Online stores for media

[Kingnog]

I've finally decided that buying from retail stores = rape, and online stores are the way to go for media. Now, the problem is that there are so many stores, and I've heard bad things about all of them....

for media, what would you guys suggest? supermediastore.com has this awesome deal,

http://store.yahoo.com/supermediastore/prodisc-4x-dvd-r-silver-47gb.html

but it seems too inexpensive to be quality media. Any of you guys know the media code on these? I'm looking at the 50pack for $19.99

Theres also newegg, meritline, and many many more....any suggestions?

[Treebeard]

order from www.rima.com very reliable and great customer service. prodisc is $35 for 100.

[jaxxboss]

http://linkyo.com/supermediastore/Item_Rating/viewReviews.php?itemcodepassed=DVD01X012...temnamepassed=

Just read the reviews from peeps that bought them.

[Kingnog]

The good reviews are OK, but the bad reviews make them sound horrible. But then again, there are a LOT more good reviews than bad ones. So now I'm confused....rima has the (same?) thing for the same price..

[Treebeard]

rima has a rating of 10 on www.resellerratings.com and supermediastore is at 7.5. Go w/ rima, for a reliable dealer.

[Bodyslide]

Try here:
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=236908&highlight=

I have had great dealings with the store.

[Kingnog]

blah, rima it is

EDIT: On second thought...RIMA doesnt have non-printable ones. They're all either silver (and I've enountered many problems with silver-topped cd-r's, I don't know if DVDs have the same durability issues) or white printable. Arent they cheaper if not printable?

[freestyler]

Silver-topped DVD-Rs do not have durability issues, as their structure is sandwich-like in nature and the data layer is not on the top surface of the disc - it is in the middle, unlike CD-Rs.

Rima also carries matte top Prodiscs, I believe.

Yes, they are cheaper. printable discs are more expensive.

[kjbrack]

I have ordered around 300 Prodisc from www.meritline.com. Not one coaster, $35.00 for 100 disc and $8.66 shipping each time. Great email from them with tracking numbers. The only thing is that they are on the west coast and I'm on the east coast so it takes a little over a week to receive them.

[lordsmurf]

rima has a rating of 10 on www.resellerratings.com and supermediastore is at 7.5. .

^^ This doesn't really mean anything. Nothing at all.

Anyway... here's a list:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/othervideo/buymedia.htm

[jetfan]

I also buy from meritline, discs are fairly cheap, but like kjbrack, I too
am on the east coast and it takes a while to get. You could try newegg
they have good prices and they are on the east coast so shipping only takes a day or two at ground prices (some things do come from CA, so it's a crap
shoot with them)

[Kingnog]

Thanks guys. Right now it's between Rima and newegg. Rima has pretty cheap shipping, only 4 bucks, so I might go with that one. (I havent even heard of Rima before, but I read a lot of good reviews about it since someone mentioned it)

[samijubal]

You won't go wrong with Rima. You have a problem they even pay the shipping to send back.

[freestyler]

Keep in mind that Rima and Newegg are damn near right next to each other, so they will both be shipping from the West Coast in Southern California. Factor that into your shipping situation...

I get great service from both, but the way I see it, Rima deals exclusively in the Black Arts... err Recordable Media, and they do it well.

[aero]

rima has a rating of 10 on www.resellerratings.com and supermediastore is at 7.5. .

^^ This doesn't really mean anything. Nothing at all.

Anyway... here's a list:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/othervideo/buymedia.htm

I have to agree with your conclusion on resellerratings. their ratings read like a shill paradise. their "top rated" vendors have thousands of ratings, almost all by someone making only one rating in there entire history, ofteh with identical effusive language, and use of eclamation points: "Great purchase experience!" Those ratigns crwod out genuine looking ratings of people who look like they have a real problem.

I have had great success with RIMA and Meritline and newegg. Other vendors I have had few problems with are outpost. Buy.com is still the best place for many purchases, but their "in stock" or "ships in 2 days"policy has gone downhill.

[hopeinlife]

It seems that everyone on VCDHELP favors Rima. They seems to me to be a very small website, and i doubt how many orders they have per day. That is what makes their shipping fast, problems solving faster.

