Here's Meritline 4x Media Test Results

[defense]

I have several different types of very popular 4x media from Meritline which I will be conducting all sorts of tests on including dvdinfo, Kprobe, & different burning programs to burn the same type of disks. The types of media are as follows:

1) Optodisk DVD-R (Gold Top)
2) Samsung BeAll DVD+R
3) Samsung DVD-R
4) Prime Disk DVD-R
5) ACCU DVD-R (my favorite before the test results, of coure these are "LD" and not the SONY ACCU's...however, they are also 4x, so it's going to be interesting to see how these bad boys hold up against the other disks.

Note: These disks will all be burned with the SONY DRU500AX DVD BURNER.

Anyway, i'll be posting my results soon. :P

One thing to note thus far is that I noticed my first Samsung BEALL DVD+R disk had a light surface scratch on the "burn" side. It wasn't a thick scratch, however, it measured 1/2 inch in length. It didn't effect the burn process, however, it may very well affect the play process. I''ve burned a fair share of media and have never seen a scratch anything like this. I'm not sure how the Quality control is for the Samsung DVD+R disks but the first BEALL "+R" disk I opened had this. I opened the remaining BeAll +R disks, and they are all fine. I will report whether it affects the playback in any way.

[defense]

Here are all the manufacturer id's from advdinfo, and nicw's dvdinfo.

1) ACCU 4X MEDIA ID:

00 6A 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 52 00 02 87 0D 11 .J...@....R.....
66 78 80 00 03 4C 45 41 44 44 41 00 04 54 41 30 FX...LEADDA..TA0
31 00 00 00 05 A8 82 00 20 00 02 00 06 09 11 11 1....... .......
87 78 90 00 07 A8 82 00 20 00 00 00 08 05 16 0D .X...... .......
10 0A 09 00 09 97 07 0E 0B 58 88 00 0A C0 00 00 .........X......
00 00 10 00 0B 07 1C 13 A8 89 65 00 0C B6 89 88 ..........E.....
80 00 00 00 0D 00 00 D0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................

2) 4X SAMSUNG BEALL DVD+R :

BEALL 100P40


3) 4X SAMSUNG BEALL DVD-R:

00 6A 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 52 00 02 56 0E 12 .J...@....R..V..
87 88 80 00 03 42 65 41 6C 6C 20 00 04 47 34 30 .....BEALL ..G40
30 30 31 00 05 88 80 00 00 00 01 00 06 0B 10 14 001.............
87 88 80 00 07 CC C0 00 00 00 00 00 08 06 17 0F ................
12 0B 0B 00 09 98 08 0F 0B 00 00 00 0A 00 00 00 ................
00 00 10 00 0B 04 1E 0E B8 88 55 00 0C 97 89 88 ..........U.....

4) 4X PRIME DISK:

NOTE: These are Gigastorage disks.

00 6A 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 52 00 02 87 0D 11 .J...@....R.....
66 78 80 00 03 47 53 43 30 30 31 00 04 00 00 00 FX...GSC001.....
00 00 00 00 05 A8 82 00 20 00 02 00 06 09 11 11 ........ .......
87 78 90 00 07 A8 82 00 20 00 00 00 08 05 16 0D .X...... .......
10 0A 09 00 09 97 07 0E 0B 58 88 00 0A C0 00 00 .........X......
00 00 10 00 0B 07 1C 13 A8 89 65 00 0C B6 89 88 ..........E.....

5) 4X OPTODISK GOLD TOP:

00 6A 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 52 00 02 79 0D 12 .J...@....R..Y..
87 88 80 00 03 4F 50 54 4F 44 49 00 04 53 43 4B .....OPTODI..SCK
30 30 31 00 05 88 80 00 00 00 01 00 06 06 12 11 001.............
98 88 70 00 07 08 80 00 00 00 00 00 08 03 1A 0F ..P.............
11 0C 0B 00 09 88 09 10 0B 80 C8 00 0A 80 00 00 ................
00 00 10 00 0B 03 1B 1D A8 76 A5 00 0C A9 99 CC .........V......

