So what brand pf DVD blanks is everyone using now that Verbatim sucks???

[V Bot]

All you have to do is go to Officemax.com and print the coupon, no club to join. FYI, the clerk didn't know anything about an online coupon when she got the manager's override.

[lingyi]

Use a throwaway email address for OfficeMax. Did that and got the $16.99 coupon. Absolutely amazing since we usually have a special (i.e. higher priced) ad here in Hawaii.

The downside is that the store I checked only had the Life Series so I passed.

Good news is that when I got back home, I checked Amazon and they have the AZO Verbatim DVD-Rs on special for $19.99 with free shipping. Ordered a couple of spindles and will report if they're anything but the 'good' Verbs! My last order a couple of months ago were UAE and of course I'm happily NOT creating coasters unless I goof up!

[lordsmurf]

He told me he even had a guy break down in tears because the DVD of his son (who died a month ago) would no longer play (he taped over the mini DV tape). He tells most people to try a data recovery place but "9 times out of 10" the customer is back because the disc is just unreadable

Very sad. However, I've found many "unreadable" DVDs can actually be recovered in good drives. it really just depends. Of course, that assumes the burn was ever good. A lot of these crappy blanks don't burn right from the start.

This include the Shit Series ... sorry, I meant "Value Series" (or "Life Series") Verbatims.

[Seeker47]

Verbatim +R DL is the only DL thats worth a damn, so far they don't appear to have changed it but it may just be a matter of time. If/when Verbatim switches their +DL to full-on CMC then DL burning will become completely pointless.

I just bought a 30-spindle of Verb+R DL at Fry's, $25. on sale. Packaging still says AZO, Made in Singapore. So, it hasn't gone away yet. But, maybe time to stock up ?

I also noticed that blank BD media is much less expensive than I thought. I think they had 20-spindles from Verbatim there for $40. (But I don't know who -- if anyone -- makes the better grade BD media.) These were also MIS. The packaging does not mention AZO, so I'm guessing the dye tech BD uses must involve something entirely different.

I'm sure I would not spring for a BD burner, unless there are reliable solutions (media & burner) available for it.

[NBK2]

Hi,

I panicked and just bought 2x100 MCC 004 miUAE, 2x30 'gold' LS MCC 004 and 2x25 'colored' LS MCC 004 for close to $100.00US. I really need to have bought some Verbatim DVD+R DLs, some Ritek CD-Rs and some Taiyo Yuden [JVC] CD-Rs b/c i have less than 50 blanks of Ritek and around 20 blanks of TY.

I plan to use JVC [Taiyo Yuden] 8x DVD+Rs exclusively when i run out of MCC 004 and MCC 03RG20 blanks. If Verbatim extends this ''Life Series" Crap to LS DVDs and DVD+R DLs, i will be in 'a world of hurt.'

NBK

[Noahtuck]

Well, i just ordered 2 - 100 packs of Verbatim DVD+R's "AZO" from newegg monday for 19.99 with free shipping so obviously their good media is still available....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817507003

[NBK2]

Hi,

I also ordered a 50-pack MIS Verbatim MKM 001 DVD+R DLs from newegg for $49.99 with free shipping.

I know this deal is not as good as Fry's 30-spindle of MIS Verbatim MKM 003 DVD+R DLs from FRYS.com for $25.00. Fry's is a 3hr drive from here to the ATL.

Now i have to find a way to sneak them in the house!

NBK

[Seeker47]

Well, i just ordered 2 - 100 packs of Verbatim DVD+R's "AZO" from newegg monday for 19.99 with free shipping so obviously their good media is still available....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817507003

Are the AZO ones MIS by default, or . . . ?

[LCSHG]

Use a throwaway email address for OfficeMax. Did that and got the $16.99 coupon. Absolutely amazing since we usually have a special (i.e. higher priced) ad here in Hawaii.

The downside is that the store I checked only had the Life Series so I passed.

Good news is that when I got back home, I checked Amazon and they have the AZO Verbatim DVD-Rs on special for $19.99 with free shipping. Ordered a couple of spindles and will report if they're anything but the 'good' Verbs! My last order a couple of months ago were UAE and of course I'm happily NOT creating coasters unless I goof up!

