CDRLabs.com

Costco had a sale on TDK blank dvd media a few weeks back, buy one get one free...so I got four spindles (400). Have had good results in the past with TDK as well as other ppl I know as well.

After 4 burn failures in a row, and trying to determine if its the media, or burners etc, I got DVD Indentifier and my wonderful TDK's come up with a manufacturer ID of CMC MAG AM3!!!! Some of the worst quality media out there! So I guess I can pretty much pinpoint my burn problems.

Where the heck do you go to get decent blank media? At the moment my credit card is maxed so getting stuff online has to wait, so now have to find a store that has something decent....

Not sure if I can find the receipt to return these c**p discs to Costco, will try and pawn them off to somebody, hopefully.

Verbatim's have always been pretty good. However, even some of them are made by CMC.

These days, I'm really liking Sony's media. They're on sale often and the results are pretty decent with most drives.

Black Blade wrote:Costco had a sale on TDK blank dvd media a few weeks back, buy one get one free...so I got four spindles (400). Have had good results in the past with TDK as well as other ppl I know as well.

After 4 burn failures in a row, and trying to determine if its the media, or burners etc, I got DVD Indentifier and my wonderful TDK's come up with a manufacturer ID of CMC MAG AM3!!!! Some of the worst quality media out there! So I guess I can pretty much pinpoint my burn problems.

CMC MAG. AM3 is far from the worst quality media. I had a spindle of Philips hub printables with that MID and they burned fine on all of my drives (PIE/PIF well within spec, no playback problems). Aside from CMC MAG M01, most CMC media if purchased under the bigger brand names (HP, Philips, Ricoh etc) is just fine.

I bought a 50pk cakebox of TDK 16x DVD+R recently, that was on sale. turned out to be DAXON AZ3 made in Malaysia, and gives pretty good burns with most of my writers. Wonder if Costco had that on sale too? If so, you might be able to swap your three unopened packs of -R for +R.

Not sure what oher media types are made in Malaysia, but noticed some Imation 16x DVD-R's hade a made in Malaysia label, so they might be worth trying.

One thing's for sure, I'm definitely wary of discs made in China, as opposed to Taiwan.

Wonder if Costco had that on sale too? If so, you might be able to swap your three unopened packs of -R for +R.

I have always avoided any type of +R media, since I heard that -R is the most compatible of the two.

I guess will have to try Verbatim's, they are something like .65 each at Staples, but if they are good stuff then guess thats the way it is.

2Dogs wrote:Not sure what oher media types are made in Malaysia, but noticed some Imation 16x DVD-R's hade a made in Malaysia label, so they might be worth trying.

Made in Malaysia is either Daxon or MJC.

Black Blade wrote:I have always avoided any type of +R media, since I heard that -R is the most compatible of the two.

I think the compatibility issue is overstated - especially now that many writers allow you to set the booktype to DVD-ROM, or do it automatically. I also believe it was only an issue with early DVD players.

I've always bought DVD+R, and for some reason writers generally seem to give better results burning to +R media.

I've tried some Verbatim 16x DVD+R discs, and though they give a nice QScan, they don't give the best results of all the media I've tried so far.

So far, I like Sony 16x DVD+R (SONY D21) and the TDK 16x DVD+R (DAXON AZ3), and my Samsung burner gives great results with Office Depot brand 16x DVD+R (RICOHJPN R03) I wish I'd bought more when they were on offer at $6 for a 50pk! My LG just can't write to the Office Depot discs at all!

65 cents a disc sounds like a lot - I always wait for the right discs to be on sale, but have plenty in stock so that I can afford to wait. (I also have this urge to buy media simply because I haven't tried it before!)

By the way, what burner do you have?

The TDK's at Costco have always been crappy. Buyer beware.

I have a full spindle of 16x DVD-Rs that won't burn on most of my drives, and only at 4x and 1x (stand alone) on the 2 drives I've gotten to complete the burn (out of 16 drives) so far.

Fun stuff...

taiyou yuden makes great cd's and dvd's-

Black Blade wrote:Not sure if I can find the receipt to return these c**p discs to Costco, will try and pawn them off to somebody, hopefully.

That's a sweet attitude, make your misfortune somebody else's.
Good thing that you are not an aquaintence of mine.

Slim
Who notes that this is the reason that he has never bought a used car.

Well, its either let somebody else try their luck with them or simply throw them out. I don't buy or sell things from friends and family....thats a recipe for problems!

Interesting reading about the +R media....maybe will try a spindle of Sony or Maxell and see how it goes.

I have two LG H22N's which have just updated the firmware on. I guess there is really no way of knowing the manufacturer of media by packaging or some other tell-tale method?

PS...I played around with the burn speed and managed to get a sucessful burn at 8x on these TDK's, will try 12 x also and see.

So you were just using the expression (pawn vthem off" loosely. No harm in giving them to someone with a different burner, it might just burn successfully to them.

I quite like my LG, but for a lot of media, it gives a big rise in errors at the end of the disc.

Be careful buying Maxell +R - I had some recently that was CMC MAG M01 made in Taiwan, that is definitely the worst media I've yet tried.

Verbatim 16x +R might be your safest bet.

I am beginning to see that it is a good idea to have different brands of burners, to cover media compatibility issues...although having 3 burners in my tower would be sure to raise the eyebrows of the wife...lol

Black Blade wrote:...although having 3 burners in my tower would be sure to raise the eyebrows of the wife...lol

When my girlfriend makes those kinds of inquiries I respond with a lengthy technical explanation. Generally her eyes glaze over and she wishes she didn't ask.

My wife gave up long ago. Right now, I have 4 DVD writers in my tower, and an external DVD writer and Xbox HD DVD drive on my desk. It doesn't even phase her.

I have 4 DVD writers in my tower, and an external DVD writer and Xbox HD DVD drive on my desk

Ian, what size of power supply do you have in your tower? I have a 450 W and was just wondering if maybe I should move it up to a 600 W...especially if I added more burners...

Black Blade wrote:

I have 4 DVD writers in my tower, and an external DVD writer and Xbox HD DVD drive on my desk

Ian, what size of power supply do you have in your tower? I have a 450 W and was just wondering if maybe I should move it up to a 600 W...especially if I added more burners...

Maybe consider a second PSU, dedicated to ODDs? That's what I do with my 6 ODD's in one system (it's a BIG tower ).

How many ODD's do you actually use at the same time? An idle drive won't draw any juice! For the most part, having various drives mounted is a matter of convenience in picking the one you want to use.

I suspect you'll run into other problems using several ODDs (e.g. transfer rate, conflict on the IDE bus or hard drive access) before there'll be noticeable power problems.

G

The main reason I went with two ODD's was to simply take the strain off of the one. If I am making several copies I will alternate the burners, so as to let one cool down a bit before burning again.

It's funny for to hear about having the two psu's...for I had considered that but thought it would have been a wacky thing to do! Glad to hear that it may be an alright way to go...lol!