Verbatim DVD+R DL Disks?

[albloom]

I don't know about y'all (second person plural, Southern), but
this good ole boy is having second thoughts about recommending
Verbatim DVD+R DL discs -- that were made in Singapore.

The last three short stacks (20 discs) I got, from Office Max,
made in Singapore, have been right disappointing. Half or more of
the discs would not copy. Onto either of two new Pioneer 115's
from OWC. That turns the nominal $1.50 per disk into a true price
of $3.00 or more per disc.

Is anyone else seeing this problem?

Whether or not you've had a problem with Verbatim, can you
mayhaps point me to a brand whose DVD+R DLs are problem free?
Taiyo-Yuden? Ritek/RiData? Other?

I'm scaring my wife and the dogs with my loud expletives that
should have been deleted. A bit of domestic tranquility would be
welcome.

[jman98]

I've not had your problem. I recently had some issues burning DL discs, but I determined it was my burner and it will have to be replaced.

Taiyo Yuden only makes DVD-R DL discs and they are currently unavailable outside of Japan. Nobody will import them any more. The only people who did, even in Europe, stopped selling them. I have no idea why.

All the other manufacturers suck at making DL discs. If you buy others, you're likely to have the same problems. The only other manufacturers who sell them are bottom of the barrel low quality companies, so best of luck if you try that route.

[tomlee59]

I have tried virtually every brand of DL disc, both good and off-brand. I had close to 100% failure rate with off-brand stuff, so I don't even bother with trying. Maybe they've improved in the couple of years since I spent a weekend running experiments, but I wouldn't bet on it. Having the burn fail at 99% is among the more frustrating experiences known to mankind.

I'm still living off the huge stack of T-Y that I picked up overseas, so I haven't had the bad experience you're talking about with Verbatim. But I would not recommend trying the off-brand stuff. Your frustration level is unlikely to go down if you do.

[wtsinnc]

I know the feeling, albloom.

By the way, what burning program are you using ?

jman98 is right; no one else has marketed a DL +/- R that gives good results. I've had problems with recent Verbatim and the 20 pack of 8x +R DLs (Singapore) I bought would not burn faster than slightly over 4x and for the first time with Verbatim DLs, I had some failures. As of now, the only Verbatim dual-layer blanks I will buy are the 2.4x Singapore (or Taiwan if you're lucky enough to find them). Perhaps something else is out there that would do the job, but I don't know what it is.

[Noahtuck]

the 20 pack of 8x +R DLs (Singapore) I bought would not burn faster than slightly over 4x and for the first time with Verbatim DLs

If disc's made to burn at 8X would not burn over 4X, that would be a firmware problem with your burner, not the disc's which in turn might be why you were having problems.

Even rated at 8X i personally would not burn DL disc's anywhere near 8X.

[bbanderic]

No problems with the 8X Verbatim MIS DL discs here, and I've burned plenty recently. Like Noahtuck said...I wouldn't burn them at 8X either. For me, ImgBurn + 8X Verbatim MIS burned at 4X = flawless perfection .

[wtsinnc]

Don't really want to hijack this thread from albloom, but to Noahtuck and bbanderic;

what burner do you get the best results with when burning the 8x verbatim +R DLs ?
As of now, I am using a Samsung SH-S202G and an LG GSA-H42N.

Thanks.

[AntnyMD]

... and I dont want to hijack replies .. but I always burn blank DL discs at the slowest speed the drive will "allow" in Toast, and give it the time it needs to burn and verify the DL disc. Also, every time I've found errors burning any quality blank disc, its been the burner. Burners just dont last forever like we expect them to...

[bbanderic]

Don't really want to hijack this thread from albloom, but to Noahtuck and bbanderic;

what burner do you get the best results with when burning the 8x verbatim +R DLs ?
As of now, I am using a Samsung SH-S202G and an LG GSA-H42N.

Thanks.

I have a Pioneer DVR-111 and an older NEC-3520, both work equally as well. I'm not familiar the Samsung and LG that you're using but if they're in good working order, they should be fine. IMO the program you use to burn, and the media are most important. Which program are you using? Again, I highly recommend ImgBurn because it's hands down the best for DL burning and it sets the layer break properly which is critical.

[wtsinnc]

For the last two years, I've been burning without incident the Verbatim +R DLs with several programs; DVDFab Platinum, CloneDVD2/AnyDVD, and 1clickdvdcopypro/dvd43 and all have been kept up to date. Until a few weeks ago, I had never had a DL failure. I've used burners from BenQ (DW1650), LG (4166B, H10N, and the H42N), NEC (two ND-3550s), and the Samsung and have kept the firmware revisions up to date.

I do tend to burn at the fastest available speed but doing so has not caused any problems that I am aware of. I know what the prevailing opinion is about burning at maximum speed, but for seven years I've experienced no problems; similarly, I've backed up hundreds of DVDs for friends and co-workers and on only a couple of occasions has anyone reported a problematic disc. Because my burners and the burning software have always done the job, I attribute these recent failures to the media.

[terryj]

albloom,
I've gotten the discs you mentioned: Verbatim DVD+R DL, purple packaging
@ Best Buy. in the 20 packs I buy, I usually get 3 that become coasters,
due to bad dye mostly, and I burn my DL's at 4x ALWAYS.

What I do is call Verbatim US Support, and they send me out
as replacements, I kid you not, the Orange Packaged
DVD+R DL's which are MIT!!
So even Verbatim knows these MIS discs are bad....otherwise
why replace MIS with MIT discs?

[jman98]

They're expensive, but the Verbatim DVD+R DL Data Life Plus series (they have white labels that you can print directly to if your printer supports it) has always worked reliably for me. They only burn at 2.4X speed, but they always work. I think they are MIS discs (if not they're Made In Taiwan, but I think it's MIS).

[lordsmurf]

Sounds like a burner issue to me. LG has become notoriously picky in recent years, though the Samsung should be fine. Burn at 2.4x or 4x, and use ImgBurn only.