What is Needed for the DVD-R Debate.

[slk001]

Guys,
I hate to be dredging this subject up once again, but we need more info about the DVD-Rs that we are rating. The stores that sell their own "generic" brands probably get their stock from the lowest bidder (whatever manufacturer that may be). I suggest that we start posting an additional tid-bit of information - namely, who made the blank that we are rating. For instance, my batch of CD.RECORDABLE.COM disks had "MXL" as the manufacturer (which I am assuming is "MAXELL") and the quality was superb (no failures and 2X burning). Others who ordered these disks have reported "RITEK" and "PLASMO" as manufacturer (many failures and only 1X burning).
I suggest that we use a utility called "ADVDInfo.EXE" available at the URL below and use it to tell us the manufacturer of the blank. This way, if one person has good results with "XXX" brand disk from store A, then we can order these same "XXX" brands from store A and possibly get the same results. If you word your online (or phone) order properly, this becomes a CONTRACT between you and the store. If we only insist on the quality generic brands, then the "fly-by-nighters" will soon be history.

Get this program here:
http://www.dvdwriters.co.uk/download/index.htm

[TRILIGHT]

My discs from cdrecordable.com also say MXL though I really doubt that means Maxell. Their site says they have their own manufacturing process. Unfortunately, I don't have a Maxell DVD-R to see what it reports to compare. Is there a site that says what this information really stands for?

I tried a Verbatim disc and it said "MCC 00..RG2". I would guess it's Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. since that is who made my branded Verbatim CDR's. TDK reported "VX...TDKG02..000". (Obviously, TDK) Memorex reported "CMC00R..G20". CMC Magnetics makes a lot of Imation CDR's and they also make the blank non-branded Verbatim CDR's you usually get in a big spindle at Sam's Club. I've never had a problem with CMC but the Memorex discs do not burn at 2X on my DVR-104. The Verbatim's and TDK's burn fine at 2X.

[thxtof]

I tried ADVDINFO.exe but it does not show anything for my Meritline DVD...
I wonder if anyone else was successful using this tool ?

[mpucoder]

I think the whole thing with generic media is hit or miss, regardless of who manufactured the disk. The manufacturers use different standards for their own branded media than they do for OEM, so even if Memorex made it, it doesn't have to live up to Memorex branded standards.

[bluespot]

Still, reporting the brand from ADVDinfo is a good idea.

Different stores might be selling the same generic media under different names. Without ADVDInfo, there would be no way to tell that the stores were selling the same media, so they would be classified as 2 different brands. With ADVDInfo, we could make the connection that the media is the same, combine the results from all the different stores that sell it, and get a better overall picture of the performance of the media. It would even help compare prices! Just my humble opinion.

[p3distxii]

I think that for the most part we already know which ones work and which ones don't. Filtering and rating cheap-ass generic media hardly seems like something I want to spend my time doing. As for specifying media when you buy-- Do you really think that the representative you deal with is going to hand-pick your order for you. Good luck. If you want better results, you should just ditch the generic media. Just like cheap cd-r media, it will always be around and will usually be somewhat unreliable.

[Mosaic]

Pengo is Ritek

Tdk is ...well ...TDK.
and they do burn at 2x ...but I have had probs with compatibility in some players

[easy2Bcheesy]

For European and UK users, I highly recommend the DVD-R area of this forum. Mostly it's pirates talking the best media for their PS2 'back-ups' but on the plus side, a lot of very new DVD-R media gets beta tested and rated on these forums before release. I always go here before buying my next batch of blanks:

h**p://www.uk-forums.net/blankmedia/index.php

[wakebrder]

Optodisc from meritline reports "VIVAST..AR"

Judysdeals reports "WX...TDKG01..000" TDK disks at $1.59 a piece......not bad.

[thxtof]

This tool is great !

I agree, we should use it to build the DVD-R compatibility database !

Meritline General V2.0 (dark purple) -> "RITEK..G03" this one works great, never had a single failure.

Meritline Optodisk (clear purple) -> "VIVAST..AR" this one is very bad, all freezed after about 50mns in my APEX :( and I gets cyclic error on the last vob when trying to read on my A04.

[MickeyNBK]

Originally posted by wakebrder
Optodisc from meritline reports "VIVAST..AR"

Judysdeals reports "WX...TDKG01..000" TDK disks at $1.59 a piece......not bad.


Which discs did you order from Judysdeals? They have a few different 100 packs. Also how well do they perform?

[wakebrder]

I didn't specify, but the ones I received had white tops.

[atreides93]

Uhm, I have been using generic cd-r's for a couple of years now. I've lost count of how many hundreds if not thousands of cd-r's I've burned, and I haven't noticed any reliability problem. They always seem to work for me. I've noticed some cheap cd rom readers sometimes have trouble reading cd-r's, but that's not the media's fault that's the stupid drive's fault.