DId you have to join their club to get the coupon I couldn;t find any place to print out a couponAnything without joining the club

A poor disk is not a bargon but a waste of time and money And stick with Verbatim I havent used the life series but have seen poor reports on them

Often at Officemax, Best Buy etc. THe item is either low end or sold out .not available. On other than disks, example They had anoffice chair and a printer at a good price I wanted a blue color chair Tha was on display,

"SORRY but no blue are available only Black at this price

After a hassel They found a blue one But I wanted 2. After another argument I got it And I didn't want to go through another for there there stinking printer

I can get the disks Ii want at Newegg Fo $19.99 and free shipping. NO HASASE

Sorry if I missspelled or missed anything
I just had eye surgery and could have

[lingyi]

To LCSHG - Don't use the sign-up on the right side of the page. Click on the In-Store coupons link on the left side of the page. You don't even need to use a real email. I just tried it with a bogus email and it worked!

As for Officemax not having advertised items...well, I used to work there and have to agree! At least here in Hawaii, we used to get only a couple of the sale items and often none!

Here's a few tips that might help unless things have changed since I left (highly unlikely).

First, aways go first thing in the morning, day of the sale. Since there's usually very limited stock, this might be your only change to get that item.

Second, always ask for a substitute or raincheck unless it's excluded in the ad. Managers are usually desperate for sales and will often substitute for a same priced item or even slightly higher to get the sale that day. This is an especially good time to ask for a substitute because Back to School is the peak season (even higher than the holidays) for office supply stores.

Third, always ask the salesperson to check in the back. Unlike other stores, the OfficeMax inventory system sux big time! I've seen cases of stuff magically appear after the sale because the system said we were out of stock or staff forget where they were.

Fourth, don't believe the special instore clearance ads. Because these ads are generated based on the inventory system (which remember...sux!!!), half or more the items listed aren't really available instore. I used to see the computer clearance list and there might be one computer available in the entire nation, and it would still show up on the clearance ad.

Finally, don't know if and when this works (never was able to figure out the logic), but sometimes OfficeMax will have different ads for the East Coast and West Coast (Hawaii is always at least a week behind the West Coast and sometimes never gets the West Coast ad). You can check what's going to be on sale on the West Coast by entering a East Coast zip on the OfficeMax ad page. I used to surprise the Managers when I sometimes knew what was going to be on sale well before they did.

Oops...sorry for taking this off-topic. So here's my attempt to bring it back. Got my order from Amazon, and they were good old AZO discs Made in India. Don't know what I'm going to do when the Azo discs really run out. Thinking of stocking up on some multi-terrabyte HD's.

[LCSHG]

lingyi

Thanks for the reply and info
I had found a number of sales people that see the problem but are powerless to do anything. Oftem it takes a hardnosed stand and a manager to give in, and hope you will go away. OficeMax is npt alone in this.

[Noahtuck]

Well, i just ordered 2 - 100 packs of Verbatim DVD+R's "AZO" from newegg monday for 19.99 with free shipping so obviously their good media is still available....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817507003

Are the AZO ones MIS by default, or . . . ?

I would say no as i have received both MII & MIT ordering those.

But both the MIT & MII have the same package, the same product number, ect on the package.
The only way to tell the difference is from what is printed on the package itself, where it say's either "Made In Taiwan" or "Made In India"

Even checking them both with DVDInfoPro, they both show as the exact same disc.....

MIT


MII



But i have been using the MII disc's since they came out, along with the MIT, and i have yet to have any problems with the MII disc's.

[Seeker47]

Well, i just ordered 2 - 100 packs of Verbatim DVD+R's "AZO" from newegg monday for 19.99 with free shipping so obviously their good media is still available....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817507003

Are the AZO ones MIS by default, or . . . ?

I would say no as i have received both MII & MIT ordering those.

But both the MIT & MII have the same package, the same product number, ect on the package.
The only way to tell the difference is from what is printed on the package itself, where it say's either "Made In Taiwan" or "Made In India"

Even checking them both with DVDInfoPro, they both show as the exact same disc.....

But i have been using the MII disc's since they came out, along with the MIT, and i have yet to have any problems with the MII disc's.

DVDInfoPro has some pretty dubious program ratings here.

I think I'll stick with the MIS, as long as they can still be found. No faith in such products from India. And Taiwan went over to the junk media bandwagon awhile ago. Product stock #s count for little. (If I read Orsetto correctly -- and if he had it right, which I expect he did -- the Verb factories that made the AZO ones are no more, so the supply of these should be drying up before very long.)

Let's not rehash the dusty old disc-scanning arguments just now. I still say the only true acid test is going to be 'Are these burned discs still going to be playable 3, 5, or more years from now ?' Nothing we can say right this minute is going to be able to answer that question.

