ridata dvdrs are the absolute worst garbage you can buy

[octeuron]

Describe your tests.

i burn and 'verify' with nero.

then i open in explorer and play 5 or so videos; the first, the last, around middle, and couple random (the disks were used to back up home made movies and photos - burned as data in a single folder)

[Seeker47]

That's not correct.
Pioneer does still make their own burners.
But they switched to Mediatek chipsets. They no longer use NEC chipsets.

I know there was some confusion in forums regarding this, much of last year.

I think I have seen Pioneer Blu-Ray drives being sold. Who makes those ? And how is it that a company that has been circling the wagons, barely hanging on via the niche of car audio (vs. what they once were) is supposedly still in the game with any more high-falutin' products ?

[lordsmurf]

Describe your tests.

i burn and 'verify' with nero.
then i open in explorer and play 5 or so videos; the first, the last, around middle, and couple random (the disks were used to back up home made movies and photos - burned as data in a single folder)

Your tests are therefore invalidated. Here's why:

1. There is a well-known high false results ratio with Nero's "verify" function. It's extremely common to be given passing grades on bad discs, or failing grades on perfectly good discs. It's unclear to many of us what Nero is even doing during those minutes it's "verifying" a disc.

2. Randomized playing is not a test of any sort, aside from the ability to quickly pre-test for edge-of-disc errors.

Sorry, but you did not test any of your discs.
But again, that's not your fault -- you didn't know any better. I feel bad for you.

[octeuron]

Describe your tests.

i burn and 'verify' with nero.
then i open in explorer and play 5 or so videos; the first, the last, around middle, and couple random (the disks were used to back up home made movies and photos - burned as data in a single folder)

Your tests are therefore invalidated. Here's why:

1. There is a well-known high false results ratio with Nero's "verify" function. It's extremely common to be given passing grades on bad discs, or failing grades on perfectly good discs. It's unclear to many of us what Nero is even doing during those minutes it's "verifying" a disc.

2. Randomized playing is not a test of any sort, aside from the ability to quickly pre-test for edge-of-disc errors.

Sorry, but you did not test any of your discs.
But again, that's not your fault -- you didn't know any better. I feel bad for you.

i did not test my disks?
laughable.
weird how when i initially played the first and last videos after burning the disks, THEY ALL PLAYED perfectly.
and now while the sonys are unchanged, the ridatas: NONE OF THE LAST VIDEOS PLAY ON ANY DISK EXCEPT ONE.
sorry but this proves your theory 100% wrong.

[DarrellS]

I burn all my DVD data discs with Nero and turn off error checking. All of my data DVDs are Ridata (used all my Ritek discs burning DVD coasters with DVDDecrypter) and all my movie DVDs are Fuji (no coasters) but I haven't burnt a movie DVD since buying my WDTV.

I didn't know that all 25 Ritek discs were bad until I went to play them. Now I check all my discs when I burn them.

I've never had a bad burn creating DVD data discs. I did have trouble with Sony CDs where every single burn was a coaster. Not sure what the problem was. Threw them away and bought 100pk of TDK CDs and haven't had a problem since. Something must've gone wrong in the production process since I never had a problem before and have never had a problem since.

Using Windows to verify your movie data discs isn't a great idea. A disc may play fine in MPC but refuse to play on a stand alone DVD player. I don't try and put a bunch of movies on one data DVD. I'd rather put one 3+GB movie on one disc. If it's a low quality downloaded movie then a CD would probably be a better option. A lesson I learned years ago was to not try and burn to the edge on DVDs. Especially cheap DVDs. It's not surprising that all but one Ridata will not play the last file on the disc.

The best option for me is one copy on a storage drive on my PC and one copy on an external drive. No coasters this way. Pretty much all I use my DVD drive for anymore is software. With the money I spent buying DVD burners, DVDs, DVD cases, paper, ink and a new printer to replace the one that I wore out, I could've bought 10 or 12 1TB drives.

[octeuron]

The best option for me is one copy on a storage drive on my PC and one copy on an external drive.

couldnt agree more... since harddrive prices have dropped so much in recent years, im starting to wonder why i put the time and effort into backing things up on disks.
i might just buy two drives and clone them, or do a raid1 setup.

i think exposed optical media will soon be a thing of the past.
blue ray disks are probably the last of exposed optical storage especially since the cost of flash memory is dropping fast
in the future we will either buy movies on some sort of flash media (but most will probably just download)

[aedipuss]

That's not correct.
Pioneer does still make their own burners.
But they switched to Mediatek chipsets. They no longer use NEC chipsets.

