Ritek G05 Horror Story - Never Again

[videobread]

I have read Ritek G05 horror stories on this forum. Mine keeps getting worse. I bought 300 Ritek G05's from rima.com on March 8, 2006. They were crap. I had 75 coasters. Now I am finding that half of the rest will no longer read in my Pioneer A109's or my $75 Sony player. Some of those will still read in my very expensive Panasonic DMR-E80H. I'm just wondering if the rest will go bad in time. I will never buy Ritek again - EVER. I have stopped buying from rima.com also. Just out of principle. Now I only buy TY's and no "value line" either. I don't want any surprises down the road. I buy TY DVD-R16X for Professional, (or 8X), made in Japan. Manufactured by TY. I get them from polylinecorp.com. I pay more, but I rarely have a coaster anymore and won't have to replace them down the road. I was penny wise and pound foolish. More power to you if you are still buying cheap media. You get what you pay for. The real cost comes down the road when you have to start replacing things.

P.S. Look at your next 100 pack of TY's and see if it says - DVD-R16X for Professional, Made in Japan, Manufacured by Taiyo Yuden Co, LTD.

[hech54]

Ritek have gone downhill since they went above 8x media. I still use the 8x and they work perfectly....but I won't by 16x.

Oh and TY's from Rima is the combination of choice for most people. Just because you bought shitty Riteks from Rima doesn't mean their TY's are stitty as well....I certainly HOPE you don't think that anyway.

[redwudz]

I buy my TY DVD-R16X from Rima and never had any problems with over a hundred burns. Never had a coaster yet. I used Prodisc 8X before and they worked fine. I tried a hundred Prodisc 16X and did have some reading problems. I still use them for data and they are fine for that. Probably my burner or player more than the disc. The TYs were not much more than the Prodisc and even the cakeboxes are better quality. Good stuff.

[genki500]

Sorry to hear your trouble. I learned my lesson, too, but not as many as yours. Why blame Rima.com? They are a reseller, they do not make disc. I have bought from Rima a few time: occaionally I have some scratched disc, even after 6 months, I emailed them, I received repalcement; good service in my book.

[gotnotime]

I agree RIMA does have decent return service, but I too have ben disappointed in the drop in quality of Ricoh disks >8x. The batch I had burned ok, but later developed blemishes on the disks that made watching my videos nearly impossible with frequent skips and arifacts.

[gotnotime]

Sorry, meant Ritek above

[waheed]

Riteks used to be my choice of DVD-Rs, that is G03 rated at 4X when I had a 4X burner (Sony DRU500A) years ago. Burned discs from these still work fine today, even in my PS2.

Then I heard about TYs and bought some 8X TY's from SVP along with a 16X Pioneer 109XLC burner.

Now, I only use TY's and no other brands. Iv ejust recently bought 200 Verbatims 16X DVD-R with the TY dye from SVP. Never burned a coaster with these so far.

Just because you've had bad experiences with one brand from Rima doesn't mean other brands are bad.

If you're going to get some TYs, then I suggest you go for the Verbatims 16X DVD-R with the TY dye.

They will have the TYG03 media code.

[OneSickPup]

There are many of us that have suffered the Ritek early deterioration problems. Some much more severe than others. I only lost one home/family video that I still had source mini-dv to recreate so I was very fortunate. I will never use Ritek media again on principle alone. However; like many others here I would ask that you rethink your boycott of Rima. I find them to be a very reliable media source. To be competitive with other media online sources, they have to offer a vast array of product (good and bad). I don't think it's fair to blame Rima for Ritek quality control problems. Best of luck though - I think you will be much happier with those TY's.

[OneSickPup]

If you're going to get some TYs, then I suggest you go for the Verbatims 16X DVD-R with the TY dye.

Here in the US we only get MCC media under the Verbatim brand (MCC 03RG20) and always the CMC or Prodisc varieties, never the MBI stuff. Are those the TYG03 media you get under the Verbatim label?

PS: Sorry about the World Cup - I was pulling for you guys.

[BJ_M]

polyline doesnt seem to carry those TY DVD-R16X (or 8x) anymore

[videobread]

Yes they do. polylinecorp.com has both TY 8X and TY 16X.

http://www.polylinecorp.com/productlist.asp?OPT=070051500200000500

I just checked their site.

