Ridata STINKS, I am checking all my backups...

[joed1228]

I am checking each and every one of my 140 DVD's. I am seeing which ones will play.

I have only checked 60 DVD's so far. These are the brands of blanks I have used:

Ridata 8x
Memorex 4x
Supermedia 8x

I have found:

Memorex coasters = Zero
Supermedia coasters = Zero
Ridata coaster = 14

14 coasters. At least I know the mind boggling pattern. I was going nuts trying to figure out if it was the DVD player, backup software or drive. I understand I may of purchased a bad batch of Ridata blanks but the time it is going to take in order to get those 14 movies backed up again is very aggrivaiting and to think I still have another 80 movies to check

Stay away from Ridata, Supermedia 8x blanks are so darn inexpensive and flawless so far (ran through about 60 of them and I have another 40 on my desk, no one coaster yet).

Beware people.

[logixrat.01]

I bought a 100 pack of the Ridata 8x +R discs (media code Ritek R03) from Newegg when I ordered my Pioneer burner. So far they seem to be okay. I've made about 25 backups, and have only experienced 1 bad disc. And it worked during the main play of the movie, just getting started it had read problems and any of the special features had read problems as well. I ripped and reburnt from the original and it works like a champ now. Not sure why it crapped out on me other than a flaky disc. Still 1 in 25 don't seem bad for the price I paid. Only $27 after a $10 mail-in rebate.

The thing that torques me more than that is the fact my burner is rated for 16x burns and because of the media code I am limited to 4x. I've got the latest firmware and all that. It seems to be related to the Pioneer DVR-108 units. Possibly other Pioneer units are affected, but I haven't heard of it. The better stuff with media codes G04 and G05 don't have this problem.

Again, for the price they were a steal. But I doubt I'd buy them again. I would consider the G04 and G05 media even at a 1 to 25 coaster rate.

[RickTheRed]

I am checking each and every one of my 140 DVD's. I am seeing which ones will play.

I have only checked 60 DVD's so far.

How do you "check" them?

Do they play on your standalone?

[steve2713]

To say stay away from Ridata is way too vague, Probably the best discs I've ever used are 'Ridata' RICOHJPNR01 discs.

Sorry to hear of your problems though, I'm sure it is frustrating, but I think most of us here can relate to getting burned by bad media at one point or another.

[winifreid]

I've used lots of ridata (ricohjpnr01) and haven't really had a problem, especially if I burn a lower speeds. The only problem I ever noticed had to do with labels. Things other than media can cause problems. Firmware, burning SW, write speeds and player compatability are possible along with playfull kittens. I have always checked my disks after burning with kprobe or cdspeed.

[cyflyer]

Ridata sounds like another variation of Ritek to me, a brand which I lost faith in. Have tried about 60+ of the printable TDK TTG01's, and they have worked flawless so far. Good price also.

[logixrat.01]

Ridata sounds like another variation of Ritek to me, a brand which I lost faith in. Have tried about 60+ of the printable TDK TTG01's, and they have worked flawless so far. Good price also.

Yes, they are one in the same. As others noted, the brand name is not the best indication but rather the media code. The Ritek R03 stuff I have is inferior to the G04 and G05 that apparently everyone but me has bought. Speaking of which I got another coaster last night. So now I'm about 2 out of 30 discs. We'll see how the rest of the spindle goes.

I realize it's nearly impossible to check media codes when at Best Buy, Office Depot, etc. But if buying online, look at reviews or descriptions closely. They will sometimes tell you.

[twilightzone]

I would have to agree, I used Ritek G04's from shop4tech for the longest time, no flaws. Until recently I scanned one of my backups with nero cd/dvd speed and found sections of the disc unreadable. Not a lot but enough to distort the movie when you watched it. Unacceptable. I changed to Maxell made in japans now or TY's.

[cal_tony]

Like the Ridata' RICOHJPNR01 it's my favorite disk. Burn them all at 8x and never had a problem with even 1 disk. I use a Liteon 832 and have been told that they like the RO1's and they love to burn them fast.

[nick101181]

I've always been a big believer in ridata/ritek's. I've used the g03, and the g04's and never had a problem. Recently I had two Ritek disc that had faint faint tiny scratches and they are giving me problems. One is an xbox game and it sometimes fails to load and gives me the dirty disc error because of one tiny tiny scratch in the center. Also Collateral has tiny scratches on the outer edge of the disc and I can't even read it good enough in the drive to make a backup copy.

[EvilWizardGlick]

I have gone through around 300 Ridata 8xDVD+R, 50 4xDVD+rw, 100 4xDVD+R, with maybe five coasters. One of those I pulled and it recorded fine on my Ilo standalone. Most of the others were my fault.
I don't check media codes. I buy all mine from NewEgg.
Someone in a newsgroup mentioned that his bad batches were in the Lavender shaded packaging. Mine are all in the Blue.
Mainly, from reading various complaint threads about various DVD media, the problem boils down to first the user and second incompatability third it is the disk manufacturer.
I see people complain about one brand, while others praise it. Rarely do I see people claim that bad burns are due to user error.
No matter what you do in life always remember this " It is the poor workman who blames his tools".

[logixrat.01]

Someone in a newsgroup mentioned that his bad batches were in the Lavender shaded packaging. Mine are all in the Blue.

Wonderful. Mine also have the lavender colored bottoms. Of course, that could also be related to the fact mine are R03 media and perhaps yours is G04 or G05 media. My experience with blank CD's is you can get a bad batch with just about any brand.

I might switch to the TY's next time. I have only heard excellent things about them. Of course, I think all the discs from Japan are of higher quality.