watch out this Ritek product!

[ya_jai]

Are you saying this is the type of Ritek you purchased and had the problems with?

Genuine Ritek Ridata G04 Super Grade 4X DVD-R 4.7GB (Ridata Branded)

http://www.meritline.com/ritek-ridata-g04-4x-dvd-r-blank-media-disc-matte-branded.html

Not that one, but this one " http://www.shop4tech.com/user.htm?go=view_item&id=1437&cata=&s_cata= "

It came in 2 of 25 spindle and not really good, It is a blank silver shiny top with no name.

The one in your link is the purple wrap with RiDATA branded which is the one I don't have any problems with.

[Capmaster]

what is RMA??? remanufactured? rejected or what?
thanks for teaching me

What is RMA?

Return Merchandise Authorization

Basically someone has bought it, decided it was defective or some other reason, and sent it back for a refund. Definitely not my first-choice for potential media

[joepic]

I just spoke to MeritLine's technical department regarding the "OLD RITEK G04 with matte finish in the RED wrapper" and the "new RITEK G04 in the hard plastic containers". They said that the return rate for the "old" was less then 1% and the return rate for the "new" is between 4% - 5%.

So if you are looking for the same quality as the "old" Ritek's then I believe you must go to the G05 8x media which is in the RED WRAPPER. I just order up 100 of them which will arrive next week. The price was $.90 each plus $9 shipping.

[QuaiBoy]

I bit the bullet and ran a bunch of tests on a RiData branded disc (the "Arrow" cake box) I borrowed from a friend. Here's the results:
http://www.convertingvideo.com/tests/ritek/g04_d2.htm

I'm new at testing, so if there are any tests you'd like me to run please let me know. I'm also in the midst of testing 4 random RiData unbranded G04s (serial numbers starting with J3, H1, H4, and H5) from my library. I'm uploading them as the tests finish. All the tests should be online by tonight.
http://www.convertingvideo.com

I just want to see everyone hook up with a media that will work for them. Please let me know if you have any suggestions to make my tests more useful.

Enjoy and good luck to everyone,
-Evan-

[tgc225]

So what are the exact differences between these three:

Ritek DVD-R Red/White wrapped - $42.99

Ritek DVD-R Ridata Purple Spindle - $30.00

Ritek DVD-R Silver Matte Top - $35.00

I've seen conflicting reports on various message boards (like the silver matte top being grade B or something), and I just would like a definitive answer

[Fresh One]

fresh one, can you check the serial number code on the good set of RITEK disks you had vs. these. Just look at one or two of them. The Riteks should have a code that says anything from H-1 followed by a set of serial numbers to H-2, H-3, H-4, H-5, or J-4 or J-5 followed by a set of serial numbers. I'm just curious if the disks you are having problems with are anything from H-1 series to H-3. And the ones you had good success with were any of the others I mentioned. My guess is that is exactly the case.

My older spindles (that burned ok) were both H1s.

The problems disks for me are H5s.

Sounds like the reverse of what you were expecting ???

[500AX]

DVDave, my information is golden and it's perfectly fine to doubt it, I
guess that is human nature. But it is completely accurate and this is
exactly what is happening. 888888 was completely correct. I had this
conversation with my friend casually as we talked about other things in the
media industry as well. It wasn't something I picked at. After the doubts
I called him up and he said that it was Office Max NOT Office Depot. I made a mistake there but the information itself is dead accurate (over 2 million pcs was returned due to quality and more...). Believe what you want to believe but I went out my way to post this information to begin with. Anyone that purchases these disks is gonna find out the hard way and that's perfectly fine by me. People in the post that have already purchased these have some big problems with them already. There's gonna be a lot more so go ahead and grab them up. It's something how when someone says they know somebody there's always that one or two people who feel the need to dispute what is being said is true. As far as having "crack" as an interest that was a joke and wrote that when I joined the forum. It wasn't mean to be taken seriously. Mark my words, you buy those Ritek disks and you're gonna pay twice. You'll pay for the disks and you'll pay again after you get the disks. But don't worry i'm sure it's just a coincidence people have said in this post they had never had a problem with Ritek disks before and all of a sudden they have now. I just guessed the disks in the cake boxes were crap.

