabo]

Verbatim

[jman98]

The WORST media I EVER bought on DVD was Memorex, hands down. Even 5 or so years ago when many of the sellers were using the very best manufacturers for their media, Memorex was cheap crap. So you are quite right to recognize that it's crap.

Verbatim is your ONLY option. The only other manufacturer that consistently makes high quality media is Taiyo Yuden and they do not manufacture RW discs. Do note that despite manufacturer claims of tens of thousands of uses per disc that my experience and that of some others here is that RW discs are somewhat risky and even Verbatim has been known to have a few problematic discs in a spindle. The vast majority of Verbatim DVD+RW discs will be fine, but I've seen a small number that misbehaved after a small number of burns. I just throw those out and grab the next disc on the spindle. Finally, please understand that DVD+/-RW discs were never intended to be used for long term storage and phase change media that makes re-writing possible may break down and render the disc unreadable even if stored and not used after some period of time. That "period of time" could be years or months. But my experience is that if a Verbatim disc burns clean and it works immediately after you burn it that even their DVD+RW discs will probably be OK for several years.

[KnightInExile]

The WORST media I EVER bought on DVD was Memorex, hands down. Even 5 or so years ago when many of the sellers were using the very best manufacturers for their media, Memorex was cheap crap. So you are quite right to recognize that it's crap.

Verbatim is your ONLY option. The only other manufacturer that consistently makes high quality media is Taiyo Yuden and they do not manufacture RW discs. Do note that despite manufacturer claims of tens of thousands of uses per disc that my experience and that of some others here is that RW discs are somewhat risky and even Verbatim has been known to have a few problematic discs in a spindle. The vast majority of Verbatim DVD+RW discs will be fine, but I've seen a small number that misbehaved after a small number of burns. I just throw those out and grab the next disc on the spindle. Finally, please understand that DVD+/-RW discs were never intended to be used for long term storage and phase change media that makes re-writing possible may break down and render the disc unreadable even if stored and not used after some period of time. That "period of time" could be years or months. But my experience is that if a Verbatim disc burns clean and it works immediately after you burn it that even their DVD+RW discs will probably be OK for several years.

Hey, thanks for the information! I have been purchasing Memorex DVDs for quite some time until I got a clue that something smelled fishy about its quality. My goal is to use DVD +RWs to record certain programs that will never be available on DVD and then transfer them to +R or -R DVDs because I understand that they are superior in terms of quality to +RW and -RW DVDs. As a matter of curiosity, why do DVD +RW discs only lasts for several years as oppose to the DVD +R discs?

[Constant Gardener]

I have some Memorex DVD+RWs that are at least five years old and continue to work flawlessly; I use them for testing DVD layouts. They identify as RICOHJPN-W11-01 but the packaging says "Made in Taiwan" which doesn't help much when shopping. On the other hand, I had a batch of Memorex CD-RWs that died after a few uses. I've encountered mixed results with their one-time products, which is why I now buy Taiyo Yuden and Verbatim.

I should emphasize that I haven't bought any RW products in the last five years, so I have no experience of current Memorex products.

[jman98]

DVD+/-RW uses what is called "phase change media" to allow re-writing. Basically the media is not stable because it's purpose is to be erased and re-used. So even if you don't touch a DVD-/+RW disc, eventually the phase change media will break down and the disc will become unreadable. It's just a question of when. That which makes it re-writable makes it non-permanent.

We recommend only Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim (anything except their Life series - all other discs they make, including DataLifePlus, are fine) as the last top quality manufacturers of DVD media so you should stick to those for your DVD-/+R needs.