The great 100discs for $24 debate--TDK(CompUSA)/Sony(Staples)

[terryj]

Both on sale this week...
I know which way I'm going, given the Stores involved,
but WTH, I figured I'd see how others felt.


and for the newbies, I'll make it easy for you...
they are both Made in Taiwan, no MIJ discs here...

[JimboS]

Look before you leap

http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/index.htm

[samijubal]

You can get the value TYs right now for $17/100 shipped from Shop4Tech with Google checkout and coupon code xmas10.

[slukaczyk]

Got the Sony's from Staples, Media ID=16D1 and label states "Made in Tiawan". My burner seems to burn anything (Pioneer DVR-108) but DVD player (APEX AD-1500) is VERY sensitive to bad media and won't play any -RW's without problems. I burned one of these and played the last 45min of a full DVD flawlessly in the APEX - just as good as MIJ ???? PS although label states 16X - speed it only burned at 12x on the Pioneer although Verbatim 16x does burn at 16x

[FulciLives]

This has been covered before but ...

Sony DVD-R discs that say MADE IN JAPAN and have a HEX shaped foam piece on the top of the pack (which you can see through the plastic) are Taiyo Yuden DVD-R discs.

Sony DVD-R discs that say MADE IN JAPAN and have a ROUND shaped foam piece on the top of the pack (which you can see through the plastic) are NOT Taiyo Yuden DVD-R discs.

Sony DVD-R discs that say MADE IN TAIWAN are ... to be avoided.

Personally I wouldn't buy the Sony packs unless they are Taiyo Yuden.

All of this applies to the 50 packs that come in a spindle or cake box. It also applies to 25 packs as well. I never bought or looked at 100 packs so I am not sure if it applies or not. Seems when Sony is on-sale it is usually the 25 or 50 packs so that is where my experience is when it comes to purchasing Taiyo Yuden Sony packages.

The only on-line store I trust for REAL Taiyo Yuden discs would be RIMA.COM

A single 100 pack of Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD-R discs from RIMA.COM go for $26.99 + shipping.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[andie41]

There are many threads on this site and others Re media quality, etc., and only a tiny number of brands are apparently of acceptable quality. I can imagine someone new to CD/DVD burning might throw up their hands in confusion and despair.

I am not disputing that some brands are superior and some inferior (I don't really know), but I do find it amusing when it gets to the point we need to look at the shape of the "cakebox", or the shape of the foam on top of the spindle. By accident I bought some Sony +R 8X at Wal-Mart and they are in fact Taiyo Yuden, and they do have a hex shaped foam. But are Taiyo Yuden or Verbatin the only brands worthwhile?

I bought my first CD writer so many years ago I can't remember the year. There were a few failures/coasters the first few years, but I think mostly due to the hardware limitations(there were certainly some problems with the early HP CD writers), and the Adaptec software was also definitely suspect. In the past 2 or 3 years I can remember 2 coasters, one a couple of years ago, I suspect was defective media, the other a couple of months ago was due to the failing of my DVD writer, which I have since replaced.

I have recently bought a spindle of Sony 16x -R MIT and have burned quite a few without incident, tested as best I can, and have several years of successful burning experience, but still when I read “Sony DVD-R discs that say MADE IN TAIWAN are ... to be avoided “, I become concerned. Why should should they be avoided – real, actual verifiable problems, or just because thy are made in Taiwan, or because they are not Taiyo Yuden?

I do not have nor have I ever had a writer which would show C1/C2 errors. Perhaps a case of “ignorance is bliss”, or maybe what you don't know CAN hurt you. I have used many different brands of media over the years, never Verbatim and, until recently, never Taiyo Yuden. I often (particularly recently after reading all the problems with media), verify my burns, do a scan disk in CD/DVD speed and open and play a number of the burned files. I have just tested a could of CD's from 5 years ago, and can find no problem. Other than a couple of CD's burned way back with Adaptec software, I have never come accros a file I could not access – perhaps they are some damaged bits, maybe my old CD's would be full of C2 errors, but all I can do is see if the media still enables me to use my files.

I recently burned some home movies for a friend; she provided the media - 16x -R CMC. I burned 8 of these, presumably poor media, without incident and tested as much as I am able. She tested all of them on her standalone DVD play and all appear fine.

[TBoneit]

The Pioneers seem to burn the MIT versions of 16X at 12X whereas the same brand if MIJ will burn at 16X. I think the firmware sets the drive ti burn MIT at one notch slower. Maybe the enginieers in Japan tested the MIT and decided that was the best way or maybe they are just being elitist? who knows, I don't.

[terryj]

hah.
This made for easy reading on a Sunday.

As for my answer...I chose neither!
No surprise to those who know me...
I've reported several times on how CRAPTACULAR
the TDKs carried by ChumpUSA are, and
everyone knows DVDs by Sony MIT by stapels are craptacular.

for $8 bucks more you can get 16x Verbatim 100packs
for $32 at Sams Club..worth the price of an annual
membership IMHO.

of course there are numerous TY deals to be had online as always.

I feel bad for these B&M merchants stuck with offloading crap media to the unwashed masses...

I just wanted to see how many of us were awake on
this lazy Sunday... thanks for those who posted.