By the way, it is good to see supermediastore offeres 60 days money back, but don't you think it is weir here why is their bizrating not avail no more after May 24th, 2004.

http://www.bizrate.com/ratings_guide/cust_reviews__mid--28949.html

Is there something wrong with this company or something they are hiding for or they just want to take your money and disappear? Meriltine, how many of you had bad experience? and how do they take care of you from RMA process? And more.......

Guys, use your brain to think! CHEAP DOES NOT MEAN GOOD

Good Luck

[twilightzone]

So now that everybody has put their two cents in on this subject, what kind of high quality media can we depend on to buy? Are we left with just the taiyo's?

[twilightzone]

Anybody notice yet that videohelp's homepage is advertising for people to buy those crappy purple wrapper ritek discs on the top right hand corner????

[mohammedomer1]

RMA = Return Merchandise Authorization.
This is done when the company/manufacturer will confirm that the consumer has received a dead/defective or faulty product and will make arrangements for that product/merchandise to be returned/replaced with new/replaced with refurbished product.

[twinegar]

I go through about a thousand Ritek Silver Matte G04's per month and have very few duds. I just finished up my first 200 of the ones in the cake box without any problems. After reading this string I went back and tested several and they are fine.
In the past I have had some G03 duds but later discovered that it was a problem with the master disc that happened to be the Ink Jet G03's which are starting to fail en masse. Also, direct disc to disc transfers will up the chances of failure. A few of the failures in the matte, shiny and white G03's had a visible defect that manifested itself as a small shiny area in the data field. I also had a batch a couple of months ago with an uneven dye spread but it didn't seem to affect the playback.
For now at least I will stick to Ritek. I just wish Taiyo Yuden's would come down in price.

[4packsadvd]

I use those purple banded cake box ridata G04 from newegg with H5 and J3 serials and I can actually say that out of 40 of 50 burned so far I have not had a single coaster or problem burning around 4.2 GB to each of them. With 10 left to burn I am confident that they are 99.9 % relaible if you are following the rules. I also got 5 free Newegg branded Ritek G04 with J3 serials and all 5 also burned fine.

Time will tell if or if not G04 quality is going down hill again. For now I see no proof. Besides 8x is now out so G04 is probably being discontinued anyway.

500AX I still think you are confused about the 2 mil returns, I remember reading about a problem recently which involved Office Max and Ritek CD-R media not DVD-R media. How did you or your friend determine that mediacode G04 DVD-R media is invoved with the 2 mil RMAs?If it wasn't for our skepticism you would not have determined that it was office max and not office depot which was supposedly involved.

[tnt419]

I've been using the red and white packaged RiDATA dvd-r's for quite some time. Never have had a problem with them and they have always played in every dvd player that I tried them in. I went to order more dvds about 2 weeks ago and noticed they were sold out everywhere....

so I ordered those new RiDATAs in the purple spindle that have the RiDATA logo on the dvds with the arrow from http://store.yahoo.com/cdrdvdrmedia/index.html

Including xbox and ps2, I have 5 different dvd players in my house....so far these discs have played on all 5 units... but i have only burned 5 discs out of the 100 i got...I wont have a chance to try them on friends players until this weekend..but so far I dont see a problem with them

[tnt419]

since everyone is including serial numbers...i still have a few of the red and white wrapped ridatas. they start with H4...i've burnt probably 1500 of those with only 4 or 5 discs that shipped to me with imperfections in the dye

the printable riteks i have start with J3...i only bought 50 of them...I have burnt 30 so far with no problems

and the new purple cakebox ones with ridata and the arrow on the dvds start with a D2..but like I said..I've only burnt 5 out of 100...to full capacity and so far so good.