[BJ_M]

i was looking for the ones in the picture in your first post and didnt see them

[videobread]

That is them. The picture I posted came from their TY DVD-R 16X. polylinecorp.com part #TYDVD16PW-100. It is listed at the following link.

http://www.polylinecorp.com/productlist.asp?OPT=070051500200000500

They are marked as follows: DVD-R16X for Professional, Made in Japan, Manufactured by Taiyo Yuden Co, LTD. 100 packs of TY DVD-R16X that I have purchased from other suppliers are not so marked. polylinecorp.com is a professional supplier that I have dealt with since 1990. I used to buy VHS sleeves and labels from them.

Other suppliers have the same paper printed insert on the top of the spindle, but they don't say anything about professional or that they are manufactured by Taiyo Yuden or that they were made in Japan..

[hech54]

My two 50 pack spindles of TY 8x -R's that I bought from Rima had the exact same paper "insert" on top of both spindles.
These Polyline discs are no different or better than any other reputable TY dealer....case closed.

[videobread]

Here is a copy of the cover sheet for TY DVD-R8X from rima. No mention of professional or made in Japan or TY! Why would TY not put their name on these? Look closely you won't see TY's name anywhere!

ty8-300.bmp

[waheed]

If you're going to get some TYs, then I suggest you go for the Verbatims 16X DVD-R with the TY dye.

Here in the US we only get MCC media under the Verbatim brand (MCC 03RG20) and always the CMC or Prodisc varieties, never the MBI stuff. Are those the TYG03 media you get under the Verbatim label?

Yes, they are the TYG03 media under the Verbatim label. Wasn't aware that they were not available in the US. These are the ones I get:

http://svp.co.uk/products-solo.php?pid=1217

[bidefordboy]

When I first started making backup copies of dvd's approx. 14 mths ago, I asked my friends, who were more experienced, what blanks I should use. They suggested Ritek G04's which at the time were the best available here in the UK. Later I upgraded my equipment & purchased a 8x burner, so I changed to the Ritek G05's. Biggest mistake I made. Every disc burnt fine & they played ok in my two players. Also the printable surface was very good. Must have made copies of over 700 dvd's using the G05's.

Have now been going back & playing ( or trying to ) some of my earlier G05's. A lot of them stick at different places on the dvd, some just stop altogether. They are not even good enough to make fresh copies off.

I would suggest that anyone who has been using G05's to back up their dvd's should check any that are over a couple of months old, and to make backups onto quality media asap.

I now use Verbatim 16x dvd-r (MCC 03RG20). I have tried the TY's but prefer the print surface on the Verbatim's. ( Quality test's are about the same ).

[videobread]

Thanks Bidefordboy. I'm going to go ahead and back up the RITEK G05's that are still good. I don't care if RITEK comes out with a gold plated disc down the road. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER will I ever buy RITEK again. EVER, EVER, EVER!!!!!!!

[hech54]

Here is a copy of the cover sheet for TY DVD-R8X from rima. No mention of professional or made in Japan or TY! Why would TY not put their name on these? Look closely you won't see TY's name anywhere!

ty8-300.bmp

Polyline discs are no different or better than from any other reputable TY dealer(like Rima)....case still closed.

[lordsmurf]

Here is a copy of the cover sheet for TY DVD-R8X from rima. No mention of professional or made in Japan or TY! Why would TY not put their name on these? Look closely you won't see TY's name anywhere! ty8-300.bmp

That's just a warning paper. Why does any brand name need to be on a warning paper? I get warning papers in products all the time. They almost never have branding on them, it's just a stupid warning card.

Not to mention you're comparing 16x to 8x packaging.

Talk about grasping for straws.

[lordsmurf]

Must have made copies of over 700 dvd's using the G05's..... Have now been going back & playing ( or trying to ) some of my earlier G05's. A lot of them stick at different places on the dvd, some just stop altogether. They are not even good enough to make fresh copies off.

Myth.

The problem is because the discs were never tested. They were never good. They did not suddenly "go bad". Thoroughly testing all 700 discs would have taken at least 1000 hours (probably much more), so I doubt each disc was thoroughly tested.

Not testing media is a gamble all of us do, myself included, and is why good media is suggested to begin with. We all find bad burns months and months after the burns were done, but it was always a bad disc, even before it was burned.

"My data disappeared" is an overused excuse, on par with "my dog ate my homework".

