Maxell 2x DVD-R from Meritline. Personal media report.

[Faustus]

Well I ordered 125 of the Maxell 2x disk offered on sale so recently on Meritline because they assured me that if I was unhappy with the quality I could get them replaced with a like dollar ammount in Riteks.

Anyone the order came in today, about when I originally thought they would, but given they claim they did not ship until Monday it seems very fast. So it was time for the trial. I should also note that a good friend of mine ordered some at the same time.

Test 1 was a 4.2gb movie, burned fine, then said "No disk" in my DVd player, and would just sit there in another.

Test 2 burned fine also, then the movie plays perfectly until the end with no skips or pauses that I can see.

Test 3 was performed by my friend, first disk burned and played great.

Test 4 has not yet been performed, I have a burner that is very picky. Its my old A04 that stopped being able to burn cheap media. If my burner burns this then I figure I just got unlucky with the first disk and everything is fine.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Notes about the disk: The bottom color looks to either be an exact match for the Apple branded MXL disk, and even the codes match when I checked. The quality of the disk does seem a LITTLE lower then the actual apple disk, however the data area is perfect.

[bokkasrealm]

I have had much success with these discs. I can never find any for a good price though. Always above $2 a piece.

[Faustus]

Got mine here: http://www.meritline.com/nemaun4dv2xc1.html

Also the Meritline brand also seems to be Maxells right now, as they both come in 125 packs which is an odd size. Sadly the sale is over for 30% off so I doubt I'll order any more unless they come down in price some.

[txpharoah]

I have some PULSE DVD-R's that have Maxell Media ID's, but I'm not so sure they are real ID's, similar to the Princo=TDK issues and others.

[Faustus]

Just got finished burning on the picky burner. For some reason it burned at 1x even thought we selected 2x. Might be related to the recent A04 firmware update, i dunno. either way the disk did burn fine, and plays all the way through with no errors. Size on disk was 4.35gb, doesn't get much closer to the edge then that.

As of now I think these disk rock.

[disturbed1]

Should also be noted that these are Unbranded Maxell. Entirely different media than TDK, Maxell, and Apple.

They are not made by Maxell, but an old Maxell OEM disc manufacturer.

I've had about the same results as flaystus. I've burnt 450 (50 left out of 500) of these Maxell Unbranded, and ended up with a total of 10 coasters. These were due to media imperfections, such as bad dye coating. Most of the errors happened just before the 2,000,000 sector mark (shy of 4 gig). Blemishes could be seen on these bad discs towards the edges. A few had blems inside the first few 100 sectors.

The blems are random, not like 3 blems at the bottom/top of every batch, but 1 here, then 1 there etc...

All disc were burnt at 1x with either Primo DVD or Maestro, spread across 4 Panasonic LF-D311, and a Pioneer A03. No one drive, or burning tool exihibted more/less coasters than the other.

At an average cost almost equal/slightly less than Ritek, Ritek is a better deal IMO

If Ritek was out of stock, I would buy these instead, which is why I picked 'em up in the first place.

Of course your mileage may vary.

I didn't order from Meritline but here's my Media ID for comparison
00 42 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 50 00 02 58 0E 11 .B...@....P..X..
98 99 80 00 03 4D 58 4C 20 52 47 00 04 30 31 00 .....MXL RG..01.
00 00 00 00 05 88 80 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 ................

[Faustus]

I take every good thing I said about this media back. AFter a few good burns now everything either says "No disk" or never stops trying to spin up. This is reguardless of burnsoftware or DVD burner. I'm sending them back for Riteks.

[next]

Should also be noted that these are Unbranded Maxell. Entirely different media than TDK, Maxell, and Apple.

They are not made by Maxell, but an old Maxell OEM disc manufacturer.

I've had about the same results as flaystus. I've burnt 450 (50 left out of 500) of these Maxell Unbranded, and ended up with a total of 10 coasters. These were due to media imperfections, such as bad dye coating. Most of the errors happened just before the 2,000,000 sector mark (shy of 4 gig). Blemishes could be seen on these bad discs towards the edges. A few had blems inside the first few 100 sectors.

The blems are random, not like 3 blems at the bottom/top of every batch, but 1 here, then 1 there etc...

All disc were burnt at 1x with either Primo DVD or Maestro, spread across 4 Panasonic LF-D311, and a Pioneer A03. No one drive, or burning tool exihibted more/less coasters than the other.

At an average cost almost equal/slightly less than Ritek, Ritek is a better deal IMO

If Ritek was out of stock, I would buy these instead, which is why I picked 'em up in the first place.

Of course your mileage may vary.

I didn't order from Meritline but here's my Media ID for comparison
00 42 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 50 00 02 58 0E 11 .B...@....P..X..
98 99 80 00 03 4D 58 4C 20 52 47 00 04 30 31 00 .....MXL RG..01.
00 00 00 00 05 88 80 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 ................

agree...watch out