ComUSA 10 Pack DVD-R and +R ... $8 Bucks

[rkr1958]

I've had bad luck with the DVD+R 2.4x 10-pack. I bought three 10-packs (actually my 3-year son did) for myself for Christmas. Anyway, I've used all but 1. I burned with Nero and got a burn failure rate of 10% (1 out of 10). Not too back I thought for cheap media. I used them to backup data. Anyway, when I tried to copy the data back from the discs to my HD to compare the data back to the original soure, I'm really parniod about data verification, that I had problems with 10 more discs. Basicly, they passed the Nero verification phase but some files (and even some discs) were unreable in my DVD-ROM. Luckily I could read all but one of two of these in my DVD+/-RW driver. For me I just can't trust media that is this unreliable.

[JohnnyCNote]

I'd be willing to risk $8 to see if they're any good. If I have problems, I can return the unopened ones. I'm convinced that the only way you can really tell is by actually trying them, since people's experiences are so varied.

In fact, their website says they still have some, so I'm going to go grab a couple and see how they are. Stay tuned!

----------¡¡¡¡¡UPDATE!!!!!--------

I got two spindles, burned one at 2.4x on a Sony DRU500AX, just checked it on an Apex 1500 and it looked great! I haven't watched the entire disk yet, but I'm confident it will be fine. I may go back and get some more....

Just burned disk #2 with no problems...

[godbeer]

I bought a 10-pack of these a couple of weeks ago to use as test discs when I first got my recorder. They all burned fine, no problems at all (I'm using an e-100). I picked up 2 more 10-packs at Compusa today since they were on sale. Still though, I don't really trust them enough to use for archiving - I'm using the Ritek 4x's from Newegg for stuff I want to keep, and for really important stuff I'm using TDK's. Basically, I'm using the Compusa discs as throw-away discs, to temporarily save stuff I want to watch later but don't really care about losing (sitcom reruns or sports, etc.), or for making extra backups, making discs for friends (instead of lending them the original, which usually gets returned with fingerprints and scratches) and so on. They're also useful for transferring recorded programs if I want to do some editing on the computer (My Pc doesn't read RAM).

My Compusa had the 10-packs in two slightly different packages - both are identical except one has a big "1X" on the front and the other doesn't list a speed. Just out of curiosity, I bought one of each to see if they were made by different manufacturers. It may just be a packaging change, I haven't checked them yet.

[JohnnyCNote]

Basically, I'm using the Compusa discs as throw-away discs, to temporarily save stuff I want to watch later but don't really care about losing (sitcom reruns or sports, etc.),

Why not use RW's? I use them for testing movie back-ups and for stuff I don't plan to keep for long. If later I decide to keep one, I can use Nero Recode and copy it to a permanent disk...

[godbeer]

Basically, I'm using the Compusa discs as throw-away discs, to temporarily save stuff I want to watch later but don't really care about losing (sitcom reruns or sports, etc.),

Why not use RW's? I use them for testing movie back-ups and for stuff I don't plan to keep for long. If later I decide to keep one, I can use Nero Recode and copy it to a permanent disk...

My recorder (Panasonic E-100) won't record to RW, just -R & RAM. I'm not just watching the discs once and then trashing them - I keep them, and will probably watch them again later, but I just use them for stuff that's not vital (If the disc goes bad in 6 months - no big deal - I can just trash it. I'm only out $.80 and have an extra jewel case to store the spindle discs with). If I were just saving something to watch once and discard I would use a RAM disc, so I could re-use it over and over. Also, I have 2 other players that don't read RAM, so -r is useful if I want to watch something in another room.

[JohnnyCNote]

My recorder (Panasonic E-100) won't record to RW, just -R & RAM.

I was thinking you were using a computer. How do you like the Panasonic?

[godbeer]

My recorder (Panasonic E-100) won't record to RW, just -R & RAM.

I was thinking you were using a computer. How do you like the Panasonic?

I do use a computer dvd +/- drive also, but not for recording video - just for backing up or storing data, or to make identical backups of dvd's. I also use it if I record something on the Pansonic and want to transfer the program to the computer and do extensive editing/add effects, etc. (This is one my uses for the Compusa discs - to transfer recorded discs to the pc if I want to make animated menus, complicated editing, etc.) After I do this I burn it back to a better disc using the pc recorder, and keep the original disc as a backup).

As for the E-100, I love it. I tried 3 different players before this - 2 Philips (dvdr-985 and dvdr-75, plus the previous Panasonic hs2). All went back to the store after a few days because of various glitches/limitations, and because none of them seemed to be able to do everything I needed. The E-100 does everything I want it to and more. Great recording quality (i'm playing back on a 65" screen and can't tell any difference between the original and the recording), High speed dubbing Is great, basic but good editing capabilities, Thumbnail menus, etc.

I chose the E-100 over the E-80 because of the 4x high speed dubbing and thumbnail menus, and I liked the firewire and memory card inputs even though I didn't think I would use them much. I have a digital camcorder with firewire, but I haven't got around to trying the firewire port yet, but I have gotten a lot of use from the SD card input. I have another digital camcorder (panasonic sv-av100) that records mpeg2 video directy to SD cards, and the two work together very nicely. I just pop the card out of the camcorder and into the recorder, and high speed dub to the hard disk - no cables, power supplies, etc. The whole process takes about 3 minutes - very convenient. At first I didn't think I would get much use out of this, but it has quickly become my favorite feature.

The only drawback I have found so far is that the User's maunal is a nightmare. But after reading it about 5 times, I finally screamed and threw it across the room, then came here and learned most everything I needed to know in almost no time. It's so much easier to read everything in simple plain english. With the manual, you have to constantly flip to different pages, and everyting is written using topics, sub-topics, sub-sub-topics with lines and arrows going everywhere and splitting off in different directions linking topics/directions together. After about 5 minutes I felt like my head was going to explode.

There are still a couple of very minor issues I'm still unsure about, but I've pretty much got the important stuff down and am burning without any problems. Everything considered, I'm extremely pleased with the E-100 and would definately recommend it to anyone. Although if you don't need the extra functions mentioned above, the E-80 would probably be a good bet too, and cheaper.