[jman98]

I've said this before, but for those who don't know, if you want Verbatim made in Taiwan media, then buy their DataLifePlus (NOT the rapidly becoming infamous cheaper DataLife series!) media. DataLifePlus single layer DVDs are still ONLY made in Taiwan. They're not a lot more expensive than the MII media. I buy a lot of these DataLifePlus discs as they work reliably for me and everyone I give them to. I never have to worry about them. Note that Verbatim's DataLifePlus DVD+R DL discs are ONLY made in Singapore. They are only rated at 2.4x and are ink jet printable, but they are still ONLY made in Singapore. Verbatim's 6x-10x DL discs, as far as I know, are still ONLY made in Singapore. It's when you start getting into the cheaper non-DataLifePlus DL discs that are also slower that you start running the risk of MII media.

Why do people like lingyi act like they are completely powerless and without options? All you have to do is just order DataLifePlus discs from rima.com, supermediastore.com, etc. They STILL use AZO on those. It's just not that hard people. But when you decide "CANNOT buy discs from any place but Best Buy/Amazon. Unable to buy from other vendor.", well, don't come crying to us when we told where to get the good discs online.

[orsetto]

It isn't completely clear what, if anything, is going on with Verbatim's "professional" 8x DataLife Plus series, which hasn't been available in stores for a number of years now but is/was still available from online media vendors. The 8x has always been made in Verbatims own factories using the proven old-school 8x AZO dyes, the question is are these factories still in operation and what is the supply situation if not. The 8x Verbatim DataLife Plus has been a great backup media to go along with TY 8x for archiving purposes, I'd hate to lose the option of having two completely different but stable dye formulations.

Verbatim stopped making 16x in-house four years ago, instead subcontracting production to the otherwise-disgustiung CMC conglomerate. Supposedly Verbatim sent their own equipment and supervisors to the CMC factories to ensure no change in the MCC quality reputation, but it soon slipped anyway as reports began flooding in of dodgy Verb 16x batches, AZO notwithstanding. At some point a few months ago MCC/Verbatim apparently decided "to hell with it, why bother pretending we care anymore" and turned full production of 16x media over to CMC, which now simply re-brands the same non-AZO junk they make for everyone else as the Verbatim "Life Series". This is the stuff thats giving people fits here.

The country of mfr is not especially relevant to what quality you can expect anymore, it only affects the Verbatim +R DL media which has its best quality control in the Singapore factory. Given that pricey DL media is about as popular with consumers as a fart in a wetsuit, I don't expect Verbatim to keep that quality level up for much longer: these will probably go all-CMC as well in the near future. If you really need DL, stock up on the "good" Verbs now while they can still be accurately identified before purchase.

[Seeker47]

I dunno -- I thought that last 30 spindle of MIS +DL I bought was dirt cheap at $25. ! How much do you folks need to save, and what are you willing to give up in quality / reliability in order to obtain it ?? ("You" being the generic 'You', and this being a rhetorical question.)

[budz]

got the crappy ass Verbatim CMC media...that was given to me by a relative....i dare not to use them for my own archiving...got a shit load of MCC media (about 700 - 800 blanks in the closet) so my stock should last me for a while....guess in the next few months I gotta order TY from rima.com to replace the Verbatims.

[lordsmurf]

Verbatim stopped making 16x in-house four years ago, instead subcontracting production to the otherwise-disgustiung CMC conglomerate. Supposedly Verbatim sent their own equipment and supervisors to the CMC factories to ensure no change in the MCC quality reputation, but it soon slipped anyway as reports began flooding in of dodgy Verb 16x batches,.

That's just not accurate.

Verbatim was working with Prodisc, CMC and MBI in the 4x days, and were already using their facilities in the 8x media days. The 8x media you like so much was also made at Prodisc, CMC and MBI locations -- not at the Singapore MCC plant. The Singapore facility is where anything new is made, and older lines are sent to places they contract with. CMC is not making the disc for MCC. If that were the case, it'd have a CMC code.

It's only a MCC disc if it's made at a MCC location, and comes with MCC ID.

Most complaints made about 16x MCC media turn out to be user error or device issues. I have a device that won't read MCC 16x discs -- and old LG burner that needs to be shot and buried. But that's on the drive, not the disc.

[LCSHG]

lordsmurf Quote.

"Most complaints made about 16x MCC media turn out to be user error or device issues. I have a device that won't read MCC 16x discs -- and old LG burner that needs to be shot and buried. But that's on the drive, not the disc. "
----------------------------------------------------------------

How Very True
Especially Shot and Buired {the drive not the d}isk}
I had No Problems if using Verbatim disks. If a drive woun't read a Verb of any speed. It is time to Burry {junk} the drive

[budz]

ordered (2) 100 pack spindles of Verbatim DVD+R media from Amazon since it has free shipping to Hawaii....Hope I'm not getting CMC crap!