and all of these discs are G04...hope this helps

[Capmaster]

I go through about a thousand Ritek Silver Matte G04's per month and have very few duds. I just finished up my first 200 of the ones in the cake box without any problems. After reading this string I went back and tested several and they are fine.
In the past I have had some G03 duds but later discovered that it was a problem with the master disc that happened to be the Ink Jet G03's which are starting to fail en masse. Also, direct disc to disc transfers will up the chances of failure. A few of the failures in the matte, shiny and white G03's had a visible defect that manifested itself as a small shiny area in the data field. I also had a batch a couple of months ago with an uneven dye spread but it didn't seem to affect the playback.
For now at least I will stick to Ritek. I just wish Taiyo Yuden's would come down in price.

You burn over 33 a day? How is the bootlegging business, by the way?

[chas0039]

So now that everybody has put their two cents in on this subject, what kind of high quality media can we depend on to buy? Are we left with just the taiyo's?

Prodisc. I have had zero problems on a Pioneer 107D. Just my two cents.

[tnt419]

Prodisc. I have had zero problems on a Pioneer 107D. Just my to cents.

Any specific kind of Prodisc? Where do you buy yours from?

[aglips]

I also ordered 100 of them from meritline a few weeks ago and they came in 2 50-pc packs like in the picture.

But I've used up almost a whole pack without any problem so far. I use a TEAC DV w50e and NEC 2500a and they all work flawlessly at 4x and 8X burn speeds. I've burnt movies and even backed up my son's PS2 games with these discs.

[chas0039]

Prodisc. I have had zero problems on a Pioneer 107D. Just my two cents.

Any specific kind of Prodisc? Where do you buy yours from?

4X DVD-R S03 code. Either Rima.com or supermedia.com. They seem to undercut each other's prices on a daily basis. Right now they are about 37 cents each in 100s. Rima almost always has cheaper shipping but Supermedia sometimes has free shipping. Rima has higher ratings and Supermedia has a very good return policy.

[m2mic]

I just recieved two 25 packs of the Ritek branded dvd-r's with the arrow on the cakebox today from meritline. They seem preety good to me. I burnt 4 so far today with no problem on a liteon 411. They all played perfect on my Philips dvdr-75 and my old panasonic dvd-a120. I have not found a media the philips won't play, maybe because it's a dvd recorder it will read all kinds of recordable media. But the Panasonic is from 1999, so it has trouble with a lot of cheap of older media. Sometimes it would play for like 5 minutes then break up or freeze, or you couldn't fast forward through the disc. But the new Ritek dics I got today play perfect on it through a whole complete disc, and the fast forward works perfect even at the fastest speed which is 100x on it with out breaking up one bit. So far I think they are great for the price, even if they are RMA's or whatever. I'll keep using them until I see otherwise, even if some people say they are grade B or returns. Rule of thumb, use what works for you.

[500AX]

ATTENTION BROTHER AND SISTER OUT THERE: HERE IS YOUR RESULT FROM YOUR SUPER STORE OR LOVER STORE

http://www.bizrate.com/ratings_guide/cust_reviews__mid--28949.html

YOU ALL SEE WHAT I AM SAYING NOW, WE POSTED AND THEN THEY LINK UP THE POST, THEN WHAT HAPPEN THE NEGATITIVE RESULT IS OVER 20% FROM CUSTOMERS, AND YOU THINK THIS IS A STORE YOU COULD COUNT ON! YOU REALLY HAVE SOME "BIG BALLS" SO WHAT IT IS 60 DAYS MONEY BACK, YOU SURE YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE MONEY BACK!

