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  1. Member Faustus's Avatar
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    Gold ESbuy.com or silver EsBuy.com? I find this strange as I've been through like 3 batches of them with no issues. I'm using the Golds that are $3.40 each.

    LASTLY There seems to be 2 models inside of the AD-1500 one is firmware upgradeable and one isn't.... do you know which one you have? Mine is the upgradeable one, and it has been.... altered for no region and no macrovision. I think somewhere on this site there is info to tell which one you have, and I'd be interested to know.
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  2. I'll check when I get home. The media is the ESBUY silver. I will buy a few of the gold and see what happens.
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  3. Member Faustus's Avatar
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    Please do so, I was thinking of trying some of their cheaper silvers but have not yet....

    On another note: After playing with the Media ID utility I have noticed that the Smartdisk media that I picked up at Compusa
    recently is made by RITEK much as ESbuy media is, the Smartdisk media however is Inkjet printable (or appears to be with a
    paperish top) and a purple bottom.

    A quick search on EBAY.com on RITEK shows that to be almost the exact media that one of the sellers there is hawking for
    about 80 dollars for 50 and 150 dollars for 100. I'm not swearing that they are exactly the same (heck they could be the
    manufactuers rejects for all I know) BUT I'm thinking of ordering 50 next week on the hunch... if so I've found my brand I
    think. That is if I still have employment when I get back to work... I just narrowly dodged a pretty big layoff at work and
    things are far from stable. I'll keep everyone updated.

    Flaystus Out.
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  4. Sorry to hear about your close call at work. Hope for you the best!.

    I have flashed my firmware like yours and it still won't play ESBUY Silver. I am waiting on the ESBUY gold to be delivered. In the meantime, I also tried APPLE DVD-R and that works as well.

    RECAP so far on my APEX AD1500 Flashed for no Region, No macro

    ESBUY.COM DVD-R Silver (Don't work)
    ESBUY.COM DVD-RW (Works)
    PIONEER DVD-R (Works)
    APPLE DVD-R (Works)
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  5. Member Faustus's Avatar
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    If that is your setupthen you should find my media guides very helpful as its exactly what I have.... everything matches so far except for the ESbuy Silvers which I myself have not been motivated to try.

    The Cheapest reliable media I have found so far is the ESbuy golds... but I think I'm onto something with the RITEK disk and plan to buy some off of ebay when my next payday comes... after I get them I'll post a fresh media report with lots of good info like brands, experences with the disk, AND info on the actual manufactuer since I'm finding this tool so handy...
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  6. Okay guys, I finally have my 104 and here are my results...

    *I'm too lazy to go check the exact models right now

    Esbuy Gold - 2 of 4 (did not work on toshiba sd1700-something 1700 and did not work on an older apex player)

    Esbuy Silver - same results as Gold...? The bottom of the discs look EXACTLY the same except the top. I'll have to test them on other drives to see if there is a difference or not.

    I'm debating on which to try next, Apple or Verbatim. I've heard they both had great results except the Apple's don't work well in PS2's
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  7. Member Faustus's Avatar
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    Well the Apple disk have a great Rep on the PS2, but the one time I tried I had bad results, but in general they are considered near pefect for that use, at least thats what I've been lead to think by other posters on other forums.

