Inexpensive BD-R Media

jdobbs · 25th August 2009, 00:22

With BD Rebuilder getting fairly stable now (especially for BD-25 backups) I thought I'd start a thread where we can post our experiences with media that's available and help each other find good deals.

In the past I'd been sticking mainly to Ritek BD-R media, but I recently decided to try and started using these Optical Quantum discs. So far my luck has been good -- not bad for $79 for a cakebox of 25 ($3.16 each). I haven't hit a bad one yet after about half of one stack (that could be dumb luck), I'll update this post if if I do.

Note: I have no affilliation with MERITLINE -- and I would expect that anyone else posting stick by that rule... otherwise this thread could become a SPAM nightmare and I'll have to close it.

Capsbackup · 25th August 2009, 01:02

I have tried RiData 4x BD-R and Memorex 4x BD-R ( which has the same mfg ID as the RiData, just Blue in color), with no problems.
Found RiData for $35.00 for a 15 pack spindle, and Memorex for $40.00 for a 15 pack spindle. Now that I know Memorex is the same mfg., I probably won't pay more for the color.
It's funny, I will never buy anything but Verbatims for my DVD media, but was willing to try these for BD-R. Verbatim 10 pack spindle goes for $50.00. ( Fry's ). Next purchase I will try Verbatims, but I am uncertain if this will be necessary for BD media. I will be curious of others opinions.
A very good thread to start.

GaPony · 25th August 2009, 06:16

I've used several brands of BD-R media and have had great success with all of them, to be honest. Brands that I wouldn't touch to copy a DVD have all proven to be reliable for BD-R.

Lately, I've been using the Blaze 4x BD-R from shop4tech simply because of the price... I've used just over 30 discs with no coasters and excellant playback.

$3.19 ea. for 10 packs ($31.90)

$3.09 ea. for a 20 pack ($61.80)

$2.99 ea. for a 100 pack ($299.00) for the truely dedicated user.

All have free shipping.

They have the Ritek (RITEK-BR-2-00) media code.

http://www.shop4tech.com/item7856.html

I have no affiliation with shop4tech.com and if I find it cheaper someplace my loyalty will vanish.

Unless I run into problems, I'll continue to buy whatever is cheapest on the day I order.

Ghitulescu · 25th August 2009, 08:10

Just out of curiosity, how do you check their quality?

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Revi...20888&PageId=0

GaPony · 25th August 2009, 21:28

cdrinfo.com and similar places have proprietary software along with other professional software for checking the quality. I just use my eyes and ears.

cybercurves · 29th August 2009, 15:55

There's a place called megamediamall.com that has BD-R media for as low as $2.59 per disc or $64.25 for 25.

http://www.mediamegamall.com/blank-m...-c-29_139.html

jdobbs · 29th August 2009, 16:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by cybercurves

There's a place called megamediamall.com that has BD-R media for as low as $2.59 per disc or $64.25 for 25.

http://www.mediamegamall.com/blank-m...-c-29_139.html

Have you tried the Mega Media discs? I thought the listing for 250 discs @2.59 ea plus a free disc printer was interesting -- especially since the discs were printable silver laquer.

cybercurves · 29th August 2009, 16:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdobbs

Have you tried the Mega Media discs? I thought the listing for 250 discs @2.59 ea plus a free disc printer was interesting -- especially since the discs were printable silver laquer.

I haven't tried Mega Media discs, so I don't know how reliable they are.

shamoo · 29th August 2009, 16:23

can someone tell why verbatim is the best for dvd's but it seems it doesn't matter what BD media you use? i know verbatim are made better for dvd but is there no such issue with blu-ray? at the moment i have only used verbatim BD 25, and have had no problems but at about £5 per disc ($8) so if there is no difference in what disc to use then i could save myself some money, or if anyone knows where to get cheap disc that are either in the uk or deliver to uk..
thanks

jdobbs · 29th August 2009, 16:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by shamoo

can someone tell why verbatim is the best for dvd's but it seems it doesn't matter what BD media you use? i know verbatim are made better for dvd but is there no such issue with blu-ray? at the moment i have only used verbatim BD 25, and have had no problems but at about £5 per disc ($8) so if there is no difference in what disc to use then i could save myself some money, or if anyone knows where to get cheap disc that are either in the uk or deliver to uk..
thanks

Interesting point. I had lots of issues with "cheaper" DVD+-R's and went to and stuck (to this day) with Verbatims -- but my experience so far on the BD-R side is that the manufacturer doesn't seem to make a whole lot of difference.