[solidsnake]

hey anyone in here who decides to go to staples this week for this deal, try and see if this coupon works for you and post back here if it works, cause I'd like to know as well as some other posters maybe

http://www.couponcabin.com/coupons/staples/

its the in store printable .pdf coupon

[kschang]

Well, I've had relatively good luck with generic media. I know, I know, I'll get yelled at "You're putting your stuff at risk!" It's not that important, it's just some movie backups and archive of downloaded stuff.

That aside, I got a spindle of OfficeDepot brand 75 DVD-R/25 CD-R bundle when it was on sale earlier. I went through about 2/3rds of the DVD-Rs already, and got ONE coaster so far (but I was using the PC in the meanwhile, and the burn app errored out, so I *know* it's a coaster). Hmmm... Maybe I'm just lucky. I've also gotten Staples clearance media before. I know, more crap shoot, and so far I've drawn only FUJIFILM03 MID media so far. I know my luck wouldn't last.

[dznutz]

The Pioneers seem to burn the MIT versions of 16X at 12X whereas the same brand if MIJ will burn at 16X. I think the firmware sets the drive ti burn MIT at one notch slower. Maybe the enginieers in Japan tested the MIT and decided that was the best way or maybe they are just being elitist? who knows, I don't.

it's just the burn strategy. my pioneeer 111L burns yuden sony branded tyg03 for an average of 12min at speeds higher than 4x whereas mit sony 16x burns at the specified speed.

as a rule yuden 16x media is to be avoided unless they're plextor or verbatim branded. the quality control for yuden 16x media is pitiful unless they're plextor or verbatim branded yudens. if you're getting sony 16x then look for the MIT. YES YOU HEARD ME. i'd rather get the sony 16x than the tdk 16x. tdk has dropped off the map in terms of quality after the 8x era. also, you can't tell if it's a tdk or a cmc mid when buying tdk 16x media. if anyone can then please tell me.

as for sonys with the octagon yes they're always a yuden. however, sony 8x+ MIJ has a regular circular spacer and it's a yudent02. regardless you can see the yuden batch number through the plastic if you're persistent.

for 16x media i go for verbatim mcc004. it burns best at 8x in the pio 111L. any media below 16x then it's yuden.

but if i had to choose only sony or tdk 16x media then i'd for for the sony MIT.

anyway, regardless of which media you buy you have to consider what your burner likes and what firmware you have. some burners burn yuden 16x media better than others.

[term]

Hi - I posted this on the "Problems Making DVD" thread, but thought you would be interested....

term
-----------------------
just thought I would share this experience, since I think it verifies the comments about using the best media. I copied several movies (Batman Returns, Last Starfighter, others) to Memorex Dual LayerDisks. Almost all began to skip and hang - consistently about 30 min into the video - in my DVD players. On the other hand, they were perfect when played back on my computer. So I ripped MY DEFECTIVE BURNED COPY through DVD Shrink and burned to a 4.7 Imation DVD and got playable videos. True the visual quality was not as good as the original or dual layer, but at least a full movie without skips.

I wonder if anyone would recommend a double layer blank of quality? Does the Verbatim consistently work well?

thanks,
term

[oldandinthe way]

Although much has been written on media quality, many of the posters fail to put their comments in the context of their experience on their particular burner.

There are drives out there which can burn just about any media at full speed, without the risk of coasters.

There are drives out there which can only burn TY, some of them only at less than rated speeds.

There are drives out there whose manufacturers never update the firmware.

There are drives out there whose owners never install the manufacturer's firmware updates.

There are drives out there whose owners install hacked firmware which only changes the write speed, no any other changes to write strategy.

Anyone is entitled to a preference or an opinion, but it is key that you weight opinions from owners with identical drive and firmware to your own to a higher extent.

For the record I've used both of these brands with success in my LG-4163 and H10 drives at 16x.

[handyguy]

"for $8 bucks more you can get 16x Verbatim 100packs
for $32 at Sams Club..worth the price of an annual
membership IMHO. "

You can get 100 pack of Verbatims +r 16x for $10 at buy.com after rebate & GCO. Comes back on sale now & then, I got some, hot deal.

[hech54]

....or you could just stop mucking about and buy genuine Taiyo Yudens from www.rima.com.

[Gen-An]

How is buying Verbatims from anywhere "mucking about"? Haven't heard of bonding problems with MCC media lately like I have about TY, and MCC 16x > TY 16x regardless.

[hech54]

How is buying Verbatims from anywhere "mucking about"? Haven't heard of bonding problems with MCC media lately like I have about TY, and MCC 16x > TY 16x regardless.

....or you could just stop mucking about and buy genuine Taiyo Yudens from www.rima.com.

[lordsmurf]

Easy choice. Grab SONY or VERBATIM, when available.

[handyguy]

buy.com should have Verbs today, 8x -r 100 @ $12after rebate & GCO.

[terryj]

baah, rebates.

[oldandinthe way]

Baah 8x

[stiltman]

buy.com should have Verbs today, 8x -r 100 @ $12after rebate & GCO.

I hate rebates
I hate the thought of google having my CC info in it'd database even more

[handyguy]

"Baah 8x"

True. But sometimes is 16x for the same price.


Verbatim rebates are very fast.

[Capmaster]

You can get the value TYs right now for $17/100 shipped from Shop4Tech with Google checkout and coupon code xmas10.

And if you want to buy from a reputable vendor where you don't have to worry about the media being faked TY, spend $27 and buy it from Rima

http://www.rima.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=R&Product_Code=1736-1...ode=TAIYOYUDEN

[handyguy]

GCO was until 12/26. Maybe they extended it?