What exactly makes CMC suck?

[Matt D]

Actually my post covered the fact that there are variables in burning discs. I am well aware of that, but I've also seen a 10 year old whip off a DVD with DVD Lab which was cooler than some I paid 30 bucks for. It's not rocket science.
I also said "Most complaints I read here are due to a problem on the user side, not media.." If CMC were truly so lousy and "pure garbage" as I've read many times why does it work so damn well for lots of people? Why have I burned nearly 3 spindles of these things with no failures? Why has every disc I've tested had no errors of any kind? IMO there can be only one answer, the fault is not the media. At least not the currently available stuff branded as Memorex.
It may not work for you, that's a shame, but it's your problem not a failure on the part of CMC.

[indolikaa]

The problem is in the way some DVD burners have their firmware calibrated by their designers.

I have three Optorite DD-0203s in my stable of computing power. None of them like CMC, even when they were running three different firmware revisions. The Memorex DVD-R discs they finally did warm-up to after v2.17, but even then it was still hit and miss.

Optorite is a big believer in Japanese-made media. Maybe they like to encourage the practice by fine-tuning their drives to be picky with media. I don't know, but with three drives displaying similar characteristics, it makes one wonder.

I also had an LG GSA-4040 and it absolutely loved CMC and hated Ricoh. Go figure.

[tompika]

The problem is in the way some DVD burners have their firmware calibrated by their designers.

I have three Optorite DD-0203s in my stable of computing power. None of them like CMC, even when they were running three different firmware revisions. The Memorex DVD-R discs they finally did warm-up to after v2.17, but even then it was still hit and miss.

Optorite is a big believer in Japanese-made media. Maybe they like to encourage the practice by fine-tuning their drives to be picky with media. I don't know, but with three drives displaying similar characteristics, it makes one wonder.

I also had an LG GSA-4040 and it absolutely loved CMC and hated Ricoh. Go figure.

I have a Pioneer 106 that seems to have no probs burning TY, Ritek, CMC, Princos (and other noname cheap shit I can find)
I'm glad I chose this one over the Nec1300 and LG4040.

[lordsmurf]

People that say "well, newer media is better than older media" are not seeing the whole picture. Especially if they haven't been around since 2001.

PVC DVD-R, first media, was almost perfect. Optodisc DVD+R, brand new LiquidVideo branded, total garbage. They only serve to keep tables dry from wet drink glasses.

As far as I'm concerned, age has no real factor. CMC has been known as a coaster-maker since CD days. It has not changed at all. My last stack of Philips was trash, all CMC. Same for HP CMC, trash.

Ritek started up bad, had a nice middle-life, and has reverted back to not-so-great.

Buy what you want ... I know better.

[indolikaa]

Maxell continues to impress Indolikaa...

[tompika]

The ONLY media that I had problem with was the SKY 4xDVD-R (VDSPMSAB 01).
I had to burn these medias at 2x to be playable in standalone players.

My friends' Nec1300 and LG4040 couldn't even write the lead-in on these ones.
(latest fw, two diff burning programs)




DVD writer makes the difference.

[budz]

Matt D wrote:

It may not work for you, that's a shame, but it's your problem not a failure on the part of CMC.

Yuh, know what I have been really patient with your stupid comments. But now I've lost it cuz people like you have their fingers stuck up their ass. You obviously are so blinded by the fact that you haven't burned any coasters with CMC, so you tell people in this forum it's their fucken problem and not a failure on CMC discs.

I've posted my opinions based on my experiences using the crappy ass CMC MEDIA. You fail to under fucken stand that the phrase, "THERE ARE VARIABLES IN BURNING DVD'S." Go back to school or take out a fucken dictionary to find the meaning of the word, "VARIABLE". Like my old school teacher told me, "Everyone has common sense but they come in all shapes and sizes". Geez your common sense must be the size of a fucken pea!

__________________________________________________ ___________

On the pent 933 pc again

[888888]

Maxell continues to impress Indolikaa...

After buying a 50 pack of Maxell printable shiny silver from NewEgg, I really can't see why people bother with cheap media. I just love looking at that perfect, dark burning surface of the Maxells after a backup, no runny dye, no blotchy spots, just solid color. This at 4x too. Come to think of it, I have the same burner as you Indolikaa. I have also tried Optodisc 4x gold tops: half of them burn alright, and half of them have the most psychedelic patterns on their underside after burning, and those usually don't play or play badly. This at 2x as well. I have burned four perfect CMC DVD+Rs, but I think that is missing the point. Any company (like CMC) can make occasionally good media cheaply. You pay extra for the consistent quality of Maxell or Taiyo Yuden throughout the spindle, never worrying about reburning.

[indolikaa]

It may not work for you, that's a shame, but it's your problem not a failure on the part of CMC.

It IS a failure on the part of CMC. It's called a lack of quality control, which they are widely known for in the industry.

CMC has a reputation. It has been established by YEARS of producing shit media and pawning it off on greedy vendors who put THEIR name on that shit product. Why do you think Memorex has a lousy reputation now? They put their supposed good name on media that is the laughing stock in the world of recordable media.

That doesn't mean it will be shit for everybody. Some people have nothing but good luck with CMC. I have had more bad luck than good luck. But, I'm also in a position where I don't have to pinch pennies when it comes to buying media. So I buy TY and MXL discs to eliminate the thread of questionable burns.

