Why do people use inferior media?

[Craig Tucker]

The Hyundai Coupe is nice.

[DTSL06]

This thing about the cinema experience at home, well I for one would hope I get better then the typical theater experience at home. Most theater prints have many defects and a lot of theater projectionist needs their eyes examined since many times the pic is outa focus. The only thing going to the theater is better for is size of the screen. I have a top notch sound setup (Denon and Classe Audio electonics and Mirage and Definitive Tech speakers) and a reasonable large screen TV (53" Sony) most DVD look very good, the only better pics I seen was on large LCD's (not plasma) that I would trade for. For size, I prefer a HD projector and a 10' screen. I have some very expensive DVD players and some very cheap DVD players, yes there is a definite performance diff between them, but not to the point of 400% better that is reflected in their cost diff. Actually the cheaper DVD players have been better at playing all types of media better the the very expensive players, quailty tho not as good.

[indolikaa]

Here's why people buy cheap media...

They do it, then bitch about it, and it ends up begging the question from intelligent users, "Why do people buy shite media?"

Now the guy who posts the thread asking such a stupid question only looks stupid on the surface. In reality, it's a question like this that is posted solely for entertainment value, nothing else. He just needed a good laugh and, as always, jeex was there to foot the bill.

Comparing blank media purchasing habits with the quality of hookers. I wouldn't have expected any less in a thread like this.

Keep up the good work, jeex!

Oh, and for the record, I buy Taiyo Yuden whenever I can.

[fritzi93]

Hmm, I have two 25" TVs and an Apex and a Sylvania DVD player. The Sylvania is not exactly high-end, but it's noticeably superior in picture quality, particularly color. Don't know how to put a quantitative value on the difference.

The fact that the Apex plays damn near anything (and the Sylvania nothing but DVDs done precisely to spec), makes it a case of having BOTH, thank you, not either/or. The cheapo is essentially disposable, and since it's lasted a year and a half, yeah I'd buy another.

Not sure if the above is analagous to the media question. The great unknown factor there is longevity, I don't know whether I should worry about it or not. But there are some discs I'll never buy again if I can help it, all cheapos.

[elmotheteapot]

"How can they pay 20~25€ for a DVD movie and can't afford 1€ to back it up? "

In America we don't need to buy movies. There is something called Netflix.

Ah but you wouldnt have a reason to back up netflixs

[Bodysurf]

My question is, when quality media is so cheap, why are people still using inferior media?

(Insert picture of a little bird running around)

Cheap... Cheap... Cheap... Cheap...

Seriously, DVD media, especially >2X DVD media, is in its infancy still. People who are used to buying CDR media anywhere, at the cheapest price, and it just works and getting unpleasantly surprised when using cheap DVD-R media. I remember buying Mitsui Gold 4X CD-Rs for $10.00 a pop -- and that was a great deal at the time, so spending an extra $0.50 or so for Riteks versus Princo or other crap is no big deal to me.

It ain't that way with DVD-R media, at least not yet. I've had my share of problems with cheap media, especially when trying to burn at >2X, so all I use now is the good stuff -- 4X Grade A Ritek G04 DVD-Rs.

[PJGS]

Cheap media is good if u meet these rules:

1) U are not going to burn critical data on it
2) It is not intended for long term storage


Otherwise, stay away.

[dazz87]

I've always used good media such as Memorex and TDK. Now a day theres always sales around the net and local shops on good media. Ive gone through 200 plus Memorex dvd+r and never had a coaster. I want my backup to last for a long time thats why im willing to spend couple dollars more on good media.

[LanEvo7]

I have to agree with THXkid , why buy cheap chinese players that are only going to last 12 months at most and have inferior picture quality.
It amazes me that a lot of people are trying to find the best tools to burn there movies for high quality and then play them on a supermarket DVD player, You just lost around 30% picture quality.

You picky about your quality. I've watched movies on both a $300 Panasonic player, $200 Sony Player(which died before a year), and a $80 Apex player. Can't tell the difference between any of them. Oh, my Apex is still going strong after two years. Recently got a Lite-On player for divx and its going fine.

[PJGS]

It strikes to me that many people define good media as any media that can be burned correctly and can be read on their standalone players.
However, to me good media must procude no coasters, offer good compatibility and must keep data untouched for a long time.

Will a 0.70€ dvd+/-r play flawlessly in 2 years time?
I don´t know, but I expect that my 2€ media will play in 2 years time.

[gmatov]

PJ,

You might be in for a rude shock in 2 years time.

