Media in Canada!

[Afterlife]

Hi im a Canadian resident.

I currently have a Pioneer A04 (2x -R only)
Anyways I just bought a NEC 3540A after reading its a pretty good burner.

So now im looking for media. I hear good things about FUJI from best buy.
So they currently have the 50pack of 8X FUJI on sale for 19.99 CAD. Now I know my burner can burn at 16x but is 16x media worth the hunt?

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10054445&catid=20032

How do I tell if the above media is worth me getting? I have to subway to the local bestbuy so id like to know before hand so I dont waste a night.

If anyone else can recommend good cheap media in Toronto (please stick to bus routes or subway as I dont have a car), and no online please my current appt is bitchy about deliveries and I hate paying for shipping.

Thanks so much!

[Afterlife]

Well I found Futureshop also carries FUJI media
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10054445&catid=
and seeing as i can nail them with a price match if its good media I end up on the better side of this deal lol.

Thanks!

[tug_hill2]

Hello AfterLife, I've always had GREAT results with the Verbatim brand which is also available at Best Buy.

The Fuji's should work well though..! 8) 8)

Although I do use the higher end Verbatim Datalife Plus brand for actual DVDs. Usually Mail Order places have this.



Doc_B

[Afterlife]

FUJI's at Futureshop all said made in taiwan so I skipped that.

The bestbuy is a treck so ill have to go on the weekend.

If anyone in the meantime knows of cheap media in toronto let me know please

[canadave]

Hi,

As far as I can recall, the WalMarts have some cheapo 50-packs of Sony -R's for something like $20.

Just out of curiosity, what is it about "made in Taiwan" that made you decide to skip the ones you saw?

Dave

[ungamunga]

Made in Taiwan media has a poorer reputation for quality than Made in Japan media. Mostly, the MIT stuff has lower grade media codes. MIJ Fuji disks are usually rebranded Taiyo Yuden disks. MIT Fuji disks are something less stellar like FUJIFILM03 or ProdiskF01.

Not all MIT media is bad. I've had good results with Sony 8x media (SONY08D1 media code).

Frankly, the media code is a better indicator of quality than the packaging. Few "big name" brands actually make their own disks. They just rebrand other disks made by less well known companies for the most part. Maxell, Sony and Fuji do make their own but they also sell plenty of disks made by others so their name on the package isn't a guarentee.

Fuji 8x DVD-R spindles marked MIJ at Best Buy in Canada are usually TYG02 (rebranded Taiyo Yuden) and thus very popular. They fly off the shelves while the MIT spindles sit there (relatively speaking).

Personally, I often order real Taiyo Yuden disks from blankmedia.ca or I watch certain specific spindle brands (in specific sizes of spindles) for specials online at Futureshop.ca or Best Buy's website. The former carries some top notch media and the latter delivers for free. I've tried 16x TYG03 disks from blankmedia.ca and they are nice. I can't comment on anyone else's 16x media though.

My general observation has been that small spindles of good brand name media are often better quality disks than the huge bulk spindles (i.e. the big bulk spindles are often cheap taiwanese media codes). Some brands are worth avoiding in general like Memorex while others tend to often have decent quality media (like Fuji, Sony and Maxell).

Your mileage may vary of course.

[zod5000]

yah that he said, you'll also find made in taiwan maxells can turn out to be ritekg05 now, and they aren't very good at all.

the MIJ seems to becoming more rare, as when its on sale i take a look around and don't find much. There is some MIJ maxell -r 8x discs out there, which are mxlrgo3 or something like that, and they work pretty good.

I was in the states about a month ago and all the fuji discs i saw at best buy were MIJ's. I couldn't believe it, cause everything here seems to me MIT. So i took about 3 50pk spindles of -r 8x media back with me. Maybe they just supply the MIT stuff to Canada?

[Grain]

My local Future Shops Maxells are RITEKG05's and CMCMAGAE1's, their Fuji's are Opto's for - and RITEKR03 for the +'s, all MIT's. Having no luck at all finding MIJ's, only sure bet is TY's from blankmedia.ca

[Afterlife]

So whats the solution? Buy and hope I didnt waste money on a 50pack of duds?

