digitalfaq.com— Ever wonder who actually makes the blank media that HP, Imation, or Memorex sells? What are the best brands for archival? It's all right here in this handy list along with the % reliability of each.
Dec 7, 2006View in Crawl 4
@PhantomZmooveI've been using Memorex for a while with my NEC drive. Everything was going fine until I got new discs that looked different (maybe they changed the manuafacturer). The drive would not burn on these discs until I upgraded the firmware. Everything was fine after the firmware was upgraded, though. May want to try that with your drive.
@federalX I see that "Page Last Updated: November 2nd 2006". But exact dates aside, the information has been very accurate as far as I've seen. The real bigger picture is well stated by RyanChappell above. So what's wrong with bringing attention to the fact that several "big name brands" are screwing consumers by selling low quality media?I'm not sure why anybody would call this page "misinformation"... unless they worked for Memorex or HP, that is.
Where are they being sold at?That being said, beware of the old "bait and switch", where a batch is made by a class-1 plant, and the rest are Chinese garbage discs.
@MrFreezeHa ha, I was thinking memorex ****s****rs, but I like your description too. I tried updating the firmware, and it worked. Well, it still burns at 2.4 x, but it got recognized as a new drive after the update. I read somewhere if you can find 8x +R DVDs that you might be able to get closer to 6-8x out of it, but I'm staring a pile of 50 blank discs in the face right now. I'm not going to toss them (or the drive) because memorex decided to hang me out to dry. **note to self, stop buying things that say "memorex" on them**
This only confirmed my suspicions. After buying 100 CompUSA branded DVDs and having every single one fail, I started searching for a better brand. Thanks for the link to this exhaustive test. PS: I took the discs back to CompUSA and got my money back.
As a 5+ year reader of CDFreaks, I can tell you that this page is inaccurate. It is really impossible to put together a list that dictates what media is good and what media is bad. There are a few reasons for this, which are extraneous variables. These variables that influence burn quality include what brand of DVD burner you own, the firmware on that burner, and who has rebadged the media. Another variable is that some companies such as Memorex use different companies' media for a single speed of their media (i.e., half of their 16x discs may be made by Ritek and the other half of discs by CMC). This means that some Memorex 16x discs will work really well for some burners while the other half will have terrible quality burns.Now, you may be wondering, "Then how do I tell what media I should buy?" Luckily, there is an answer to this. Goto <a class="user" href="http://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia,">http://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia,</a> and search for your specific dvd media there. This is the largest user-submitted database of dvd media reviews on the web, and is much more accurate than the website listed above. The reviews are split up by all of the variables above (burner used, firmware, original manufacturer, rebadger, etc) so you can see exactly how the type of media you are about to buy should perform.
Taiyo Yuden or Maxell are the way to go with blank DVDs. They are a bit more expensive, but worth it. That is why the majority of the disc duplicators, publishers, and printers use them (Rimage, Microboards). You get what you pay for these day. I usually get them here -- cheap and they are authorized so you know you are getting real Taiyo/Maxell media: <a class="user" href="http://www.tapeonline.com/dvd-r.aspx">http://www.tapeonline.com/dvd-r.aspx</a>
ucg1Dec 8, 2006
@PhantomZmooveI've been using Memorex for a while with my NEC drive. Everything was going fine until I got new discs that looked different (maybe they changed the manuafacturer). The drive would not burn on these discs until I upgraded the firmware. Everything was fine after the firmware was upgraded, though. May want to try that with your drive.
jmdajrDec 8, 2006
VERY USEFUL!I will be more mindful from now on,
coolusernameDec 8, 2006Submitter
@federalX I see that "Page Last Updated: November 2nd 2006". But exact dates aside, the information has been very accurate as far as I've seen. The real bigger picture is well stated by RyanChappell above. So what's wrong with bringing attention to the fact that several "big name brands" are screwing consumers by selling low quality media?I'm not sure why anybody would call this page "misinformation"... unless they worked for Memorex or HP, that is.
duck_oilDec 8, 2006
Were you trying to play the dual layer discs in standalone DVD players? Some older players may not like dual layer discs.
epiccollisionDec 9, 2006
no it hasn't there only a limited number of media manfs
Closed AccountDec 9, 2006
Where are they being sold at?That being said, beware of the old "bait and switch", where a batch is made by a class-1 plant, and the rest are Chinese garbage discs.
phantomzmooveDec 9, 2006
@MrFreezeHa ha, I was thinking memorex ****s****rs, but I like your description too. I tried updating the firmware, and it worked. Well, it still burns at 2.4 x, but it got recognized as a new drive after the update. I read somewhere if you can find 8x +R DVDs that you might be able to get closer to 6-8x out of it, but I'm staring a pile of 50 blank discs in the face right now. I'm not going to toss them (or the drive) because memorex decided to hang me out to dry. **note to self, stop buying things that say "memorex" on them**
doonDec 9, 2006
TY = 0 coasters.
saturn639Dec 9, 2006
This only confirmed my suspicions. After buying 100 CompUSA branded DVDs and having every single one fail, I started searching for a better brand. Thanks for the link to this exhaustive test. PS: I took the discs back to CompUSA and got my money back.
romman00Dec 9, 2006
As a 5+ year reader of CDFreaks, I can tell you that this page is inaccurate. It is really impossible to put together a list that dictates what media is good and what media is bad. There are a few reasons for this, which are extraneous variables. These variables that influence burn quality include what brand of DVD burner you own, the firmware on that burner, and who has rebadged the media. Another variable is that some companies such as Memorex use different companies' media for a single speed of their media (i.e., half of their 16x discs may be made by Ritek and the other half of discs by CMC). This means that some Memorex 16x discs will work really well for some burners while the other half will have terrible quality burns.Now, you may be wondering, "Then how do I tell what media I should buy?" Luckily, there is an answer to this. Goto <a class="user" href="http://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia,">http://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia,</a> and search for your specific dvd media there. This is the largest user-submitted database of dvd media reviews on the web, and is much more accurate than the website listed above. The reviews are split up by all of the variables above (burner used, firmware, original manufacturer, rebadger, etc) so you can see exactly how the type of media you are about to buy should perform.
marisaadairJun 28, 2007
Taiyo Yuden or Maxell are the way to go with blank DVDs. They are a bit more expensive, but worth it. That is why the majority of the disc duplicators, publishers, and printers use them (Rimage, Microboards). You get what you pay for these day. I usually get them here -- cheap and they are authorized so you know you are getting real Taiyo/Maxell media: <a class="user" href="http://www.tapeonline.com/dvd-r.aspx">http://www.tapeonline.com/dvd-r.aspx</a>
anagamiNov 25, 2007
thanks, great resource