    You must also remember that it appears that apple disk are just rebranded pioneer disk which makes them about as perfect as they can be... plus they are only 5 bucks each for some serious high quality media. I use apples quite a bit for important projects where being able to play them on just about every player is required.
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  8. The old apex dvd player was a AD-600 model. I don't know if it is broken itself but when I put the burnt dvd's in it did not recognize them. I need to test it on my brothers PS2 tonight. I'm and very dissatisfied with my toshiba s1700...It came free with a TV I purchased but it does not play ANYTHING but professional DVDs for me. I just ordered a pack of apple dvdr's, will let you guys know.
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  9. I had 15 Promedia DVD-R 's and they are working great IF you burn something < 90 Minutes. If you go above then the screen is getting jerky/hangs/skips and all kinds of trouble.
    It works fine in my PC-DVD rom but not in my RCA DVD Player
    Paid $17.00 for a 5-pack at Tigerdirect.com
    Works great for Data only, but not for Movies.
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  10. Swollen Member
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    Hmmm... no wonder the Princo media is so cheap around here. I guess I'll avoid it.
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  11. Hi everyone!
    Here in Mexico there are still less options when it comes to buying dvdr media, talking about generics.
    I´ve bought Pioneer and Apple and they are just great. Except for the price. In big stores they cost nearly US$30 each!!!!
    I recently found them, besides Verbatim, QPS and Dysan, at about US$10 bucks each. And the RW versions at US$15. I even was able to buy generic golden/purple dvdr´s at US$7 each. I found them at a Place named "Plaza de la Computacion", basically sort of a tech flea market. I envy you all for having so much diferent products to test, and for not having to wait months for your mail orders to arrive. Here we must wait sometimes up to 4 or 5 months to get our amazon books. That´s the reason I haven´t tried web shopping for dvdr stock.
    Anyway, as I said before, the big brand boys performed to me really well, except maybe for the first 2 I made, (each one featuring 6 hours of mpeg1 352 x 240 ripped material, muxed with original ac3 audio tracks). They dont play neither in my Philco PH5100 standalone nor in my son´s PS2. I thought the problem was my dvd burner (a Pioneer 103 unit that came with my Compaq system) and in fact it was: Compaq replaced it at no charge and I copied this discs to new ones and... Voila! They play fine on the Philco. Maybe the PS2 cannot cope with the mpg1 streams...

    Now I´ve burned more than a hundred generic purple/gold sold in Mexico, and only ONE has failed.

    Just FYI (In case you are wondering)
    I´m authoring original material on DVDiT SE and SpruceUp.
    I´m compressing mostly on TMPGenc.
    My source material comes from 35mm transferred to Digital Betacam and then to DVCAM.
    And I have just upgraded my DVDR-103 firmware from 1.40 RPC2 to 1.80 RPC1 thanks to >NIL.

    Now I´m learning Scenarist. It´s an easy program once you understand its interface.
    In this industry, Sadly, The future was yesterday.
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  12. Swollen Member
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    Originally Posted by Eug
    Hmmm... no wonder the Princo media is so cheap around here. I guess I'll avoid it.
    Well I tried a Princo anyway, since they're only a little over $3 US each at the local store. Worked fine so I'll try some more. My more critical stuff is still gonna be Apple media though. The no name brand media I tried was crap. Even just looking at it with my naked eye, the dye seemed uneven.
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  13. Member
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    Discplanet media works very well both on computer and on Philips players.
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  14. I don't have any problem with Hypermicro Purple gold or Princo silver Generic DVD-R, worked fine on my A104 and burned with Nero. Runs fine on my Sony, pioneer or Apex standalone.
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  15. Originally Posted by FM
    Discplanet media works very well both on computer and on Philips players.
    I guess this place is in England? A good tip for folks in that part of the world!
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  16. Member
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    I've had now my Pioneer A04 for about a month. I ordered 25 Primedisc DVD-R from www.shop4tech.com and received Primedisc media.

    So far I burned about 15 of them with video and data and no problem with a single one. I found two of them which showed some imperfections in the dye but like I said no problems. They all played with no problems in my Pioneer 343.

    When I record them with Prassi Primo DVD it says they are 2x but it ends up burning them 1x.

    Also got 10 no name DVD-RW's which burn at 1x but they work like a charm even in my 343.

    I like that shop4tech ships to Canada.

    Anybody tried the 25 pack DVD-R' from www.rima.com for $34 ?
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  17. Okay, I've been lurking here (and elsewhere) trying to get the scoop on DVD-R media and the most reliable bang for the buck. I ordered ten discs from www.mediastore.com. Their 'own' brand sells for $2.49 each (plus shipping) and includes a DVD "Movie" case). I've Toasted all ten with my Lacie drive, and every one plays perfectly in each of my stand-alones: Toshiba 3109 (old - isn't even supposed to play DVD-Rs), Sampo 631cf, and a PS2.