It could be the standards required for Blu-ray certification are higher.

Of course I'm confident some cheap-o manufacturer will eventually prove me wrong...

GaPony · 29th August 2009, 17:38

I'm pretty sure that everyone is manufacturing to the original specs for BD-R media, so quality is pretty uniform. Once some "College Boy" figures out a way to cut some corners and save a few cents, we'll see prices... and quality drop, I'm sure.

Back in the day, there were only a few manufacturers of DVD media and quality wasn't an issue, but prices were relatively high. You can see where that went. BD-R will be no different once its widely used on PCs. Right now we're in an extremely low percentage of the population. Very few people actually burn BD-R media on their PCs.

GaPony · 29th August 2009, 17:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdobbs

Have you tried the Mega Media discs? I thought the listing for 250 discs @2.59 ea plus a free disc printer was interesting -- especially since the discs were printable silver laquer.

That looks like a Primera Signature Z1, or Teac P11 Thermal Disc printer. I have the Casio version and it works very well for people like me, who can't write legibly with a Sharpie.

You can always forego the expense of buying 250 discs and just buy it for $90 online.

Check the specs if you use a 64-bit OS, my Casio doesn't have 64-bit drivers.

pbeumer2001 · 29th August 2009, 18:01

I live in Europe and I have done over 300 copies now. About 5 of them are bad copies.

I`ve used MediaRange in the past. 25 euro for 10. That`s about 35 USD

Now I use Variox. The are 20 euro for 10. That`s 28,60 USD

Only reason I`m burning on Variox is the price. The quality is the same.

My burnspeed is 2x max. Higher than 2x made some discs not playable in some players

GaPony · 29th August 2009, 18:04

Now that's where the issues are! Standalone Players! The quality and standards used in manufacturing are all over the place.

pbeumer2001 · 29th August 2009, 18:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaPony

Now that's where the issues are! Standalone Players! The quality and standards used in manufacturing are all over the place.

Yep,

Best players on the market for me are: PS3 and LG BD370.

I`ve tested a Panasonic player. Godfather part 2 and 3 work great but part 1 not!!! All three went through rebuilder with the same settings.

PS3 an LG BD370 will play everything!!!

jdobbs · 29th August 2009, 18:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaPony

That looks like a Primera Signature Z1, or Teac P11 Thermal Disc printer. I have the Casio version and it works very well for people like me, who can't write legibly with a Sharpie.

You can always forego the expense of buying 250 discs and just buy it for $90 online.

Check the specs if you use a 64-bit OS, my Casio doesn't have 64-bit drivers.

I have an Epson R380 I use right now to print on DVD/CD/BD. Pretty good deal, though when you can get your BD-R discs for $2.59 ea and a $90 printer is thrown in. Of course $650 is a lot to outlay at once -- and the price of discs will probably be down to $1 ea by the time you use all 250 of them.

Mediogre · 29th August 2009, 19:02

For inexpensive media, Fry's always have the RiData 4x blanks on sale for $2.33 apiece (well once a month or so).
http://www.frys.com/product/5900884?...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

For top quality media, I buy directly from Japan in bulk. Even with international shipping charges, they are still cheaper. The TDK blanks linked below come out to $3.50 apiece with all charges included. Not bad for 4x discs with hard coat. If the link doesn't work, search the site for "tdk blu-ray 120". The downside is you have to buy 120 at a time.
http://en.item.rakuten.com/toyooka/1...dk+blu-ray+120

Wombler · 30th August 2009, 10:51

Is there any software available yet to do quality scans on Blu-ray burns in a similar fashion to DVD media scans (that show up PIF and PIE spikes etc)?

Wombler

GaPony · 30th August 2009, 16:59

I don't know of any, but just like with DVDs the proof is in the viewing. I find that software like Nero CD/DVD speed are very subjective based on the player itself. I've had plenty of discs that scan poorly and playback perfectly, others than scan well on one drive and poorly on another drive, so I let my eyes be the judge.

