What DVD-R media to use on Mac?

[ajaxsg]

I've just gotten an eMac and used Mac The Ripper to back up a full DVD onto my harddrive. I'm intending to buy and use Popcorn for the compression / burning part -- but I was wondering about what kind of media to use.

On the PC boards, I've read that Taiyo Yuden are the best. Has anyone had success using them on Superdrives? If not, what other brands do you recommend? Any to stay far away from? Thanks!

Oooh, also, anyone know where there's a solid tutorial using Popcorn and Mac The Ripper?

[terryj]

please search the forum, it will save you some time.
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=231265&highlight=dvdr+blanks
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=209599&highlight=dvdr+blanks
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=246519&highlight=taiyo

[Mark V]

I have been buying Generic DVD-R's and they work great. I also have had great luck with Fuji DVD-R's too.

Mark V

[mhar4]

Ritek - the best disks come from Taiwan.

[galactica]

here here, and with the new prices at meritline.com you can get 100 for 50$!!!!!!!

[Ladd]

The real question you are asking is "what DVD media works best with the brand/model/firmware of burner that is actually inside my computer?"

Different Macs over the years have come from the factory with different models and even different brands of burners. Media that works great with one brand/model of burner may not work at all with another brand/model of burner. Throw in compatibility with your living room DVD player and you have another criteria that must be served.

The first step is to determine what brand/model/firmware revision of burner is inside your Mac. If you are running 10.3.5 here is how to do it (if I recall, the procedure is the same back through 10.2.x).

Go to the "Apple" menu and select "About This Mac". Click the "More Info" button in the window that appears. In the window that next appears, turn down the triangle for "Hardware" in the left column if it is not already that way. Click on "ATA" to view the drives attached there. You should see at least two items -- one hard drive and one "something else". The "something else" may be named "Pioneer" or, as in my case, named "HL-DT-ST-RW". That will be the burner. Click once on that name and all will be revealed in the lower half of the window.

Once you post the brand/model/firmware revision of your particular drive, perhaps someone on this board will have that specific drive and can offer advice that you KNOW will be good for your burner.

If you don't receive a specific recommendation that satisfies you, you can purchase sample packs of media from online retailers such as meritline and supermediastore to determine which brands of media work well with your burner and living room DVD player.

This is what I did and I found that out of twelve brands of DVD-R media tried, some worked great, some barely worked and some wouldn't even load they were so incompatible with the burner. All three of these categories had high, medium and low-priced media -- so purchasing by price alone was no guide.

I determined the brand of disc that I wanted, then purchased a 100-pack spindle. I haven't burned a single coaster and the pack is almost gone.

BTW: Since you are already paying for shipping, also test/purchase some re-writeable DVD discs -- they'll pay for themselves by being eraseable when figuring out all the various new things you are going to be attempting.

[lordsmurf]

There is no real difference between "PC" burners and "Mac" burners ... they're all the same thing. See www.nomorecoasters.com, and yes, a Mac is in on the testing

[arnisandyz]

I have a Pismo Powerbook (upgraded to G4) and an external LaCie burner. I took a chance and got some DATAMART DVD-R 4x off of ebay. $6.99 for 100 (plus $19.50 and $2.00) so around $30 for 100. They seem to work fine.

[AlbcAlbrr]

Verbatim, Verbatim, Verbatim.
8x - branded - Used in Pioneer A05 & A08.
No coasters.

[snuffy51]

Only problem I've had so far is with Imation. Burner recognizes about 40% of the disks inserted in imac G4 800. Fuji, Maxell, and Memorex all have worked 100%

[Ladd]

There is no real difference between "PC" burners and "Mac" burners ... they're all the same thing.

Usually that's the case, but Apple has been known in the past to alter the firmware of their burners to restrict features, so don't bet the farm that the ARE the same.

And saying that a Mac was used is helpful if the specific burner inside is noted. Go to any online media retailer and they will usually have some sort of listing as to what media works with which burner. For Apple, they will usually say "Apple SuperDrive". Unfortunately for many Mac users, they don't know that Apple has over time, even within the same model of Mac, used as OEM equipment burners from numerous manufacturers, and different models, and even different firmware.

Still, any way one can find reviews and recommendations for recordable media is good -- just realize that when people or websites offer advice in good faith, they may not be using the exact burner that's in your own computer, so "your mileage may vary".

Galactica: how about posting the link to the Media/Drive database you and I (and others) worked on a while back. Perhaps we could encourage folks to participate in a new round of updates.

[decay]

there are a few things about media to consider. one is if they burn without errors - the "coaster" rating. another is longevity of the data, whether your disk will read without errors in a year or 5 years. of course, we won't know that until time has passed.

personally, i am trying to stick with the best rated media, and not take chances on generic and unrated/uncertified stuff. just not worth the minimal savings, IMHO.

dk

[milatchi]

imation, RiTEK, and Verbatim are all excellent. imation was recommended to me by Apple support and has not let me down yet.

Some advice: if you want to keep your data don't use Memorex

[tgpo]

Verbatim, Verbatim, Verbatim.
8x - branded - Used in Pioneer A05 & A08.
No coasters.

Amen!

[rotuts]

in respose to Decay

the national bureau of standard looked into longevity, and to a ref to an article in the WSJ last summer they commented that all else being equal, ie same media, same burner etc:

the slower you burn, the longer the disk is readable.

If I have "important" data, I burn very slow. if the data stays on the computer or is not that vital, I burn faster.

give this some thought also

rotut

[Ladd]

there are a few things about media to consider. one is if they burn without errors - the "coaster" rating. another is longevity of the data, whether your disk will read without errors in a year or 5 years. of course, we won't know that until time has passed.