[Grain]

If your lucky enough to find MIJ (& labeled as such) Maxells or Fujis, go for it. Otherwise IMO stay away from MIT anything, with Verbatim being an exception.

[Afterlife]

Ok well I went to Besbuy and ravaged through all the maxells, not a single MIJ. Went through all the FUJI 100's not a one, the 50's nothin. I was all about to give up as my girlfriend thought me insane for thinking I might find a MIJ when every pack we had seen was a MIT. Even the store clerk said I was misinformed. Then as I was going through the 25pack spindels I happen to stumble upon a single spindle of MIJ +R. HAH prooved them both wrong. The clerk was stunned.

So I found a total of 3 spindles all +R all MIJ. I didnt want +R, but I mean my only reason for not wanting them is that sony playstations dont really like them, and the olders ones wont even play them(mine wont). But w/e. So they were 19.99 each at bestbut which sucked, but I price checked them vs futureshop. Turns out this week FS has them for 9.99 so each spindle cost me 10$, not too shabby.

Now to find out if these are actually good discs or not. (I hear nero has a test) Ill inform you all.

Btw for anyone looking for MIJ Fujis in bestbuy, the trick is to look at the spindle base. If its black its taiwan, if its clear its japan. At least thats the trend at the bestbuy I was at.

[Afterlife]

Spindle 1 information:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD+R:YUDEN000-T02-000]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc & Book Type : [DVD+R] - [Not Available]
Manufacturer Name : [Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd.]
Manufacturer ID : [YUDEN000]
Media Type ID : [T02]
Product Revision : [Not Specified]
Blank Disc Capacity : [2,295,104 Sectors = 4.70 GB (4.38 GiB)]
Recording Speeds : [1x-2.4x , 4x , 6x-8x]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ DVD Identifier V4.2.0 - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


----------------------------------------------------------------
** INFO : Data Below Is Formatted For www.VideoHelp.com/DVDmedia
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Present
** INFO : Format 11h - ADIP Information
----------------------------------------------------------------
Complete DVD Media Code =
00 00 00 00 a1 0f 02 00 00 03 00 00 00 26 05 3f .............&.?
00 00 00 00 00 00 03 59 55 44 45 4e 30 30 30 54 .......YUDEN000T
30 32 00 38 23 54 37 10 02 4e 72 02 8c 63 16 16 02.8#T7..Nr..c..
0b 0b 0a 0a 01 19 1b 0c 0c 0c 0d 01 00 00 00 00 ................
----------------------------------------------------------------
DVD Media Type=DVD+R
DVD Media Code=YUDEN000T02
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Afterlife]

So Am I safe to assume all discs in this spindle and other MIJ spindles will be of this same brand?

Is this brand good?

Should I be burning these at 8x? or lower?

Thanks!!!

[ungamunga]

Taiyo Yuden is among the best media (although I remember some thread mentioning that one particular burner brand wasn't so fond of them while everything else loves them). My LG burners certainly love them.

Assuming they are authentic (and any major brand name is highly unlikely to sport a counterfeit media ID - e.g. Fujis from a big name store will be legit) then yes, that is very good media. Some online stores carry some dodgier quality fake TY disks. From experience, I can say that blankmedia.ca carries legit TY and MIJ Fuji disks at Best Buy are usually TY.

[bmiller]

A great place to order online.
http://www.blankmedia.ca/

[Grain]

You did well afterlife, Taiyos are excellent media. I personally would burn them at 8X.

[ROBERT BLACK]

Futureshop has MIJ 15 packs of printable Maxells. Expensive, but they should be on sale soon.


As for MIT media I'd rank the good media like so:


1 Verbatim(Mitsubishi media code)
2 Sony
3 Prodisc


Other than those three(which I've had mostly excellent results with) I wouldn't touch Taiwanese media otherwise. Unless I can get it very cheap then I may take the odd chance.