Why are so many above comparing the "cheap" pipple, those who were getting excellent results with their 15 buck 100 spindle, who now want to get the same results with "cheap" DVDs?

We go back a year or more, and all the arguments were about the "good" CD-Rs. Don't buy that brand, they're all shit, and your data will be gone in 2 years.

Now, we're all, mostly, into DVD and it's the same thing.

I buy mainly by price, sales and rebates. If I can get a "good" brand, at a reasonable price, I'll take it.

Be damned if I'll pay 25 to 29 bucks for a 5 pack of +RWs!

Just bought a 5 pack of Imation for final of 5 bucks after 15 instant, 5 mail in. Now that, I like.

True, I might get a 100 burns with 1 of them, still doesn't mean I have to enjoy paying 5-6 bucks apiece.

Maybe when I start making more coasters than keepers, I'll look at it your way, but till then.....

Cheers,

George

BTW, the girl who sold her car for "just a fraction" of what it cost...15/16 is a fraction, that car kept its value pretty damn well.

[PJGS]

I have generic, no name CD-R's burned 18-24 months ago and they have some issues now. I'm sure they were perfect when I burned them.

I have brand media (kodak, sony, philips, tdk and verbatim CR-R's) that are 3-4 years old and still play flawlessly.

I use dvd media to store unique moments with my family. I don't want to run the risk of losing that just 'cause I want to save a few €.

I believe a good bargain is to get the media a want for the lowest possible price not to get the cheapest media I can find and run the risk of losing it all in a year time.

I only use cheap media when longevity isn't too important.

[drtobasco]

Okay, we've gone off on several tangents, but let's take a look at the original question.... "Why do people use inferior media?"

The response is "How do you know what media other people use?" unless you are... trading... ahem... "legal non-hollywood home movies which you created yourself and are burning on dvd wink wink nudge nudge".

And here, the original poster is absolutely correct - if you're going to share your "home movies" with "family and friends" and vice versa, then you want to be as compatible as you can possibly be and hope your friends will do likewise. Hence the need for better quality media, good software, and good burning practices.

Otherwise, your "family and friends" won't want to share movies with you anymore. I know there are members of my "family" that I never want to share with again because they sent me crap.

[simonko]

"Why do people use inferior media?"

1. Low price

2. Bad advice, or no advice

3. It was there

[doublejack]

There's a huge difference between "inferior" and "inexpensive". In my situation money is a big factor so my goal is to save money where I can. I prefer to buy cheap discs, but they have to be reliable and compatible.

$1/disc for a Ritek G04 is my current gold standard. If I can find a deal on discs of equal or better quality then I buy them. Case in point, a couple weeks ago I picked up 100 Imation +Rs for $70. I knew going in they were RICOHJPN media. I consider those about equal in quality to Riteks, so it was something I couldn't pass up at that price. On the other hand $2 for a MXL or Taiyo Yuden disc may be worth it to someone else, but at double the cost of a Ritek I can't justify it.

So to answer the question posed, I would never intentionally use inferior media. The only times I've ended up with junk media were when I had zero experience and bought different discs to learn what worked and what didn't, or when I got bad advice. I'm out to save money, not throw it away.

I would use lesser media than the abosolute best on the market if it's going to save money... but the cheaper stuff still has to be of good quality.

[shelbyGT]

well, i dont know what you all consider cheap/inferior media, but I use memorex and maxell 4X dvd-r's and sony dvd+r. Never had a problem and all play on all the standalone's i own.

please, besides generic labels, what are you all considering inferior media?

[CoolRain]

the point is why are you paying so high that you can get cheap???? Sure ritek is good brand don't take me wrong, but think how many some of us use and how much difference there are. i say stay with cheap disc that works, if not work try something else. If you burn 100 discs a week and each disc can save you 50 cents. that is 50 dollars difference dude!!! that will save u 200 dollars a month!!!

well of couse, if u are bad luck got some cheap low disc, well, u are in trouble!!!

[LanEvo7]

Its a matter of balance your budget and what works for you.

You stated you use "high quality" Riteks only. Well Ritek isn't the best media out there. There other discs such as Maxell(real ones Japanese ones) and TDK(real Japanese ones) that have lower failure rate than Ritek does. Do a search in the forums and you can see that there are many posts regarding Ritek problems.

The best disc in my opinion are the TDK Armor Plated DVD Rs. Top quality TDK dye with a super durable shell. To bad they between $4 - $8 a disc. The prices of DVD causes me to go to other brands like Ritek(though I too have had a whole spindle of G03s where data near the edge was unreadable). I've also used Lead Data and Optodiscs. Both burned fine and still going strong after about a year. I've had issues with compatibility of dvd players with Optodiscs and edge problems with one spindle of Lead Data, but overall it was ok.

