Verbatim DVD+R DL - Made In India?

[zippy2k2]

My local Sam's Club is selling a 50 pack of these for $69. I thought that was a great price until I saw that they were made in India, not Singapore. I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with these discs and can tell me if they're as good as the Singapore discs?

[OneSickPup]

Those are just beginning to show up from what I have heard. I don't think they have been spotted anywhere except here in the US.

Why don't you buy some and give us a review.

[SCDVD]

I suspect these are probably produced by Moser Baer. I will be very interested in hearing how they work. I wonder if Costco carries them too.

[OneSickPup]

I suspect these are probably produced by Moser Baer. I will be very interested in hearing how they work. I wonder if Costco carries them too.

I'm sure you're correct as Verbatim has outsourced SL 16x media to Moser Baer for quite some time now. We just don't see it here in the US for reasons unknown to me. I'd almost go buy some just to test but not a 50 disc cakebox at over $70 after tax. The packaging is also new to what we see here in the US for Verbatim products:

[lordsmurf]

I'd test a smaller number before I paid $70 for what might turn out to be crap. MBI does fine with SL, but DL is a little more needy.

[Noahtuck]

Yeah, i alway's thought media from india was crap anyway's ??

It sure would suck if Verbatim screwed up the only good DL media out there

[Gen-An]

The discs are still made using Mitsubishi tech and will carry the MKM001 MID. This was announced a few months ago though, that MKM would be outsourcing the production of DL media to MBIL in India, so this should come as no surprise. I think the plant in Singapore will be solely focused on HD-DVD and Blu Ray.

[OneSickPup]

The discs are still made using Mitsubishi tech and will carry the MKM001 MID. This was announced a few months ago though, that MKM would be outsourcing the production of DL media to MBIL in India, so this should come as no surprise. I think the plant in Singapore will be solely focused on HD-DVD and Blu Ray.

Oh - I agree with you this was announced previously and should not be a shocker. The only thing I find surprising is that it appears first in the US and is packaged in cakeboxes of 50 and surfaces at Sam's Club. I don't want to start a conspiracy theory but that does leave one to at least suspicion a quantity dump of early production runs.

[louv68]

I just saw that Micro Center has 20pk Verbatim DVD+R DL for $27.99 Don't know where they are made though. That's a pretty nice price.

[SCDVD]

I just saw that Micro Center has 20pk Verbatim DVD+R DL for $27.99 Don't know where they are made though. That's a pretty nice price.

If anyone buys these, please post your results. I assume and hope that Verbatim's QC is good. People have a high regard for Verbatim's DL media. It won't take long for them to hurt their image if they pull any funny stuff. Hopefully they realize that.

[mill48]

I just saw that Micro Center has 20pk Verbatim DVD+R DL for $27.99 Don't know where they are made though. That's a pretty nice price.

If anyone buys these, please post your results. I assume and hope that Verbatim's QC is good. People have a high regard for Verbatim's DL media. It won't take long for them to hurt their image if they pull any funny stuff. Hopefully they realize that.

Just took the plunge ... couldn't resist the price!

Here's the skinny, per DVD Identifier 5.0.1:


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD+R-DL:MKM-001-000]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc & Book Type : [DVD+R DL] - [DVD+R DL]
Manufacturer Name : [Mitsubishi Kagaku Media]
Manufacturer ID : [MKM]
Media Type ID : [001]
Product Revision : [Not Specified]
Blank Disc Capacity : [4,173,824 Sectors = 8.55 GB (7.96 GiB)]
Recording Speeds : [2.4x]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ DVD Identifier V5.0.1 - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Haven't burned any yet (just received them this morning) ...

[progrocktv]

Please let us know if anyone gets the discs from Sam's (though I feel like I'll probably be the first to take the plunge)

[OneSickPup]

I've been following a similar thread to this one over at CDFreaks.com and have seen reports that some Sam's Clubs have these cakeboxes in the same packaging but COO is MIS (made in Singapore). Same pricing AFAIK. Still no Verbatim +R DL at 3 of the Sam's I've visited recently (2 in Louisville - 1 in Lexington).

[Seeker47]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD+R-DL:MKM-001-000]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc & Book Type : [DVD+R DL] - [DVD+R DL]
Manufacturer Name : [Mitsubishi Kagaku Media]
Manufacturer ID : [MKM]
Media Type ID : [001]
Product Revision : [Not Specified]
Blank Disc Capacity : [4,173,824 Sectors = 8.55 GB (7.96 GiB)]
Recording Speeds : [2.4x]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Haven't burned any yet (just received them this morning) ...

Yes, but the Singaporean Verb DLs I've been buying for some time now have a max speed rating of 6x or 8x. (And aren't some faster rated ones announced to be in the pipeline very soon ?) I'm not referring to the speed at which you probably should burn these, depending on which make / model of burner you have. (I've generally been burning my Verb DLs at 4x . . . . )

[progrocktv]

Just got back from Sam's. Apparently some Sam's are selling Made In India discs, but mine are Made In Singapore

[MrMoody]

Most of the Sam's around here don't have these. Luckily you can check store stock online (in sort of a roundabout way). The closest one that did is 40 miles away, but I went and got a spindle anyway. They are made in India but the media ID is identical to the Singapore ones.

The only thing I find surprising is that it appears first in the US and is packaged in cakeboxes of 50 and surfaces at Sam's Club. I don't want to start a cospiracy theory but that does leave one to at least suspicion a quantity dump of early production runs.

