warning about Memorex DVD-R

[drewson99]

I recently was at compUSA and I bought a 10-pack of Memorex DVD-R. I have bought these before and love them, I use them for home movies and stuff I want on brand name discs.

The ones I used to use (before this visit) were the version 1.1 discs (it says so right on the front of the box) You can also tell the 1.1 versions because they have a unique jewel case, they are rounded and have grey plastic on the side.

I didn't notice it, but the box said version 2.0.

I got them home, burned a disc, and it was fine. then, I burned a second disc, and it was a coaster. as I looked at the disc to see if anything was physically wrong with it, i heard a noise, sounded like plastic rubbing on plastic. when I flexed the disc, this noise occurred, and all of a sudden, the disc split in half (the two layers came apart.)

then i realized the noise was the sound of the two layers rubbing against one another.

i checked out the other disc I had made, and sure enough, it made the same sound, and my fingernail slipped as easy as can be in between the layers and the disc popped apart, no effort at all.

so I took them back and I showed it to customer service, and they were awestruck. they told me I could just go and get another box, but I was suspect because these were version 2.0 and I thought maybe the whole batch was bad, they obviously didn't have enough glue holding them together. I asked if I could open a new box and see if they were okay, fearing that the whole palette (and maybe even more) was bad.

"oh, I'm sure the whole palette isn't bad" - the CompUSA guy said.

Sure enough, we opened a couple more ten packs and every disc popped apart when slightly flexed.

I took the nice 2X TDKs as replacements instead.

two things:

1) Has anybody else experienced this?

2) It was at the Bellevue CompUSA in WA state, and I would be seriously surprised if they actually sent them back to Memorex, so beware!

Andy

[SLK001]

Version 1.1? Wasn't the capacity of 1.1 disks only 3.95GB? I tried the Memorex disks and I was shocked to find out that they would only burn at 1X (plus, at the time, they were $5 each). I think that you got a good deal with the trade for the 2X TDKs.

I guess you discovered the reason why Pioneer won't certify Memorex for 2X operation.

[drewson99]

no, the ver 1.1 were full size, 4.7GB discs. but needless to say, I won't be buying them again.

[defense]

I think MEMOREX DVD'S completely suck. That was my experience early on and I have stayed far away from them. Ever since doing that I've had nothing but successful burns. I am sure a lot of people just ASSUME because a company like Memorex makes a reputable CD, then they MUST make the same for DVD. Not true at all, and I can give many examples. What you say about Memorex DVD's doesn't surprise me, because they are terrible.

Good thing you had good exeperience with those 1.1 disks, but 1.1 seems like old stuff. Since I have been purchasing blank DVD media, all of the cases say version 2.0, and I'd be willing to bet those TDK's say the same thing, 2.0. My experience with those TDK's though has been EXCELLENT. I just don't like the price, but If I ever caught a good sale, I'd get those in a heartbeat. But I've already found the hidden treasure with these ACCU's so I have no reason to sweat a "name brand" surface DVD.

[ZippyP.]

If you check the Bad Media thread you'll see that Memorex CD-RW's suck as well.

[defense]

If you check the Bad Media thread you'll see that Memorex CD-RW's suck as well.

Right, that is my point exactly. Memorex Cd's are considered up with the best, but that's where it ends for Memorex. I was just in Best Buy getting the difference of $20 on a scanner I just bought and for shits and giggles I looked at those Memorex DVD's. They had very few Verbatim and Maxell DVDR's in stock, but had PILES of those Memorex (1.1) disks. I wonder why....lol

Interestingly enough, everyone talks about how Memorex is so great with CDR's and I'd have to agree that I have had nothing but excellent results with them, but when I prefer Imation over ANY other brand. I've never had an issue with over hundreds of burned Imation disks. What is really interesting about that though is I ran "cd checker" on all of my CD blanks and my imation are manufactured by the SAME EXACT company that manufactuer's Memorex. Neither of those two, along with MOST other CDR's are manufactured by the comapnies you think. Just like with DVD's.

[drewson99]

yeah, I really love these TDKs, but now that I have found reliable bulk DVDs I'll probrably get out of the habit of using any name brand discs.

[NightWing]

Strange but have a box of 10 of Memorex DVD-R with the 2.0 version label. Have burned 8 of them with no problem but those were purchases last December. Solid and do not split into two disk.

From reports the mfg are going bonkers trying to keep up with CD and DVD blanks right now. So quality may be dropping.