[fritzi93]

Jeez, I have a good supply of MCC and MKM Verbatims for important stuff. Now I'm not sure what to think.

But if I'm understanding Lord Smurf correctly, so long as the MID is still MCC/MKM, there's nothing to worry about?

[budz]

According to myce.com (formery CDFreaks.com) media section Amazon still has AZO instock so hopefully I won't get CMC crap.

[ricoman]

I think he's looking for DL discs. If Verbatim now sucks, there's not many other choices. Maxell, Ritek, Imation, Memorex? TY doesn't make DL, at least for the US market.

I bought some TY DL a couple of months ago under the JVC label. They are pretty good, just about as good as Verbs. I can't remember from where because I buy so much media. If I find the receipt, I'll post where I got it.

[NBK2]

I think he's looking for DL discs. If Verbatim now sucks, there's not many other choices. Maxell, Ritek, Imation, Memorex? TY doesn't make DL, at least for the US market.

I bought some TY DL a couple of months ago under the JVC label. They are pretty good, just about as good as Verbs. I can't remember from where because I buy so much media. If I find the receipt, I'll post where I got it.

Hi ricoman,

Verbatim DVD+R DL made in Singapore does not suck in the US market!!!!

NBK

[ricoman]

I think he's looking for DL discs. If Verbatim now sucks, there's not many other choices. Maxell, Ritek, Imation, Memorex? TY doesn't make DL, at least for the US market.

I bought some TY DL a couple of months ago under the JVC label. They are pretty good, just about as good as Verbs. I can't remember from where because I buy so much media. If I find the receipt, I'll post where I got it.

Hi ricoman,

Verbatim DVD+R DL made in Singapore does not suck in the US market!!!!

NBK

No argument here. Most of my DL media is Verb Singapore. Still very good.

[lingyi]

Budz...

Great minds must think alike:
I ordered the DVD+Rs from Amazon a couple of days before your post and just got them today. Good old UAE Azos. So you should be getting your shipment soon.

Jman...

I don't feel powerless, but it's painful to see a great price online and find out that "free shipping" doesn't apply to Hawaii. Go to Supermediastore or Rima and punch in my zip 96701 and see the price of "free shipping" almost double the disc cost. *sigh*. I'll always pay for the 'good stuff'. It's just really hard to pay so much more just because I live in the middle of the ocean. *double sigh*.

Back to Budz...

You mentioned you were planning to buy from Rima. How do you get around the outrageous shipping? Am I missing something that would give me more options.

Thanks to everyone for all the great info!

[JohnnyBob]

Big Lots is trying to dump some of the Life Series on innocent folks, but thanks to this thread, I was the wiser!

I've been sticking with NewEgg as a supplier. Their 96542's (currently $30 ppd for a spindle of 30) are good so far, but I only buy in minimum quantities and check the quality of each spindle, because nothing about Verbatim is 100% reliable anymore. They don't exactly suck but are headed in that direction due to putting out some crap under their brand name in the last couple of years.

[Puppets86]

Are these considered good quality? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F0ELOG/ref=oss_product
The manufacture code shows they are made in India, for whatever that's worth.

Am I much better off with these http://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-DataLifePlus-Inkjet-Printable-Spindle/dp/B0001LRIT4/ref...549623&sr=8-37
Thanks!

[JohnnyBob]

Are these considered good quality? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F0ELOG/ref=oss_product
The manufacture code shows they are made in India, for whatever that's worth.

Am I much better off with these http://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-DataLifePlus-Inkjet-Printable-Spindle/dp/B0001LRIT4/ref...549623&sr=8-37
Thanks!

I expect either should be OK, depending on whether you want to record on single or double layer discs.

[jman98]

Are these considered good quality? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F0ELOG/ref=oss_product
The manufacture code shows they are made in India, for whatever that's worth.

Really wish this thread would die but anyway...
1) You are NOT seeing the final picture which says "Made in Singapore". Where are you getting this made in India crap from?
2) 8x-10x DL discs have NEVER been made in India by Verbatim to the best of my knowledge. It has always been the 6x and lower speed discs with the exception of the DataLifePlus DVD+R DL discs which are 2.4x but made only in Singapore.

Am I much better off with these http://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-DataLifePlus-Inkjet-Printable-Spindle/dp/B0001LRIT4/ref...549623&sr=8-37
Thanks!

These are not DL discs, but DataLifePlus single layer DVD discs are ONLY made in Taiwan. Always been that way.

I covered all this earlier in this thread on Aug 4. Wish you had read it