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  1. Member Frank-0-Video's Avatar
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    Greetings ....

    This bulletin board frequently touts the reliability of DVDs made by Taiyo Yuden, and I have decided to invest in them for both archiving and general recording purposes.

    As far as DVDs made by Taiyo Yuden, which is the best basic type to buy (not concerned with labels/engraving/etc.) ? And which vendors are the best to buy from?

    Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Video
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    Both rima.com and supermediastore.com sell them and are reliable sellers. Here's one example:
    http://www.rima.com/prod/1736-100.html
    You probably should buy the 8x rather than 16x. Not only are they cheaper, there were issues with some burners and the 16x media where some burners made coasters when burning those discs at high speeds. The ones in my link can be written on with a sharpie.

    I do have to warn you that while I do not put any stock in this at all and neither do most of us, some people on the internet are swearing that if you write with a sharpie on a DVD that over time the ink will somehow leak through and ruin the discs. Sharpie officially denies this and nobody has offered conclusive proof. This all revolves around the hypothesis that the silver discs in my link were ONLY meant for some kind of special printing and were never intended to be written on with sharpies. Again, I place no stock in this.

    If you want smaller quantities, the following Verbatim discs are top notch DataLifePlus. I use these and write on them with a sharpie.
    http://www.rima.com/prod/1792.html
    These discs are still only manufactured in Taiwan at a top notch MCC (Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.) plant.
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  3. Member Frank-0-Video's Avatar
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    Greetings

    Thanx-A-Lot for the info Jman98
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    Just to add to jman98's info, it is always best to select the Premium Line of Taiyo Yudens (now branded under JVC). There is better quality control over each disc than the Value Line. It's a few pennies more per disc, but after doing thousands of burns at my place of business, coasters are extremely rare -- almost non-existent.

    I have purchased from both rima and supermediastore. They are both good vendors. Since I purchase in vast quantities, I can take advantage of supermediastore's free 2-3 day shipping. Depending on what you get, you can compare between the two to see which will give you the best bang for the buck.
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  5. With Taiyo Yuden, its best to stick with the 8x Premium Silver Lacquer (linked to by jman98). They make other variations in 8x and 16x with white inkjet printable tops, watershields, etc. But these other variations tend to more reports of burning issues, esp since JVC got involved with TY a couple years ago. The Premium Silver Lacquer 8x DVD-R is their signature media that the TY reputation is built on, quality control is best on these. Verbatim makes a similar media, which is as good or a hair better than they TY, but sometimes harder to find and/or more expensive.

    I buy from several different web sources. Supermediastore is my favorite, but we're on opposite coasts which means longer shipping time (and more time spent in a hot steel UPS truck during the summer months), so I also source from more local suppliers. Years ago there was an issue with counterfeit TY discs from shady vendors, but that doesn't happen anymore. As long as you specify "Premium 8x" you'll get the "best" TY which comes in a plastic capsule. On the off chance a dealer ships you discs wrapped only in cellophane instead, these are usually "value line" TYs which are a mix of surplus, lesser quality, and multispeed blanks: contact the dealer for an exchange to get the Premium.

    BTW there is no problem at all using Sharpies to label these discs: DVDs are different from CDs, which could easily be damaged by markers. DVDs are a sandwich of two plastic discs, instead of a single plastic disc with exposed data layer like CD. On the TYs, you may notice the Sharpie "etches" the surface a tiny bit: that is just the lacquer label coating, the hard plastic underneath is a tough barrier protecting the data from harm.
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  6. Member Seeker47's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by orsetto View Post
    As long as you specify "Premium 8x" you'll get the "best" TY which comes in a plastic capsule. On the off chance a dealer ships you discs wrapped only in cellophane instead, these are usually "value line" TYs which are a mix of surplus, lesser quality, and multispeed blanks: contact the dealer for an exchange to get the Premium.
    I've purchased TYGO2 (silver top) and TYGO3 from Rima for years: the TYGO2 8x for use in Pioneer standalone DVDRs, the TYGO3 16x for use in the computer. (I go through quite a bit of the latter, so if it's archival caliber isn't up to snuff, my collection is bound to take a big hit in a few years . . . . ) I burn the latter at 8X typically, using ImgBurn. The TYGO2 has always come in plastic "cakeboxes", the TYGO3 has always come tightly wrapped in clear tape -- what I gather you meant by 'cellophane.' My understanding had been that Rima only carried the Premium line on TY. (?)
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  7. Member Frank-0-Video's Avatar
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    Greetings ....