Another problem is RITEK media has a miserable reflectivity, and worn lasers have a difficulty playing them back correctly. Use good computer DVD drives to read the disc (BTC), and a good player to play them (Toshiba).

[Tom Saurus]

I have had good results with 8x Ritek Printable DVD-R's so far. If Sony is the best, do they make a inkjet printable media? I used to use Princo's, and Ritek is a step up for me.

[videobread]

In conclusion: There was a bad batch of RITEK G05 circulating worldwide in the spring of 2006. The questionable discs burnt poorly and stop reading after a couple of months. No myth - the dog did in fact eat the homework. If you have any of these, I suggest that you replace them. RITEK has probably fixed the problem by now.

I have decided to not buy RITEK again or purchase from the supplier who sold them to me. It is my way of voting with my wallet and keeping the market and greedy marketers honest. I now only buy professional product from professional suppliers. I'm am willing to pay an extra $10 per 100 pack. It comforts me to know that when my discs left the factory in Japan, TY was not squeamish about putting their name on them before heat shrinking. My disc were not identified at the source as seconds and sold as such to second tier Internet marketers. I get what I pay for.

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

Those "value line" TY's you are talking about, the ones I buy at supermediastore.com are the best thing price/quality that has crossed my path ever. (media speaking)

[OneSickPup]

Must have made copies of over 700 dvd's using the G05's..... Have now been going back & playing ( or trying to ) some of my earlier G05's. A lot of them stick at different places on the dvd, some just stop altogether. They are not even good enough to make fresh copies off.

Myth.

The problem is because the discs were never tested. They were never good. They did not suddenly "go bad". Thoroughly testing all 700 discs would have taken at least 1000 hours (probably much more), so I doubt each disc was thoroughly tested.

Not testing media is a gamble all of us do, myself included, and is why good media is suggested to begin with. We all find bad burns months and months after the burns were done, but it was always a bad disc, even before it was burned.

"My data disappeared" is an overused excuse, on par with "my dog ate my homework".

Another problem is RITEK media has a miserable reflectivity, and worn lasers have a difficulty playing them back correctly. Use good computer DVD drives to read the disc (BTC), and a good player to play them (Toshiba).

My experience with Ritek G05 media is limited to 80 blanks:
1.) 5 free Newegg branded promo disks that burned like crap from the outset - tossed those.
2.) 25 Maxell branded discs that to this day still exhibit no ill effects.
3.) 50 Ritek G05's purchased from Supermediastore.com that are my mythbusters - IMO.

I started a project with those 50 where I was capturing old family VHS footage and authoring to dvd. One copy of every compilation was played back in entirety and scanned. I was really into media scanning at the time and ran a TRT (transfer read test) and a QS (quality scan) on all the copies my wife and I kept. The remainder were distributed to other family members. I recorded these scan results in an access database with the intention of rescanning at 6 month intervals. All initial scans were well within accepted limits. The first six month cycle of rescans showed very little change - all ok at this point. Around the 9 month mark, we got our first complaint of an unreadable disc from my wife's parents. Thought nothing of it - assumed mishandling/abuse. At the 12 month point, my rescans began to show some disturbing findings. TRT's were still showing fine but QS scans were showing PIF totals averaging ten times initial scores. At this point I had heard lot's of complaints on Ritek and reburned what I could and re-authored what I couldn't salvage. By the 15 month point, all discs suffered playback problems or were unplayable. I tossed them in the trash. These discs were properly stored - no labels used - handled with care. I understand and respect Lordsmurfs position on the G05 Myth and agree it's very easy to jump on the rapid degradation bandwagon. An understanding of the technology would 100% backup the fact that this has to be a Myth. But then - How do you explain what happened to me?

Here's an interesting thread on G05 issues - makes for a good read if you're interested:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=182866&highlight=Ritek+G05

[bevills1]

Like Tom Saurus my initial G05 results seemed very good with 80 plus burns with no problems. Then I got 5 out of 7 G05s that would not burn, and DVDInfoPro showed blank disks but only 0.03 GB free space. I don't have such problems with other media I've tried, and I'll avoid G05 hence forth especially after reading others having so many problems with G05.

[hech54]

SVP is clearing out their 4x G04 printables...just got the newsletter today. If they weren't printables I'd buy some. My only bad Ritex burns were on printables.
I only buy naked media....