[defense]

time to update this post. My final results with the Meritline media were mixed. First, let me get to the Good News. All of the disks burned were burned and had no freezing, pixelation, lockups, or anything else I could determine...so that's good. More good news is that the Gold Topped Optodisks with the Darker Purple write side burned consistently @ 4x.

"Consistently" is the key word here as you will see. The 4x opto's also were the most versatile....playing in every standalone I tried them in.

The next best disk was the Samsung DVD-R BEALL disk @4x. This disks also performed flawlessly and were consistent with their burn from start to finish....4x..just like the Opto's. These disks were just as Versatile as the Opto's and the truth is that for the price differential, I can find no difference to justify the extra money for the BEALL DVD-R's.

Next, the BeAll DVD+R disks...these disks were very good as well, however, not as Versatile....one of my friends standalone players took very long to load this disk.....one standalone I tried it in didn't play it at all....however, on my Philips which plays everything I have ever thrown at it...these disks played and loaded perfectly. I was also concerned about a long scratch on one of these disks, making me wonder how the Quality Control was for these BEALL DVD+R's. I wouldn't purchase these with the other options out there...but at least they are "stable" and also burned "consistently" @4x.


Now, for the last two brands of 4x disks...the ACCU made by Lead Data and the Prime's made by Gigastorage. These disks both have a very light purple write side and look very similiar. They look extremely similiar to the "SPEEDY's" by Shop4tech and that is interesting because of the fact that all 3 disks seem to perform the same way. And that is with "INCONSISTENT" 4x burning.

The very first ACCU and Prime disk which I tested, I actually clocked the time It took to burn...the ACCU burned over 4 GB's in a little over 15 minutes, while the Prime did it in 16 minutes. Both were very good results. However, I have recently noticed that some of the ACCU's and PRIME disks will NOT burn @4x. They will START OUT @ 4X just as the opto's and Beall's...however, within 1-3 minutes, the speed will lower to 2x. As a result, the same disk which took 15-16 minutes to burn, now takes between 29-32 minutes to burn.

I can also say that there were some issues with the SPEEDY'S THE ACCU'S and the Primes with chapters loading and compatibility. With those disks on SOME standalones...which the disks would PLAY On..the chapters would take a little longer to load then normally...and on my Philips..the Prime disks also took a little longer to load the chapters....which I thought was unusual, as my Philips loads the chapters at lightning speed on most disks.

At any rate, the point to this is that these aren't as versatile either...and wouldn't play on 3 different standalones I tried....however, they are solid in the sense that there are no known issues with the disks locking up or freezing.

The point to all this is that at least with these types of "4x" media, you get what you pay for. You pay the extra for the Optodisks or the
Beall DVD-R's and you are going to get consistent burns @ 4x. If you try and go with the PRIMES OR ACCU's...you will get the occasional disk which will burn @4x, however, it will be hit or miss and chances are that I didn't have enough to test to see how many burned @4x and how many didn't. The truth is that I wouldn't be too happy knowing that I spent money on any 4x disks and had many of them burn only @2x,....bottom line is that with this TDK deal going on at Target and Best Buy, I suggest people just load up on those right now...until these online sites lower their prices of media to reflect what it's actually worth.

To have ANY of this media be 20-30 cents higher then TDK 4x media is absurd to say the least. That's why i'm going to get in on that TDK deal....it's the best deal out there for 4x media right now..hands down...gotta take advantage of it. I won't get too much of it though...because who knows what sale will be next to beat the price of this Best Buy sale. Hell, Best Buy may decide to sell 100 of the TDK DVD-R's for $119, or $99 next. Who knows....but this is the best deal yet on the DVD TDK+R's and it's one most should take advantage of if they can.

Hope this information helps people.

[rhegedus]

Nice work!

Just a few of questions:

1) How many of each brand of disk did you burn?
2) What software did you use to burn the disks?
3) What were the model numbers of the set-top DVD players you used for the test?
4) Are you going to post this data in the DVD media section?

