TDK DVD-R discs

[Thwiipp]

Hi all, i was just wondering how TDK DVD-R discs were, i basically want to stick with name brand disc instead of wasting money testing out these crappy discs from Princo and such, i got a reputable site selling them for 2.95 a peice ,which is cheap compared to everywhere else and free shipping(at least for now) so im curious on other peoples experience burning with the TDK DVD-R disc. Thanks.

[golfextreme]

I bought 100 tdk off of ebay (I saw the exact same ones at supermediastore.com) and even though they say tdk on the discs and advdinfo says they're tdk, they are crap. I think you have to stick with the jewel case tdk discs. A lot of these discs pixelate a lot of the time. If they are sold in a group of 50 or 100 for a cheap price, I would stay away. Just my advice.

[thxtof]

Bought recently the 50 pack TDK from supermediastore.
Burned 6 so far, and to no problem.

The media is the same than the jewel case one, the only difference is the top is silver for one, white for the other one with TDK and DVD-R logos.

ADVDINFO gives exactly the same manufacturer reference.

Anyway I hope I'll be more lucky than you because those DVDs are expensives... and I still have a lot !

[Thwiipp]

Actually you guys were ripped off, i heard about someone hving the same experince and called TDK, they dont make 50 or 100 spindles and that what he bought was not an official TDK product.

[thxtof]

Well ADVDINFO can't lie:
For a certified TDK DVD-R sold in a jewel case I get for the manufacturer:
00 42 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 50 00 02 98 0C 13 .B...@....P.....
76 78 80 00 03 54 44 4B 47 30 32 00 04 30 30 30 VX...TDKG02..000
30 30 30 00 05 88 80 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 000.............

Now if I do the same for one of the DVD-R packaged in the 50 cake box:
00 42 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 50 00 02 98 0C 13 .B...@....P.....
76 78 80 00 03 54 44 4B 47 30 32 00 04 30 30 30 VX...TDKG02..000
30 30 30 00 05 88 80 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 000.............

It looks pretty much the same to me. Also the media looks exactly the same. Both burn in x2 and play perfectly.

My guess is that TDK is not really happy to see some website selling their product so cheap. Probably these packages are not intended to be sold directly... They'd rather sell you the jewel case one at 10$ on their website ;-)

[atreides93]

I wouldn't trust the manufacturer's sales people. they will lie through their teeth if they can get away with it.

Anyway TDK is great, I love how it burns 2X, and the ones I got had a 1 year warranty (jewel case ones).

It seems people have pretty good luck with Ritek DVD-R's and they're cheaper than TDK but only 1x.

[PB Junior]

Hi all,

I also bought the 100pk of ebay. So far no problems @2X. From what that company told me, these disks are from TDK JAPAN and that is why TDK USA knows nothing about them. I'm still testing them before I make any recommendations.

-PB jr.

[golfextreme]

The problem is that some of them work great and some pixelate like mad. It just depends.

[PB Junior]

I plan on giving some to my father for testing as well. I'll keep you guys posted. Well...worst case I have 90+ 2x blanks for data storage.

[Doom9]

this is just a wild guess on my part but I think that the few companies that actually manufacture discs sell the really good batches under their own label and at high prices and sell the rest to 3rd party vendor which sell them under their own name.
Why? We have a similar thing going on in other parts of the computer world. For instance take CPUs. As long as there is no change in the core a series of CPUs is basically the same, but some have higher tolerances for higher speed so they get certified to run at higher speeds. And, there cannot be as many companies manufacturing discs as there are companies selling discs under an own brand name. Furthermore if you check the advdinfo thread you'll see I've tested quite a number of discs and many were manufactured by TDK. However, not all the discs having the TDK01 label performed the same. The DVDPro ones suck, can't be read, can't be ripped, while other brands (but the same lead in tag = manufacturer) seem to work more or less. And the TDK02 ones I got were a catastrophe as well. I'm afraid even the lead in info won't tell us about the quality of a certain disc..

[thxtof]

Originally posted by Doom9
... And the TDK02 ones I got were a catastrophe as well. I'm afraid even the lead in info won't tell us about the quality of a certain disc..

I certainly agree with you, but I noticed that the TDKG02 you got are slightly different, the ADVDINFO does not match the one I got with the TDK Jewel Case or 50 cake pack:

Meritline DVD-R 2x - ML-DVDR4.7G-2XW-001 (2x) light purple
Doom9 www.meritline.com (8/2002)
00 42 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 50 00 02 8A 0D 14 .B...@....P.....
88 88 80 00 03 54 44 4B 47 30 32 00 04 30 30 30 .....TDKG02..000

Mine says:
76 78 80 00 03 54 44 4B 47 30 32 00 04 30 30 30 VX...TDKG02..000

Looks like the one with "VX...TDKG02" are the "TRUE" TDKs, same as the one sold in jewel case, and the one without VX are "crap" sold under other name like Meritline, or other kind of cheap bundle.

@golfextreme can you give the info that you get with ADVDINFO so we can double check this theory ;)

My 2 cents

[golfextreme]

Nope, mine says

00 42 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 50 00 02 98 0C 13 .B...@....P.....
76 78 80 00 03 54 44 4B 47 30 32 00 04 30 30 30 VX...TDKG02..000

And they are the hit and miss dvds. Some are great, some are not.

Good theory, but no go.