[freestyler]

not knocking any brands or anything... but I use different medias for different purposes. the cheaper media i use for dvd backups, and my better media i use for pc data backup. sometimes i make redundant backups using both medias.

it all depends on what youre doing, how much you value your data, and how well the media you do choose to use does the job

[shelbyGT]

just wanted to say that the memorex i am using are CMC and they have worked on everything i've tried. have had no problem at all.

[NamDekan]

i just started this past xmas with DVD burning, and went straight for the cheapest i could find which happened to be Memorex, Fuji and TDK, i got lucky with finding them for so cheap. FYE had 50% off all blank media, Office Max during the 5 pack of imation for 7 dollars and then 5 dollar MIB, they ran out of Imation so they substituted Memorex 5 pack and gave them to me for 2 dollars a pop..so i got 10 dvd-r's for 4 dollars, and then with Fuji, my fiancee works at best buy and i got a 10 pack for something like 12 dollars..Whats a good site for getting the Ritek dvd-r's? i see people saying they get them for 60 cents per dvd in bulk..

[giantsmurf]

The first couple of discs that I burnt were were Infodisc. I bought them because they were cheap and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on the first discs that I bought. If I ruined them then so what. However, since those first couple of discs I have only used Ritek\Ridata because they have given me no problems, work in my standalone DVD player and are still very cheap.(80 cents Canadian).
I have bought cheap CDrs before and I will never do that again. Out of the 50 that I had bought I have only 1 or 2 left that still work. The rest I had to reburn because they were starting to flake.

[888888]

I'm really trying to figure this one out. I only use high quality media (Ritek) and I've never had a problem with them. Burn, play fine on everything, and I can get them for less than $2.00 Canadian.

My question is, when quality media is so cheap, why are people still using inferior media? I mean, is it really worth burning dvds that may not play properly, or can degrade in order to save a few cents? I'm not trying to criticize anyone, I'm thinking that maybe there's a reason a can't see.

By all means, please, share your opinions.

I don't use el cheapo crappy RITEK media. That Taiwanese shit has a bad reputation. Only Maxell for me.

[andkiich]

My question is, when quality media is so cheap, why are people still using inferior media?

So you would have something to bitch about.

[Marvingj]

I buy Cheap DVD's, but Good Beer!

[Bodysurf]

It ain't that way with DVD-R media, at least not yet. I've had my share of problems with cheap media, especially when trying to burn at >2X, so all I use now is the good stuff -- 4X Grade A Ritek G04 DVD-Rs.

Ritek has gone to shit now. I have now shifted to only using the highest quality media listed at nomorecoasters.com.

That means, using Pioneer, Maxell, Taiyo Yuden, or MCC.

[PJGS]

I have a friend who spent lots of €€€€ on an upgrade for his PC and bought a good digital camera and...
... yes, u guessed it. He stores family pictures/movies on princo media.
I asked him why he buys that media and he said "it's cheap"

I believe many people do the same. Spend a lot of money on a burner, a digital camera and some other hardware and then they buy the cheapest and most unreliable media they can to store precious data

I know that most people don't know a thing about who makes the media they buy, but it doesn´t take to be an engeneer to realize that there must be a good difference bewteen a 0.35€ princo and a 1.8€ Verbatim!!!

Cheap media is ok for the not-so-important data, everything else deserves reliable media!

[Hawseman]

Hurray for cheap media.....if we didn't have it, this forum would be boring as hell.

Naked Geek for me!

[arrived03]

all i can say is the ones using the expensive discs will have another expensive round moving all your movies to dual layer , as for me i use mainly princos which are half the price of riteks at 50c a disc , not one of my backups are playing up & my son watches jurassic park over & over again on a longten , if one day i do eventually come up with a problem then i will simply spend another 50c for the disc and do another backup or by that time i will simply re do it on dual layer by then . There is absolutely no need to use maxells or taio yuden for backing up your dvd collection & the people who say otherwise are sending you on an expensive trip . the only time i use taio yuden(fuji) is to copy important files , photos & home made video of my family , in which case it becomes the original , but for hollywood films in which i own the originals , princos all the way , i could back them up 8 times for the price they want for taio yuden or twice for the price they want for ritek , so to all you members who say not to use princos , i say stop trying to be an elitist , pull your head out of your arse & save yourself some money.

[fritzi93]

for hollywood films in which i own the originals , princos all the way

I see your point. Hey guys, you do still have the originals, don't you?