[Jackinbox]

I think the whole story here is somewhat fishy. Office Max has carried some really crappy CD-R media over the years, so I can't imagine that these G04's would be rejected based on quality. I ordered 200 of the Red wrapper ones from Meritline a few weeks ago but they shipped me these arrow cakeboxes instead. So far I've gone through about 120 and haven't had a single coaster. I've been running tests after every 20 or so burns. No difference at all using DVDinfo speedtest! In the testing, they seem to be no different than the red wrappers. I use a lot of these things and so far have only had one coaster in about 700-800 burns. I'm super impressed by the G04's and I'm not convinced that the new packaging means anything more than just new packaging.

[LanEvo7]

I think the whole story here is somewhat fishy. Office Max has carried some really crappy CD-R media over the years, so I can't imagine that these G04's would be rejected based on quality.

That what I think also. Doesn't matter if its Office Max, Office Depot, Staples, Best Buy, etc. All major retailers sell (or have sold) crappy dvd media before. Look at all the Memorex(CMC -R), Imation(more cmc), khypermedia, etc. All of them had major issues with quality, but did any of them get pulled off the shelf? No, they are still being sold. Ritek didn't even get a chance to hit the shelves and they got rejected...

[DVDDave]

like i said earlier, 500AX is FULL OF SHITE!!!!! someoneshould lock this thread at this point because all we are doing is exactly what 500AX wants us to do--ARGUE. as of right now, 500AX has not provided anything truthful and for all I know, he may get introuble for making false claims against otherwise reputable media.

[888888]

like i said earlier, 500AX is FULL OF SHITE!!!!! someoneshould lock this thread at this point because all we are doing is exactly what 500AX wants us to do--ARGUE. as of right now, 500AX has not provided anything truthful and for all I know, he may get introuble for making false claims against otherwise reputable media.

Don't be silly this thread does not need to be locked. And reputable stores or not, people are having trouble with this media.

[chas0039]

ATTENTION BROTHER AND SISTER OUT THERE: HERE IS YOUR RESULT FROM YOUR SUPER STORE OR LOVER STORE

http://www.bizrate.com/ratings_guide/cust_reviews__mid--28949.html

YOU ALL SEE WHAT I AM SAYING NOW, WE POSTED AND THEN THEY LINK UP THE POST, THEN WHAT HAPPEN THE NEGATITIVE RESULT IS OVER 20% FROM CUSTOMERS, AND YOU THINK THIS IS A STORE YOU COULD COUNT ON! YOU REALLY HAVE SOME "BIG BALLS" SO WHAT IT IS 60 DAYS MONEY BACK, YOU SURE YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE MONEY BACK!

If you don't count Rima or Newegg (both of which sell this same media) this is actually a very high rating. I checked out companies that sell DVD media a few months ago and it is really hard to find anyone with a rating higher than 7.

[ya_jai]

On the other hand, according to office max rejected the whole shipment from Ritek, might it be because office max did change a management team and didn't want to invest in a new inventory or might be something elses which not involve with " QUALITY ". Also how can Office Max determined if these media are bad quality media when they sell something elses even crapier than Ritek.

Just my guess nothing more nothing less. And NO I'm not on Ritek side becuz I myself have had a bad experience with Shiny Silver Top Reitk G04 as state above.

[richdvd]

500AX wrote:

AND IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE WHAT I AM SAYING, PLEASE GO CHECK WITH YOUR NEAREST OFFICEDEPO TO SEE IF WHAT I AM SAYING IS REAL!

@DVDDave

If it bothers you so much..why don't you visit your local OfficeDepot and ask them. Don't take it personally man, Chill Out! 8)

[twinegar]

Capmaster wrote:

You burn over 33 a day? How is the bootlegging business, by the way?

You assume a lot and offer nothing to the discussion.
My business is NON OF YOUR BUSINESS anyway!!

[888888]

Capmaster wrote:

You burn over 33 a day? How is the bootlegging business, by the way?

You assume a lot and offer nothing to the discussion.
My business is NON OF YOUR BUSINESS anyway!!

You obviously aren't familiar with this forum's sense of humor. I suggest you get used to it.