[txpharoah]

the Gold Topped Optodisks with the Darker Purple write side burned consistently @ 4x. The 4x opto's also were the most versatile....playing in every standalone I tried them in.

This is why these are my media of choice, after Apple.

[Metaluna]

Hope this information helps people.

It's always good to hear peoples' experiences with different types of media. Could you mention what firmware you were using on the Sony burner? I've been using 2.0f which has worked great with the TDK and Verbatim 4X +R's (which are all the same media, at least around here). TDK 2x -R's also work well, but I'm getting spoiled by 4x burning so I've only been using them if I have a specific need for -R. I don't know why we haven't seen 4x -R's in the retail stores yet.

[defense]

@rheghedus, yes, I am gonna post this in the media forum,...I guess along with the "SPEEDY's." As for my burning programs...I am very biased towards RecordNow Max for several reasons. I did use Nero as well and the results were the same.

I had 5 pieces of media of the 5 different types mentioned.

The ACCU, BEALL DVD+ AND - R , PRIME DISKS/GIGASTORAGE, And the Gold Top Optodisks. If BEST BUY didn't have such an insane deal..the Opto's woulda been my next large purchase. It's really interesting how some media like the ACCU's and PRIME's may or may not burn @4x ...while the BEALL and Opto's are very consistent...all burned from beginning to end @4x. I will probably end up getting more of these but by the time my TDK supply runs out....prices should even be cheaper.


Last but not least, I will post the standalone players which these disks did or didn't play in....I got lazy and just tried them in friends and families players....and didn't get the model number. I'll be speaking to them or seeing them all soon...so i'll ask over the phone what their model number is....there are so many standalones out there, I figured it was probably just better to see which disks were versatile...and that's pretty much why I didn't bother with the model numbers. I'm still waiting for some type of media to not play on my Philips 724 ...damn thing has played every type of disk and every brand of disk i've ever thrown at it. And loads em all up quick as hell.

Lucky Me. :P

[pokai]

Now, for the last two brands of 4x disks...the ACCU made by Lead Data and the Prime's made by Gigastorage. These disks both have a very light purple write side and look very similiar.

That's interesting because I bought a 25 pack of the Primes to try out and all the disks have a very dark charcoal color to them. So far I haven't had any problems with the resulting burn, but I didn't pay attention to whether or not they burn 4x all the way through.

[defense]

@pokai, exactly the problem. I was under the FALSE IMPRESSION that they burned fine @4x, because I sat there and watched the entire burn process on the first three...the OPTODISKS AND BEALL's...but the funny thing was that I also timed my first Prime disk and ACCU.

After the first burns I noticed that all the ACCU's and PRIMES were starting out reading and burning @4x, but after a minute or so they would only burn @2x. Burn about 5 of them all the way through....you should see the same thing. They CAN burn @4x though...because I timed one at 16 minutes....it's just hit or miss, unfortunately.

[disturbed1]

the Gold Topped Optodisks with the Darker Purple write side burned consistently @ 4x. The 4x opto's also were the most versatile....playing in every standalone I tried them in.

This is why these are my media of choice, after Apple.

You know the 4x is completely different than the 1x right. They are made in a different plant, using a different dye.

The 1x is no where near the quality of the 4x media. Optodisc licensed the Metal AZO dye layer for the 4x media. The 1x uses a cheaper, less consistant dye.

I've only read your posts about the 1x media. So if you think the 1x media is good, then the 4x should be da bomb

The Optodisc 4x is great media.

@pokai
I think we're all color blind, I thought they were burnt orange myself

[txpharoah]

You know the 4x is completely different than the 1x right. They are made in a different plant, using a different dye. The 1x is no where near the quality of the 4x media. Optodisc licensed the Metal AZO dye layer for the 4x media. The 1x uses a cheaper, less consistant dye.

Didn't know that one. But yeah, I've been using 4x golds since I restocked at home some weeks back. Didn't see any difference, both 1x and 4x were quality for me.

[pokai]

@pokai
I think we're all color blind, I thought they were burnt orange myself

ahaha.....whatever color it is it's pretty dark and very far from light purple, at least mine were.