Pansonic E60 - Best Media to use?

[Ammonia]

Ok, well having spent £7 on 25 "Mirror platinum" and having, well, awful results (about 1 in 4 discs worked without saying 'RECOVER' etc). Anyway what media have you used successfully I was considering using Bulkpac Orange 4x for it, but whaty have you found to be the best.

[Mechworker]

I don't know about the E60, but my E50 is living on Maxell 4X -R disks. You know the ones made in Japan, in the Blue and White package? Those ones.

I've never had a problem, but Memorex ruined my first E50, so don't bother with them. The Panny seems to be a finicky beast from what I can tell, so good media is probably a must.

[Capmaster]

My E50 loves Princo 1X white-top blanks. It's recorded to about 100 so far. That's convenient because they're very inexpensive ($0.56 ea. in 100 spindle).

[Ammonia]

ok cheers for those few.

[drobins]

I use Maxell 4X -R discs Maxell 1X -R discs & TDK 4x,
never had a problem with any.
to date 250 all went fine,
Dave

[handyguy]

Just read the dvd recorder topic on left column, tons of suggestions.

I use Accu disks. about $60/100. I dont' use Princos cause I read the data can disappear in a year.

[Capmaster]

Just read the dvd recorder topic on left column, tons of suggestions.

I use Accu disks. about $60/100. I dont' use Princos cause I read the data can disappear in a year.

Because of this?:

Comments posted by chris, December 31, 2003:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They record fine initially but die over time.
With time or repeated play back the die loses contrast and becomes unusable (non-readable). 3-6 months they begin to fade.

Gimme a break ...it's written by one guy named "Chris" who doesn't offer any technical reason, links or data to back up his claim? Is this all you're basing your comments on?

[Gaulois]

I agree, this Handyguy is full of it. I have seen the same exact post everywhere. He has no proof that Pinco's are bad (They are cheap and might not work with some units), but he is pulling that coment out of his B.t
I believe he works for Accu or Meritline.

I have read so many coments about Pinco's. I cincerely believe they are cheap disc. From there, they will work fine in one player and not in an other. Remember, even 2 identical machines will not perform the same.
I will take a proven example. If you take 2 (or more) identical rifles, their accuracy will be different with the exact same cartrige. And there are less moving parts in a rifle than an high tech dvd recorder. You have to keep on trying what is right for your machine by testing "many" different brands, then stick with it.
But then again, you have the occasional bad batch of your favorite DVD-/+R. That's when the reputable brand will come into play. The audits in those companies are probably more detailed, thus giving you less deffects.

If you read coments about Pinco's, you will read good and bad reviews.
but as you go up in the DVD media price, all coments become positive.

As the old saying goes, "you get what you pay for". That's when you stretch the limit of the price and the quality. For that, you have to do your own reaserch if you have the time and the will. If not, I would suggest going a bit higher in the price range (maybe around $1.00 to $1.50) and never have to worry about your recording and it's quality.

Good luck.

[FulciLives]

Stick with MADE IN JAPAN DVD-R media.

Basically that boils down to Maxell 4x DVD-R discs and Taiyo Yuden DVD-R discs.

The Maxell discs are getting easier and easier to find. You can buy them in retail stores (walmart has the best price) or on-line (perhaps at an even better price than walmart).

Any FUJI package of DVD-R discs that say MADE IN JAPAN are Taiyo Yuden. This boils down to the 5-packs and 10-packs. A bit expensive on the retail level.

Best price for Taiyo Yuden is at RIMA.COM assuming you can buy in bulk.

I admit it can be a pain-in-the-ass sometimes to buy 50 or 100 at a time in bulk but you get the best price per disc that way.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Neuron]

I feed both of my recorders only with Maxell, TDK, and SONY. No "coasters", no problem whatsoever. A few days ago tried JVC and the same positive result.

[Bob W]

In my E50 I have used Princo's, TDK, and the cheap CompUSA media. BTW my Princo's all play just fine today and some go back almost a year ago.

[Capmaster]

My E50 seemed to like Princo until I couldn't get a good batch of them. Something happened and almost all the ones I had just purchased failed. I've since sworn off Princo and found an excellent media for my E50 that hasn't yet produced a coaster - Optodisc gold-top I bought through Meritline. At the time about 68 cents each, so they're not very expensive. They don't work in my PC burner though, so I have to use Maxell branded in that.

I still have over 1,500 burned Princo DVDs and they show no sign of losing integrity after 2 years.

[handyguy]

I have seen a lot of comments about how stable Princos are, there are 400 comments on Princos in the media topic on left column, if you want to read them.
"Poor quality. to be avoided if you plan to back up data. I've lost some data."

"This media blows. Got a spindle of 50 and out of that 30 were coasters. Kept getting power calibration error in Nero. I am switching to Ritek G03 for good!"

"Absolute pile of shite.....buy RITEK"

Of course, you can disagree on this buy why buy them when there are such better alternatives?

[Gaulois]

I agree with you Handyguy
"Of course, you can disagree on this buy why buy them when there are such better alternatives?"
They are better alternatives.
Lets say you buy Pinco's, and they work fine for many recordings, but then you have a batch of coasters (100, as it seems guys on this forum like to buy bulk). You have to deal with wasted money, headach and stress dealing with the store you bought them from and is not going to take them back.

But for not too much more money, you have " A LOT MORE" guaranties.

In the mid range you have :
Samsung, Ritek, Optodisc and a few more at a very reasonable $0.60 to $0.70 each.
In the high end:
TY, Maxell, Sony, Fuji, Panasonic (Most of those brands are made by someone else, like TY, but as those elect. manufacturers have a reputation to keep, they go with the best, then mark up the price because of their name), Memorex (but this one has been very debatable).

Now, we can debate for ever which DVD media is best for which machine, But I don't think we will ever resolve anything, and much has already been writen about it.
It might be more useful to document each purchase we make. After buying from one store, we come here and give details about where, what and how much. This way we can all compare and get the best deals around. And we will all be winners.

Good luck

[Capmaster]

I have seen a lot of comments about how stable Princos are, there are 400 comments on Princos in the media topic on left column, if you want to read them.
"Poor quality. to be avoided if you plan to back up data. I've lost some data."

"This media blows. Got a spindle of 50 and out of that 30 were coasters. Kept getting power calibration error in Nero. I am switching to Ritek G03 for good!"

"Absolute pile of shite.....buy RITEK"

Of course, you can disagree on this buy why buy them when there are such better alternatives?

I agree with that guy who said Princo blows. I wrote that review in the media section after my terrible experience with the Princos a couple months ago

THe only thing I'd change is the recommendation from Ritek to Maxell branded DVD-R.

I think the issue is not whether the media will last for 10 or even 100 years. Lordsmurf says that if you get a good burn, it'll stay a good burn.

The ones susceptible to long-term DVD rot are primarily commercial DVDs, according to a study done at an NIST government lab:

http://www.gcn.com/23_5/news/25166-1.html

The issue with Princos is the ability to get a good burn. They tend to be light on the dye out near the edge, but the errors I was getting occurred within seconds of starting the burn. Power calibration error. I don't get that error with good media, so it's not the burner. The same ones that failed on the PC burner also failed on the Panny standalone.