For me, if i am choosing a store to purchase, I will look at several things, price, quality, reputation and services. Meritline and Supermediastore always have the best prices, quality is about the same. The services are ok with both stores, meritline has a VIP customer service just for users on vcdhelp users vcdhelp@meritline.com, and they guarantee they will solve problems in 48 hours otherwise the order is free. That is good to know.

NewEgg is the biggest among all of them, but they don't focus on media, they have less selections, but again, you don't need that many selections once you stick to one brand.

If you check the traffic rankings on Alexar, Newegg, Meritline, Shop4tech, Supermediastore received the most of the traffic, while Rima is far away from these stores.

For ratings, resellerrating, bizrate, yahoo shopping, there are so many sources, and you can't 100% rely on that. most of the people don't rate after they got orders unless the stores offer some special rewards, only the ones that are not satisfied write on there. It is reference, but not fact. I once heard that company hire people to write good things about them.

So, which store is better? it depends on your personal experience and price, for me, I will go with newegg and meritline.

[scottsoso]

I have been purchasing from meritline since 2003, every week 500pc, never had a problem. They occassionally sent you free gifts to thank for your loyalty, i got marker pens, cd sleeves, cases.. they don't put that in their website for advertisement, I think they really appreciates my business.

[lordsmurf]

Alexa ratings don't mean anything at all. As I understand it, they track using Alexa spyware that most spyware removal tools take away. Most tech-oriented people remove it. I do. The only way to truly know traffic is to view their server reports, which are probably confidential.

Search engine ranking reports are also not traffic-based, but link and keyword based. Many are even pay-promoted.

The best sites to deal with are ones that have best word-of-mouth reputation. Just be sure you learn how to filter out angry and ignorant complaints.

[overloaded_ide]

Ya, you buy 500 from me every week I'll send freebies too
Nice when places do that.
Newegg has lots of Free stuff too. I get some type of free item on almost evey order. T-shirts, GREAT pens, hats, disks, etc..
It's a combo deal you add to the cart and the item it goes with and the price for the free thing is subtracted.

Newegg is tops for hardware! Not tried the disks yet other than those I got free with a purchase. But they are the same disk brands sold by others. Even the free Newegg DVD -R disks with the Newegg logos were Ritek GO4 when I checked them. Good disks! I would trust Newegg.

I have bought from Rima and I like them. Prices are good, shipping is about right. Slower than Newegg, but that's the shipper not Rima. Rima ships right away and has no controll over UPS delivery time! Packing was good too. The DVD cases I bought were the same as I bought elsewhere, but Rimas were in better condition. They look like new cases like they should, the other place looked as if the cases were handle alot, scuffs and such.

I've orderd from other places too, never had problems, but I like Rima best so far.

I can afford to take small chances at times and will order from other places like supermedia, or meritline soon and see how I like them. I do like to have backup stores to order from in case there is a problem like out of stock sometime at my main vendors.

As for

meritline has a VIP customer service just for users on vcdhelp users vcdhelp@meritline.com, and they guarantee they will solve problems in 48 hours otherwise the order is free.

That's good to know! Now I like that, but you shouldn't be surprised about the VIP service for Vcdhelp members. Think about that. You have a forum that has how many hits, has how many disk buyers, and how often does the question "Where should I buy my disks" get asked? How many times this week and only Teusday?
Ya if I knew of this forum and was selling something like disks I would do anything to keep from having the users here ticked off at me too.
The 48 or free, well now that is something really good!

I will probably try meritline my next order.

[freestyler]

It'd be funny if there was a poll like "Who are your favorite employees at meritline, rima, etc?" the way things are going for us

[Tommyp1972]

been doing business with rima for the past 6 months and never had an issue..package was always packed secure but the shipping from CA to NY does take a few days..the best i ever got with ground shipping was 6 days other than that usually 7-10 days...i pay extra now to get in 3 days..$10 extra doesnt kill me especially when i order on friday and get on monday..good store to buy from

[Bronx]

I have purchased several times from www.newegg.com.

Not a problem up-to-date.