    Since getting my most recent desktop PC -AND- discovering DVD Decrypter, I've burned Video DVDs -ONLY-at the 6x speed.

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  8. Originally Posted by Seeker47 View Post
    The TYGO2 has always come in plastic "cakeboxes", the TYGO3 has always come tightly wrapped in clear tape -- what I gather you meant by 'cellophane.' My understanding had been that Rima only carried the Premium line on TY. (?)
    I haven't purchased from Rima in ages, so can't advise whether or not they stock the "value line." I also never order the 16x TY03, since I don't see any advantage in having two "speeds" in my stash: my DVD recorders prefer the 8x, and my PCs are not much faster with 16x than 8x, so sticking to only 8x means I never worry about running out of one or the other spec.

    Yes, by "cellophane" I meant "tape wrap," which is apparently how TY/JVC is now packaging many types of media. In the past, "tape wrap" always meant "value line/factory seconds" so identifying TY media was a little easier. Now, not so much: I have had some (trustworthy) people tell me they received TY02 8x Premium in tape wrap recently. Personally, I always go for the hard plastic capsule as that is still a sure indicator of "premium," although (officially) there may not even be a "value line" anymore.

    Unfortunately, TY has gotten a bit tricky since its involvement with JVC, so some aspects of purchase that were once simple are now unclear. Used to be, even the TY "value line/factory seconds" were much better than most "first quality" media sold by other brands: TY standards were extremely high to begin with. Today, even the TY "premium" varies a bit from batch to batch- there have been numerous reports of disc halves that look like they're about to peel apart, esp in the hub area. This is disconcerting at best and causes potential oxidation issues at worst, so I strongly recommend examining EVERY package of discs for any oddities, and return them if they seem suspicious. You don't have to check every single disc under a microscope, just eyeball one from the top, middle and bottom of the spindle (most dodgy TYs are at the top of the stack).

    Verbatim DataLifePlus 8x "pro" media is not immune from variability, either: I have received entire case lots that would not burn in ANY hardware, and some individual spindles with obvious flaws in the edges of the recording layer. Better to examine them closely upon receipt and exchange them if necessary, than find out months later that you're stuck with a faulty batch.

    Caveat emptor, no matter what name is on the label.
    Last edited by orsetto; 27th Sep 2012 at 14:41.
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  9. Member Frank-0-Video's Avatar
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    Greetings ....

    Have ordered with RIMA.COM for the 100-pack of 8x DVD's. They have since arrived, and so far they work with all my equipment.

    I'll be ordering more soon, as I have a lot of stuff to archive.

    Thanx-A-Lot to all and Many Happy Burns!
    Frank-0-Video
    Last edited by Frank-0-Video; 15th Oct 2012 at 04:00.
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  10. Member
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    Just to be "picky", Taiyo Yuden doesn't really set out to make 2 grades of disc. They are all made on the same manufacturing equipment, using the same materials. However, the "PREMIUM" or "MASTER GRADE" batches undergo more spot checks (more discs are taken out for "sample testing") than the "VALUE" or "OEM" batches. When you take more discs out of a batch for "testing" (ie. data is burned onto them) you end up with fewer discs available for the consumer but the testers then have more confidence in the reliability or consistency of that batch of discs. So it's wrong to think of the VALUE / OEM batches as "factory rejects". It's more that because they haven't undergone the same level of testing (random sampling) they can't be said to have the same level of "quality assurance" as the PREMIUM discs.
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  11. I've been buying my TY's at Meritline for a very good price. Much of the Meritline catalog seems like bargain-basement stuff; but I've ordered several 600 disk cases over the past few years, and had zero problem with them. I've been buying the J-DPR-ZZ-SB8's and been very satisfied with the product, price, and delivery. Shipping costs seem reasonable to me, considering the weight of a case of six spindles. One of the lowest prices I've found anywhere on the 'Net. Product plus shipping of a case comes to about 32 cents per disk.
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