    So I ordered another 50 from these guys, but then I saw some ads for CHEAP discs from the likes of cd-recordable.com and meritline.com. Meritline will give me TWICE the number of discs with the same cool cases for about twelve dollars less. So I called MediaStore and cancelled the order; they were very nice and wanted to know where the better price was because they want to stay "competetive."

    Before I buy the cheap stuff though, I do a little research, which brings me here... and I'm thinking, there's gotta be a quality difference between all these discs, no? I mean, I'm REALLY HAPPY with the mediastore stuff, but I'm always on the lookout for a bargain.

    I haven't seen any info of the mediastore stuff and was wondering if anybody has had any experience with them. If there were mixed marks among you all, I might go ahead and try the cheaper brands, as you've given them all mixed marks as well. If not, I may call Mediastore back and re-order. All ten discs look stellar, and they arrived in two days! Happy burning...
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  18. Updated brand report: I have tried ESBUY gold and MEMOREX silver and both of them work fine on my APEX 1500.

    Additional note: I have a ROSEN DVD CHANGER/PLAYER in my car. I had been unable to find a way to burn the DVD in a way that the the car player would recognize the DVD-R. I tried Nero (all versions), Primo, Ulead etc, no method seemed to work until the following. This method allows it to play in any settop, pc and car player I've tried.

    1. Use IFOEDIT to create image file.
    2. Rename image file to extension of dv1
    3. Use Gear/DVD PRO to open image file, select dv1 and burn.

    That's it all done.
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  19. Swollen Member
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    Anyone try the meritline.com 2X certified media for $3.18?

    So far the consensus online seems to be:

    Princo is crap.
    Cheapest $1.50 meritline is mediocre.
    $1.80 meritline is better but still mediocre.
    Optodisc is slightly better but still mediocre.
    $3.18 meritline is ????
    $5 Apple is excellent.
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  20. Member
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    . Use Gear/DVD PRO to open image file, select dv1 and burn
    What is Gear/DVD Pro?
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  21. Member
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    Their software can be found at www.gearsoftware.com
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  22. Member
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    I see a problem with this whole thread. To say that "Gold disks sold by Store A are primo!" has absolutely no meaning. These large stores obtain their "house" brand DVD-Rs from usually the cheapest manufacturer that they can find. This will change on a month to month basis. For instance, I bought some DVD-Rs from CD-RECORDABLE.COM in March that were superb - burned at 2X with NO failures. Now, disks from these people can't even burn successfully at 1X. Why? Because the manufacturer changed. I used the utility "ADVDInfo.EXE" to view the "Pre-Recorded Information in Lead-In" on my disks, and it returned "MXL", which I assume is MAXELL. Now, people who bought these disks recently report "Plasmo" (who the hell is this???). So, for this thread to have any relevant meaning, I suggest that a poster run this utility to see exactly who is making quality DVD-R (NOTE: this utility has to have a file that normally resides in the NERO directory - which one, I don't know, but place it in the NERO (or, your burning software) directory, and it should run okay).

    Only by insisting that quality products be offered by these large stores can we force the "fly-by-night" manufacturers out of business.

    So, here is my list:

    Vendor__________Manufacturer___Burn Spd___GOOD/BAD

    CD-RECORDABLE.COM__MXL____________2X________GOOD
    Verbatim___________MCC*___________2X________GOOD
    Princo DVD-R_______Princo_________1X_________BAD
    Pioneer____________Pioneer________2x________GOOD
    Princo DVD-RW______Princo_________1X________GOOD (suprisingly)
    Pioneer DVD-RW_____Pioneer________1X________GOOD