I know there was some confusion in forums regarding this, much of last year.

sorry to disagree but you're wrong.

Pioneer has started rebadging ASUS drives for their retail products. The first of such products is the DVR-213LS, which is based on the ASUS DRW-2014L1T. As of 2009, Pioneer have begun to outsource the production of their drives to QSI in China. These drives can be distinguished from previous drives by a completely different chassis and front bezel design.

[classfour]

Plextor is outsourcing as well - the last one (and I mean THE LAST ONE) is a POS, and I won't buy another.......anyone looking to purchase a "like-new" Plextor drive?????


Any Takers?????

[Noahtuck]

Describe your tests.

i burn and 'verify' with nero.

This $h!t just kills me!!!!!
LMAO!!!!

[lordsmurf]

Pioneer has started rebadging ASUS drives for their retail products. The first of such products is the DVR-213LS, which is based on the ASUS DRW-2014L1T. As of 2009, Pioneer have begun to outsource the production of their drives to QSI in China. These drives can be distinguished from previous drives by a completely different chassis and front bezel design.

Source?

[DarrellS]

That's not correct.
Pioneer does still make their own burners.
But they switched to Mediatek chipsets. They no longer use NEC chipsets.

I know there was some confusion in forums regarding this, much of last year.

sorry to disagree but you're wrong.

Pioneer has started rebadging ASUS drives for their retail products. The first of such products is the DVR-213LS, which is based on the ASUS DRW-2014L1T. As of 2009, Pioneer have begun to outsource the production of their drives to QSI in China. These drives can be distinguished from previous drives by a completely different chassis and front bezel design.

My friend bought a Pioneer 116D last summer and it would freeze his computer every time he tried to use it. He gave it to me to try in a spare PC and I had the same problem. Just did a google search and it seems a lot of people had the same problem with this model.

All I've ever bought is Liteons and I haven't had any problems. My friend only buys Samsungs now and no problems (he thinks he needs three DVD burners in each PC in case two go out. I guess he didn't have much luck with his Plextors and Mad Dogs either.

[Seeker47]

im starting to wonder why i put the time and effort into backing things up on disks.
. . .
blue ray disks are probably the last of exposed optical storage especially since the cost of flash memory is dropping fast
in the future we will either buy movies on some sort of flash media (but most will probably just download)

Backup redundancy. Not betting everything on one solution.

Blu-Ray is unlikely to become the next big standard in optical storage for users, so long as the blanks are running anywhere near this $25. a shot level. That is more of a reason why it may be the end of the line.

HDDs can fail. Flash media can go bad, plus having some finite number of writes. (I haven't run into these issues myself, but then I spread usage over a fair number of samples . . . also trying to have critical stuff present on more than one of these.)

[dvdsham]

as ive mentioned, the discs were tested and used and were fine for a couple of months. only after 2 years (which is really not that long) they failed.

John likes blue.
John likes bananas.
Bananas must be blue.
....... that's the logic you're applying here. And it's wrong. You don't understand media well enough to trace the actual issue, so you've blamed the disc for magically "disappearing" your data. Sorry, but that doesn't happen. More likely is you remember wrong, and the discs were never good. Or handling issues have created issues. Or the equipment you're using now is aged or inferior. Those are the only options. "Data disappeared" isn't one of them.

Maxell DVD-R & +R with the blue label are junk as well but however at least Maxell got their act together and put out more decent blanks in the gold label series

Maxell has used blue/green, yellow and gold through the series. All of those discs are consumer series media. Many of them in then 2x-4x days were actual MXL media. A few in the 8x days were too. But there have also been a lot of Ricoh, Ritek, Ritek/Ricoh, CMC and others. Anything you buy now is no different than a Memorex.

What I noticed the material that burns our image on is actually silver but the manufactures add a purple dye. I guess they do this to distinguished them to original bought dvd movies.

No. The silver foil is the backing. The dye is what gets burned. I don't know how you arrived at that conclusion, but it's wholly incorrect.

Please, please, please read the blank DVD media guides at http://www.digitalFAQ.com/guides/media/index.htm

I hate to seem mean, but the things both of you are saying are ridiculous. That's okay, you don't understand media. That's understandable. But the information for learning is there.

Now get to reading!

If you don't mind, go tap a screw driver against the edge on an original Hollywood DVD until it splits and see for yourself that there is no dye on these types of DVD'S. Now do the same with a cheap ordinary blank. The manufactures put the dye onto the disc. Be sure that you burn about a 1 gig first before you split it. You will see the burn line is actually in the silver foil.

