What's the best Media for my NEC burner?

[Storm442]

Hey gang, I've read on here that the "best" media is different for each burner.

I'm looking for some good quality DVD-Rs for my:
NEC DVD_RW ND-3520A

Got any recommedations so I can start hunting for a good price on a 100-200 pack of them?


Thanks,
~Storm

[jel]

hi Storm442 and welcome to the forum.

an excellent place to start to find information on media compatability is here:

Player/media compatibility (http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdplayers)
Burner/media compatibility (http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdwriters)

let us know if you need any further advice

cheers
j

edit: oh and in future, please do no ask whats "best" .. quickest way to start a flame war, which is why we have rule 12:
"Do not ask "what's best" because this question cannot be answered objectively. Each and everyone has their own view about what's best in a certain area. The best is what works best for you!"

[Storm442]

Thanks for the help!
The links got my firmware updated from 1.04 to the current 3.05.

I guess what I'm *really* asking is where is everyone getting dependable DVD-Rs at?
Does one place consistently have them for less $$?


The other links you mentioned didn't have enough tests of DVD-Rs to have a clear winner.
I'll keep searching.

Thanks again,
~Rob

[killingspree]

storm442,

i guess before anybody can tell you where you can get good media it would help if you told us where you're from - i'm guessing the US of A ;)

anyway, i have a nec 3500 AG burner myself and have consistantly used Memorex DVD+/-R without any problems. I bought them at amazon.de though - which might not be of too much help for you.

cheers
steVe

[Storm442]

Sorry, I'm from the US. (Seattle,WA).


So, perhaps you can help me understand this weird bit of information I stumbled across:

I went to www.pricewatch.com to find cheap media. and they've got 500 DVD-Rs for 78 bucks. Great, except that the "compatibiity chart" lists my burner with the 1.04 firmware. -I just upgraded to the 3.05, so does this mean that these DVD-Rs wont work?
*This was common with the 200 DVD-Rs for 28.00 deal also, the first 5 places all listed my burner with the OLD firmware*

Newer firmware might not work on these discs?

Thanks,
~Rob

P.S. The reason I'm looking at buying so many is that the kids are old enough to start watching the family's DVDs on their own and they're scratching/losing them! I want to restrict them to the "Backup" copies and keep my original ones locked up! Ha-ha !!

[killingspree]

hey rob,

i don't think that your burners performance should get any worse with a newer firmware, unless

a) it is a hacked firmware

b) nec screwed up badly, which would be new for me.

so most likely the newer firmware just improved performance for new and badly supported media, but didn't even touch the old one...

kr
steVe

[CWR03]

Check Fry's Electronics, or their online store Outpost - they have good deals on GQ discs which I use extensively and never have a burn failure. They also carry the aforementioned Memorex media and put it on sale at least once a month. (They had 50-pack of 16X for $19.99)

[Storm442]

Thanks for the reply.

I used the Official NEC firmware update (3.05) -so it should be safe.
Strange that the DVD-Rs compatibility list only uses the old one. -Perhaps they mean that 1.04 is the MINIMUM firmware verision.

Thanks again for the help, I'll probably place an order for that 500 pack...and I'll keep an eye out at FRY's for a large pack of them
(I've got close to 400 DVDs, but some of those are rated "R" and the kids won't be borrowing those!)

~Rob