Any difference btwn Ritek and Primedisc?

[titus]

Is there any difference between Ritek and Primedisc in terms of durability and compatibility?

I have bought a 50pk primedisc, and noticed that maybe 1 out of 10 burns gives me a pixelated, bad playback. I tested with a Pioneer DVD-RW and it worked fine. So, a definite media quality problem.

Was wondering if Ritek might be better or on par with Primedisc.

Thanks!

Titus
Pioneer DVR-A04
1.30 firmware

[padre]

titus

Did you check the PrimeDisc with ADVDinfo to see what they show up as?

There are two 'versions' of them, and I'm not 100% satisfied with one of the versions. The original show up as RITEKG3. They seem to work like champs. The new retail version of PrimeDisc can show up as something like ADVSTAR or something like that. They look different, with a lighter dye and different format.

I've loved working with the original PrimeDisc, and since they were RitekG3's. I was thinking of just switching to them (the RitekG3's) and avoid the chances of getting the other disc type.

[titus]

No I did not run advinfo on them... but I am going to try your suggestion as to getting the original RitekG3. Do you know of a reputable place that sells them? And if they work with my Pioneer A04, 1.30 firmaware?

I saw some Ritek that works with only firmware 1.32. Hate to upgrade to that since so many people has problems with it.

Thanks again!
T

[padre]

Shop4Tech sells Ritek's for $119 for 100, plus free shipping. I'm going to email them about these, to see if they are RITEKG3's. If so, I'm going with them.

I've also seen Supermediastore.com has them (but there's some question as to what version 1 or 3 they are). Anyone out there buying Ritek's from Supermediastore? Are they RitekG3's?

Padre

[titus]

Could you let me know what shop4tech says after hearing from them?

When you say there are discrepancies with the Primedisc as to if they are Riteks or not, does that apply to both the retail ver with Primedisc imprints as well as the spindle ver?

[kilikili]

Hyper Microsystems currently have the Ritek (Part - RITEKG03-DVD-R-SS-100) DVDR's for $115 shipped as of 09-27-02. Saw this on Pricewatch.

kilikili

[thxtof]

Originally posted by padre
I've also seen Supermediastore.com has them (but there's some question as to what version 1 or 3 they are). Anyone out there buying Ritek's from Supermediastore? Are they RitekG3's?

Padre

I started to buy my Ritek G03 in Meritline, and recently with supermediastore because there are cheaper ($1.14).

The Ritek G01 has a printable white top, but has the same dark purple color and works as great as the G03.

[titus]

Padre,

I noticed that the Ritek thermal printable is way cheaper than the authoring ones, do you know what the difference might be?

Also, for the thermal printable Riteks, would it hurt if I still put a thin translucent label on it? Or do I need to print directly onto the disc instead. Do not know if either way affects playback.

[padre]

When you say there are discrepancies with the Primedisc as to if they are Riteks or not, does that apply to both the retail ver with Primedisc imprints as well as the spindle ver?

I've ordered and received both. The retail PrimeDiscs weren't Riteks. The bunk spindle PrimeDiscs (50 and 100) were, as were the cover/disc bundles. It was pretty easy to see the difference, as the dye is dramaticlly lighter (the non-Ritek PrimeDisc).

I'll let you know what they say. I've also asked them if the Ritek's they sell in 100 spindles are RITEKG3's.

[thxtof]

Originally posted by titus
Padre,

I noticed that the Ritek thermal printable is way cheaper than the authoring ones, do you know what the difference might be?

Also, for the thermal printable Riteks, would it hurt if I still put a thin translucent label on it? Or do I need to print directly onto the disc instead. Do not know if either way affects playback.

The Ritek thermal printable are G01. Meritline used to sell them cheaper than the G03. For me both work great.

BUT at the begining when I added a label on the printable one, the movie was freezing around the end... and after removing the label it was playing fine again !

[padre]

Originally posted by thxtof


The Ritek thermal printable are G01. Meritline used to sell them cheaper than the G03. For me both work great.

BUT at the begining when I added a label on the printable one, the movie was freezing around the end... and after removing the label it was playing fine again !

Do you label your non-printable ones? Just curious.

I haven't bought any of the printable ones, but was thinking of it - and buying one of those CD/DVD printers...oh well, maybe for Christmas.

The Authoring ones are for a different make of DVD burning, not the Pioneer A03/A04. They aren't compatible. The Pioneer uses General Use DVD-Rs.

[thxtof]

Yeah at the beginning I was labelling the non-printable G03 but I had the same problem with some DVD-R, end of the movie freezing.

Labels are nice, but have too many drawbacks:

1) After a while they start peeling off because of the heat
2) If not perfectly applied the DVD-R makes vibrations
3) Most of the labels are too heavy, I read in this forum that only one kind seems to work.

The special printer looks pretty cool though... could be a nice Christmas gift :D

[titus]

I have been using the 'no wobble' labels from americal.com on the non-printable primedisc, and never had any problems with them either. though i have not watched any of my dvds often enough to notice the peeling.

but i have been using a stomper and further flattening out evenly the label. Never had any problems. Made about 50 DVDs with labels on them. All played fine on my 2 pioneers and shinco.

[padre]

I've got a set of those "hub labels" coming soon. I think I'll try them out, since they will have the least impact on the disc wobble issue. Also, you can use them to label the double-sided DVD-R's.

I'll let ya know how they work.

[titus]

i was thinking of trying those too. But i never have any problems with the labels i got. they worked great even on my ps2 games ;)

[padre]

Here's a picture of the finished hub label. For my double-sided discs, this might work fine. For the regular stuff, I'm going to keep using the thin translucent ones.

Padre

[thxtof]

It takes some time for the image to display... don't ask me why :rolleyes:

[titus]

Padre

I have just checked my primedisc and they are RitekG3. So is it common that I get some poor quality blanks in the spindle? Recording on a Pioneer DVD-RW was no problems at all. On some of the Primedisc.. pixelation problem.

Thanks!
Jason

[padre]

titus,

No, I wouldn't say it's common at all. I just went thru a 100 disc spindle with no problems on any of them. But that doesn't mean you don't have some bad discs. So you'd say you have 5 bad discs of the 50? See if Shop4Tech will exchange them. Are you ordering more later? Maybe they can ship you 55 instead of 50 next time?

Were the ones with pixelation problems larger than 4.2gb? Just curious because another user had some issues with fully filled discs.

Padre

[titus]

no.. they were less than 3 GB.. I threw them away, I did not think shop4tech would exchange bad disc when it is used :)

BTW, are the TDKs at shop4tech good?

[padre]

Haven't tried the TDK's. Most companies will exchange/replace defective discs, as long as you haven't put a label on them (burned or unburned).