[lordsmurf]

If you don't mind, go tap a screw driver against the edge on an original Hollywood DVD until it splits and see for yourself that there is no dye on these types of DVD'S.

Obviously.

Now do the same with a cheap ordinary blank. The manufactures put the dye onto the disc. Be sure that you burn about a 1 gig first before you split it. You will see the burn line is actually in the silver foil.

No. This is just stupid. The dye is what gets burned.

FYI, the foil isn't "silver" either -- it's a doped silver alloy.
I really wish people would have their facts straight before trying to "correct" me on optical disc science.

[frlane]

Doesn't Ritek make a lot of the disks for many of the other brands? I thought I had heard that. Anyway, I too have had great luck with the Ritek DVDs.

[dvdsham]

If you don't mind, go tap a screw driver against the edge on an original Hollywood DVD until it splits and see for yourself that there is no dye on these types of DVD'S.

Obviously.

Now do the same with a cheap ordinary blank. The manufactures put the dye onto the disc. Be sure that you burn about a 1 gig first before you split it. You will see the burn line is actually in the silver foil.

No. This is just stupid. The dye is what gets burned.

FYI, the foil isn't "silver" either -- it's a doped silver alloy.
I really wish people would have their facts straight before trying to "correct" me on optical disc science.

You should investigate disc science before arguing with someone who has taken DVD'S apart. It's not the dye that is being burned...It's the silver backing!!! Ever notice a blank DVD that has a darker purple spot on it then anywhere else? If you have then, you would have noticed the burn will fail when it comes to that dark spot of dye. Too much dye on these DVD's will fail the burn process!!! I have a DVD blank from SONY that has an area of no dye just under the size of a penny and the burn process was successful!!! The silver backing is where the data is burned too!!!

[lordsmurf]

I have a DVD blank from SONY that has an area of no dye just under the size of a penny and the burn process was successful!!! The silver backing is where the data is burned too!!!

Bullshit.

Doesn't Ritek make a lot of the disks for many of the other brands?

Yes, many.

[hech54]

You will see the burn line is actually in the silver foil.

Yea right....

[johns0]

You should investigate disc science before arguing with someone who has taken DVD'S apart. It's not the dye that is being burned...It's the silver backing!!! Ever notice a blank DVD that has a darker purple spot on it then anywhere else? If you have then, you would have noticed the burn will fail when it comes to that dark spot of dye. Too much dye on these DVD's will fail the burn process!!! I have a DVD blank from SONY that has an area of no dye just under the size of a penny and the burn process was successful!!! The silver backing is where the data is burned too!!!

Look up dvd dye on google,did you ever read on the principles of what gets burned on dvd?

[VegasBud]

dvdsham,

I think it's the different ways rom (stamped, replicated, etc.) disks and writeable (dvdr) disks work which is confusing you.

With rom disks, there is no need for a dye layer because the pits and lands are formed in the polycarbonate substrate itself. Then that surface is coated with a very thin layer of reflective material (metal alloy, most commonly), so it reflects the laser beam.

By making the pit width equal to 1/2 the diameter of the laser spot (on the data layer), and the pit depth equal to 1/4 the wavelength of the laser, the reflected light from a pit is 1/2 a wavelength out of phase with the reflected light from the surface around the pit (in the same spot). The "destructive interference" between the light from the differently reflected parts results in a weak returned signal.

In contrast, when the laser is directed at a land spot, where the land is at the same level as the surface around the land, there is no interference, which results in a strong returned signal.

Strong/weak signal...on/off...binary 1/0...are just different ways to represent a binary state.

Writeable disks, on the other hand, don't (and can't) have the pits and lands pre-formed in the polycarbonate substrate, so it's just flat, as is the reflective layer. With these disks (dvdr), a layer of dye is put between the reflective layer and the laser. When the disk is "burned", the laser can either cause a thermal reaction in the dye (to make that spot in the dye layer opaque), or leave the dye alone (which leaves that spot in the dye layer translucent). When the "burned" disk is read, where the laser spot is directed on an opaque spot, the light is absorbed by the dye layer, so a weak signal is returned at the read head. When the laser spot is directed on a translucent spot on the disk, the laser goes through the dye layer and bounces off the underlying reflective layer, so a strong signal is returned.

As you can see, while the read head is just deciding (for a given spot on the disk) whether a lot of the laser was reflected back, or very little was reflected back, there is more than one technique which can be used to influence how much of the laser beam returns to the read head...which is why dvd-rom and dvdr are both similar and different at the same time.