I'm not an expert in the field of dye-based recordable media, you'll have to ask Mr. Hanff for any lectures regarding organic dyes. But I've been burning optical discs since the burners were the size of a microwave oven and SCSI 1X was 'the' standard in CD burning. I've never known a time when CMC had a respectable reputation in the media industry.

[PJGS]

I won't take any position on any side of the barricades.
The truth is that CMC hasn't worked for me and I don't think it is wise to run the risk of losing extremely valuable info just to save a few €€€ on the media.
My TY, MCC and MX media may deteriorate in a few yeras time (I hope not) but at least I won't blame myself as I've used the best media I could afford.

[airwid]

Why, however, are these DVD+Rs writing at 1.0x in DVD Movie Factory 2.0 if they're 4x?

Check to see if your dvd burner is DMA enabled. Use this site if you have XP, it will instruct you on how to enable DMA: http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7625

__________________________________________________ ___________

I checked it out, and I'm DMA enabled. And I just burnt a DVD in Nero Express at 4x. It must be something to do with DVD Movie Factory 2.0. Perhaps the software predates 4x?

Anyhow, I got my TY spindle yesterday, and burned a disc that the Sony standalone had problems with. It still skipped in the problem spots. The CMCs are still burning w/ no problems, no errors for now.

[GKar]

Budz, take a valium and lighten up.

[fritzi93]

Indolikaa put his finger on it, the problem's quality control. CMC apparently puts more emphasis on churning out quantity. They're not entirely wrong, capture enough of the market and economies of scale give a big advantage. The cognoscenti may despise them, but the average ignorant consumer is none the wiser. CMCs are sold cheaply under so many different brands, you almost have to buy online to completely avoid them. (Apart from a few select brands). And how many people know about DVDinfoPRO?

CMC is perfectly capable of making good media. I successfully burned quite a few to the rim before I wised up. Also got far too many coasters. Burning CMCs to full capacity is a crap shoot. JMHO

I suspect a deliberate calculation on their part to concentrate heavily on price point, not quality control. Wonder what percentage of the market they have?

[budz]

Gkar wrote:

Budz, take a valium and lighten up

If you have nothing intelligent to contribute to this post regarding CMC discs then STFU
__________________________________________________ ___________

[GKar]

[quote="budz"]Gkar wrote:

Budz, take a valium and lighten up

If you have nothing intelligent to contribute to this post regarding CMC discs then STFU
__________________________________________________ ___________



Case closed, Need I say more?

[budz]

Need I say anymore?

naw go **** yourself

You are in breach of the forum rules and are being issued with a formal warning.
/ Moderator offline

[jimmalenko]

@budz:
Let these "ignorant" people keep burning CMCs. They'll learn their lesson sooner or later...

[budz]

You are in breach of the forum rules and are being issued with a formal warning.
/ Moderator offline

:P

jimmalenko wrote:

@budz:
Let these "ignorant" people keep burning CMCs. They'll learn their lesson sooner or later...

Totally

[disturbed1]

There's 5 parts to making a DVD, and each can be good or bad.

1. The process used to author the project. We all know some authoring apps just don't adhere to the specs, and tend to make less compliant projects. Many people also like to butcher their projects incorrectly with some vob editor or other tool. I can't count how many times I've had to fix these problems for friends and family. Some stand alones are more strict than others.

2. The burning app/method. Some access layers perform better with some drives, and even some softwares just choose the wrong UDF mode to burn a project with. You also have fragmented disc problems, multitasking on a PC that shouldn't be multitasked on ............

3. The Burner it self. Burner A burns X media great, but Y media poorly, while Burner B burns X media like shit, and Y media is perfect.

My Panasonic burners hate 4x samsung media, and all Optodisc media, but love samsung 1x media and Maxell 4x media. My Toshiba burners hate Samsung 1x media, do OK with Optodisc, and produce perfect burns with Maxell 4x media.

My Pioneer burners give varied results with Prodisc 4x media (from good to great), but turn out almost exact KProbe numbers across the last 2500 Maxell 4x burns. <- See the pattern, they all love Maxell, but some like this or that.

4. The disc being used. This needs to be matched to the burner. If you use the highest quality Japan made discs, there is a greater chance that it will work better than anything else. Most drive makers sample Taiyo Yuden, Maxell, Ritek, TDK, and Verbatim to tune their firmwares with. Anything else can be hit or miss. Certain drive makers have their favorite media also. Pioneer likes PRINCO, and NEC likes CMC.

5. The play back device. I can take a piece of bologna, and put it in my Apex 500, and OSCAR MAYER will appear on the screen, but my Apex 7701 chokes on almost every disc other than Taiyo Yuden, Maxell, and most Samsung 1x, it even chokes on retail DVDs.

There's one more factor involved in media, that's the way it's handled and shipped before you even touch it. I've switched vendors many times just because somewhere along the path to my house, someone has decided to miss handle my package. I only order from places that aren't further than 2 states away now. Everything coming from Californa arrived damaged 80% of the time from UPS (I'm talking foot prints on the box), Fed Ex was better, but I still recieved a few damaged boxes from them too.

Most employees in retail stores don't unload their truck shipments with anymore care either.