An excellent point and I was remiss in not mentioning it. As noted in a following post, that criteria is much more difficult to nail down though.

[lordsmurf]

in respose to Decay

the national bureau of standard looked into longevity, and to a ref to an article in the WSJ last summer they commented that all else being equal, ie same media, same burner etc:

the slower you burn, the longer the disk is readable.

If I have "important" data, I burn very slow. if the data stays on the computer or is not that vital, I burn faster.

give this some thought also

rotut

False.
Burn good media at it's rated speed. Burn speed and longevity is a myth, as it relates to a relationship between the two.

Their tests are skewed. Some newer media is known to burn badly at 1x and even 2x, when it is 4x-8x-16x media. What a waste of a test.



I've used a good handful of Superdrives. The most Apple ever did was remove RW Alliance media, once upon a time. Other than that, it was simply OEM releases of the SAME THING done by the drive makers. A burner is a burner is a burner.



Apple branded media is always a safe bet for anybody. They only use 1ST CLASS quality media, no junk.

[mhar4]

This is on a slight tangent, but the university department I work for in the UK has a stationery supplier which can supply a spindle of 50 Maxell DVD-Rs for ... GBP125! That's US$234 at today's exchange rate.

[sjk]

here here, and with the new prices at meritline.com you can get 100 for 50$!!!!!!!

Ritek 8X G05 DVD-R Matte Finish media was cheaper from supermediastore but now they're out of stock. Kicking myself for not buying some last month and had 'em shipped free on the mainland to pick up while I was there. They've got Ritek Ridata G04 4X DVD-R Matte Finish right now, $43/100 with free ground shipping, and a few other sub-$50/100 deals.

[Kakui]

Damn. Glad I don't live in the UK (nice place to visit though).
When the Maxell DVD-Rs (made in Japan) go on sale here in Oregon, USA, a spindle of 25 costs about $11. Maybe we can start a parallel import business....

This is on a slight tangent, but the university department I work for in the UK has a stationery supplier which can supply a spindle of 50 Maxell DVD-Rs for ... GBP125! That's US$234 at today's exchange rate.

[mhar4]

Damn. Glad I don't live in the UK (nice place to visit though).
When the Maxell DVD-Rs (made in Japan) go on sale here in Oregon, USA, a spindle of 25 costs about $11. Maybe we can start a parallel import business....

This is on a slight tangent, but the university department I work for in the UK has a stationery supplier which can supply a spindle of 50 Maxell DVD-Rs for ... GBP125! That's US$234 at today's exchange rate.

Oh, you can get cheap DVD-Rs here - a spindle of the 50 of the best Riteks costs about 11-12GBP from Rambox.co.uk - it's just that the university's stationery supplier charges this absrud amount. I suggested we try someone else and the response was "this is our preferred supplier". Hey, it's not my money. I'm not even British.

[stavrosh]

In response to some users reporting that Verbatim 8X is an excellent choice with limited burn failure ( coasters) I would like to report that we have recently throw out of the window two 10-packs of Verbatim -R (8X). You can check the post we placed in this FORUM a few days ago.
It seems to us, that a brand name does not necessarily imply quality media.

[ajaxsg]

Ladd -- taking your advice here --

I've got a Superdrive that comes up with this designation:

HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GWA-4082B

I was wondering if anyone here has the same drive and, if so, what kind of media they have had successes or failures using. Thanks a lot!

[Case]

...Verbatim 8X coasters...
It seems to us, that a brand name does not necessarily imply quality media.

What is the Media Code of those discs? Does DVD Media Inspector say it is from MCC (Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.)?

[Ladd]

I've got a Superdrive that comes up with this designation: HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GWA-4082B

I have that model drive in my Mirror Drive Door dual G4 1.25 GHz. Revision Number D02E.

You can see the results of my media tests in a survey started by Galactica late spring of 2003. Please note that discs manufactured back then may or may not be available now; and if they are, may or may not be manufactured the same way now as they were then.

And that reminds me that I've been meaning to send an email to Meritline to ask them that exact question re: the spindle of discs I purchased back then, 'cause it's coming up time to buy more!

[stavrosh]

...Verbatim 8X coasters...
It seems to us, that a brand name does not necessarily imply quality media.

What is the Media Code of those discs? Does DVD Media Inspector say it is from MCC (Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.)?

Yes the DVD Media Inspector identified the code of these disks as MCC.

[ajaxsg]

Thnaks, LADD --

So... what media did you end up going with and what are you looking to get now?

[dnix71]

Snuffy51, I second the Imation problem. My eMac combo drive spits out Imation cd's about half the time. Balks at dvds sometimes too. I bought a cakebox of 100 Imation cds on sale one day and now regret it. I have to use my firewire Pioneer 107 for reading cd's a lot of times. I'm still looking for a firmware flash for the combo drive in the hope of making it less fussy.

[Ladd]

So... what media did you end up going with and what are you looking to get now?

I purchased (in late Spring 2003) Meritline's DVDPro media, which while rated at 1X, reliably burned at 2X.

That specific media is no longer being sold, but the DVDPro brand still is, albeit in a 1X-to-4X version which is noted as burning at 2X in "Apple G4 Superdrives".

I emailed Meritline on Friday to ask if they can offer any assurances that the current media will perform as reliably as the old and hopefully I'll hear back from them.

[richdvd]

Ritek - the best disks come from Taiwan.

Tryin' to start a war?