This wouldn't surprise me, especially since Sam's/Walmart are known for buying this type of thing.

My experience with these is that they are pretty good, still better than any others I've tried, but definitely one notch below the (discontinued, sniff) Singapore discs. I've always burned the Singapore MKM001s at 6X, and even a few at 8X with no problems.

Side note for those who may not realize it, MKM001s are only rated at 2.4X. These have generally been available in 10-packs and triple-10-packs. There are also MKM003s which are rated at 8X. I've only seen them in 20s, and are harder to find lately, I'm afraid they've gone the way of the dodo as well. Perhaps MB will start making them when they get the quality of the MKM001s under control.

Anyway, I got through about 10 of these India MKM001s at 6X before getting a verify failure at the layer break. The next two failed the same way as well. I dropped to 2.4X and one worked OK, so I went up to 4X and the next 15 or so have been fine at that speed.

I haven't scanned them because I've found that my Pioneer burner doesn't produce very useful scans, and in fact the last time I tried a DL it wouldn't scan past the layer break at all. Maybe someone with a better scanning drive would post some scans.

[MrMoody]

Followup: I got a total of about 22 at 4X before one coastered again. Next one was OK at 2.4X, I guess I'll leave it that way. MrM cannot recommend these unless Singapores are unavailable, then you'd better lock them at 2.4X ...

[TBoneit]

Sad commentary. Now I wish I'd bought more when they were on sale at the local Best Buy. The ones they had were the MIS. I only bought 3 twenty packs.

[Seeker47]

Sad commentary. Now I wish I'd bought more when they were on sale at the local Best Buy. The ones they had were the MIS. I only bought 3 twenty packs.

BB had the 20 packs on sale for $30. about a week ago. (Saw this in the recurring "news" thread here about DL on sale.) I bought a spindle, as the label said MIS. Maybe I should have bought 2 or 3, but I'm glad to say that I haven't run into the India made ones yet. In my experience, their CD or DVD blanks are CRAP !

[TBoneit]

That would be when I bought them, I wish I'd bought more now, oh well hindsight always works perfectly.

It does sound like the new MII re not as good. at the cost I hate coasters and testing to find the right (slower) speed they'll work at. maybe the dye isn't as good?

[MrMoody]

Judging by the way they always fail at the layer break, I'd make a wild guess that the layers aren't aligned/centered perfectly with each other. The dye looks the same, and I can't see any of the usual crap disc surface defects like voids or thin spots.

[TBoneit]

Back in the days when the verbatims were really expensive I tried some Memorex (Ritek) as they were cheap. When I burned them on a Pioneer 109 with the latest firmware they usually failed at the layer break.

So I put them aside, When I got a Lite-On SuperAllWrite Burner to replace the Pioneer I tred again. Same computer, Some Software, Nero or DVD Decrypter to burn. Difference was this time ISO read/ISO Burn and they played fine. For me the burner did make a difference. Possible that the Verbatims would have worked OK in the Pioneer I just didn't want to spend the money as a test.

The ones that failed at the layer change did burn OK as far as the software was concerned. Playing them was another story. As soon as they hit the layer break they would start freezing, skipping and locking up. Using the chapters would let some of the second layer play OK once it started reading further in towards the center. That made me wonder if the laser hadn't quite put enough power into the burn giving a bad burn for the second layer at the edge.

I wonder if when the drive does a power calibration if it even tests the second layer?

Now with the Lite-On and Imgburn and TDA3 I can author my own DL videos and burn them and they play fine. I also use Nero 6.6xx to burn DL data discs and they are good too. The backups I've done can be used OK. I used Dls to move some thing to a new computer.

[MrMoody]

Yes, the Pioneers do the second layer calibration when it finishes the first layer. You can see the burn pause as the drive spins up and down 2-3 times.

We're going off on a tangent here, but my 109 liked the Matrix 2.4x DLs from shop4tech.com (RICOHJPND00) just fine, never had a coaster in 100 burns, played fine in several standalones. The only problem is they wouldn't read in my laptop which is a deal killer. The dye looks very dark compared to the Verbatims.

[TBoneit]

I never noticed the spin up and down at the layer break since I had the computer in another room for noise reduction and use a wireless mouse and keyboard. I also wnet back to watching TV and family while it burned.

The replacement is quieter and runs media center 2005 so I have next to the TV set. connected via VGA to the TV. The old one when I built it I wasn't worried about noise as I used it sitting at the leyboard in a computer room. Then I decided to use it concurrently while watching TV so I could swicth back and forth and get work done and also watch TV. So noise became an issue and I had to run 16ft. of VGA for the diaplay and retired my old 19" FP. and go to wireless KB and mouse.

[MrMoody]

Blank #38=Coaster #5 at 2.4X

[TBoneit]

At the price of DL media 5 coasters is 4.9 per spindle to many. IOWS I couild live with 1 per hundred discs but five from one spindle? No way!

[negritude]

Just send email to techsupport@verbatim.com and ask to have your coasters replaced. Verbatim media has a lifetime warranty, and they will send you new disks for any that don't burn properly.

[MrMoody]

Just send email to techsupport@verbatim.com and ask to have your coasters replaced. Verbatim media has a lifetime warranty, and they will send you new disks for any that don't burn properly.

Thanks!

When I finished the spindle, the coaster count was 9. I emailed the above address on 7/24 (9 days ago). I didn't ever get a reply, but today a brand new 10-pack of MIS showed up in my mailbox! Way to go, Verbatim! The only brand of +R DLs and +/-RWs as far as I'm concerned.