    * MCC is Matsusita Chemical Corporation
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  23. Swollen Member
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    Originally Posted by SLK001
    I see a problem with this whole thread. To say that "Gold disks sold by Store A are primo!" has absolutely no meaning. These large stores obtain their "house" brand DVD-Rs from usually the cheapest manufacturer that they can find. This will change on a month to month basis. For instance, I bought some DVD-Rs from CD-RECORDABLE.COM in March that were superb - burned at 2X with NO failures. Now, disks from these people can't even burn successfully at 1X. Why? Because the manufacturer changed. I used the utility "ADVDInfo.EXE" to view the "Pre-Recorded Information in Lead-In" on my disks, and it returned "MXL", which I assume is MAXELL. Now, people who bought these disks recently report "Plasmo" (who the hell is this???). So, for this thread to have any relevant meaning, I suggest that a poster run this utility to see exactly who is making quality DVD-R (NOTE: this utility has to have a file that normally resides in the NERO directory - which one, I don't know, but place it in the NERO (or, your burning software) directory, and it should run okay).

    Only by insisting that quality products be offered by these large stores can we force the "fly-by-night" manufacturers out of business.

    So, here is my list:

    Vendor__________Manufacturer___Burn Spd___GOOD/BAD

    CD-RECORDABLE.COM__MXL____________2X________GOOD
    Verbatim___________MCC*___________2X________GOOD
    Princo DVD-R_______Princo_________1X_________BAD
    Pioneer____________Pioneer________2x________GOOD
    Princo DVD-RW______Princo_________1X________GOOD (suprisingly)
    Pioneer DVD-RW_____Pioneer________1X________GOOD

    * MCC is Matsusita Chemical Corporation
    A) Where do you get the software?
    B) I thought it was unreliable because the info didn't guarantee the disc was made as per specs.
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  24. Member
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    As for your question "A", you can get the software here:

    http://www.dvdwriters.co.uk/

    http://pioneerdvd.firmware-flash.com/ADVDInfo.zip

    As for your question "B", this info does NOT guarantee that any manufacturer constructed his disks to any standard. This will just identify those quality manufacturers that we are all seeking.
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  25. Swollen Member
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    Originally Posted by SLK001
    As for your question "A", you can get the software here:

    http://www.dvdwriters.co.uk/

    http://pioneerdvd.firmware-flash.com/ADVDInfo.zip

    As for your question "B", this info does NOT guarantee that any manufacturer constructed his disks to any standard. This will just identify those quality manufacturers that we are all seeking.
    Thanks, but I thought these things just tell you who makes the equipment for making the discs, not who actually makes the discs. Or does this only apply to CD-R media? See here.
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  26. Member
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    You mean that quote from the guy at CD-RECORDABLE.COM? The same people who "say" that they make their own disks (they don't - or can't make them good enough to sell). I don't know many manufacturers who will allow another company's logo (name) anywhere on their product.

    I believe that this really refers to the disk manufacturer.
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  27. Your typical equipment for media production is in the tens of Millions. Do you think that CDRECORDABLE.COM has this kind of money? Also, remember that if you have gotten good results on a particular Disk MFG there is no guarantee that the next cheap stuff you buy could work even though it is from the same MFG. The reason is that Disk MFGs bin their media, grade A and grade B. They sell the Grade A stuff at a higher price and sell the B cheap to somebody like CDRECORDABLE.COM. Happy Hunting!

    RG
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  28. Swollen Member
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    Well, they claim to make their own discs. Whether they do or not I won't hazard to guess. I do note their website is pretty amateurish, but then again I've seen some multimillion dollar companies with websites I could create in about 10 minutes, so that's not a direct indication.
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  29. Member
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    As to who makes their own media or not, sounds to me like everyone here is simply guessing.

    We might as well be discussing which is better: PC or Mac.

    If companies like cdrecordable.com offer to replace discs, thats sounds pretty good to me right now while everyone is still trying to get it together.
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  30. Member Faustus's Avatar
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    Everydisk from cd-recordable.com has the same creator listed when I use the ID utility... I've had bad luck with the disk but I do really think they are making their own....
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