Wolfe999 · 30th August 2009, 23:22

@ Mediogre: Thank you very much for the Rakuten link. I was a little bit afraid and "only" bought 80 TDK's. Indeed it's cheap. Though I still haven't received the e-mail with the definitive shipping expenses, I think the end price for each BD-R will be around €2,60. Unimaginable prices to buy from Europe... at least to my knowledge. Cross my fingers they are good media (they are manufactured by Imation).

Just a sidenote about Verbatim. Yeah, they used to be the "shangri-la" of DVD and CD media... but lately I was unlucky enough to get a batch manufactured in India by Moses Baer that were absolute s**t. In some places, among them Netsoftmedia-dot-com, in the USA, they sell only Verbs made in Singapore. Go always for those.

Regards and thanx again :-D.

PS: If I'm satisfied with these BD-R, I'm sure will buy often from Japan

25th August 2009, 00:22	#1 \| Link
jdobbs Moderator Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 21,095	Inexpensive BD-R Media With BD Rebuilder getting fairly stable now (especially for BD-25 backups) I thought I'd start a thread where we can post our experiences with media that's available and help each other find good deals. In the past I'd been sticking mainly to Ritek BD-R media, but I recently decided to try and started using these Optical Quantum discs. So far my luck has been good -- not bad for $79 for a cakebox of 25 ($3.16 each). I haven't hit a bad one yet after about half of one stack (that could be dumb luck), I'll update this post if if I do. Note: I have no affilliation with MERITLINE -- and I would expect that anyone else posting stick by that rule... otherwise this thread could become a SPAM nightmare and I'll have to close it. __________________ Help with development of new apps: Donations. Website: www.jdobbs.net Last edited by jdobbs; 25th August 2009 at 00:26.

29th August 2009, 19:02	#17 \| Link
Mediogre Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 11	For inexpensive media, Fry's always have the RiData 4x blanks on sale for $2.33 apiece (well once a month or so). http://www.frys.com/product/5900884?...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG For top quality media, I buy directly from Japan in bulk. Even with international shipping charges, they are still cheaper. The TDK blanks linked below come out to $3.50 apiece with all charges included. Not bad for 4x discs with hard coat. If the link doesn't work, search the site for "tdk blu-ray 120". The downside is you have to buy 120 at a time. http://en.item.rakuten.com/toyooka/1...dk+blu-ray+120 Last edited by Mediogre; 29th August 2009 at 19:08.

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25th August 2009, 01:02	#2 \| Link
Capsbackup Registered User Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,995	I have tried RiData 4x BD-R and Memorex 4x BD-R ( which has the same mfg ID as the RiData, just Blue in color), with no problems. Found RiData for $35.00 for a 15 pack spindle, and Memorex for $40.00 for a 15 pack spindle. Now that I know Memorex is the same mfg., I probably won't pay more for the color. It's funny, I will never buy anything but Verbatims for my DVD media, but was willing to try these for BD-R. Verbatim 10 pack spindle goes for $50.00. ( Fry's ). Next purchase I will try Verbatims, but I am uncertain if this will be necessary for BD media. I will be curious of others opinions. A very good thread to start.

25th August 2009, 06:16	#3 \| Link
GaPony Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 496	I've used several brands of BD-R media and have had great success with all of them, to be honest. Brands that I wouldn't touch to copy a DVD have all proven to be reliable for BD-R. Lately, I've been using the Blaze 4x BD-R from shop4tech simply because of the price... I've used just over 30 discs with no coasters and excellant playback. $3.19 ea. for 10 packs ($31.90) $3.09 ea. for a 20 pack ($61.80) $2.99 ea. for a 100 pack ($299.00) for the truely dedicated user. All have free shipping. They have the Ritek (RITEK-BR-2-00) media code. http://www.shop4tech.com/item7856.html I have no affiliation with shop4tech.com and if I find it cheaper someplace my loyalty will vanish. Unless I run into problems, I'll continue to buy whatever is cheapest on the day I order.

25th August 2009, 08:10	#4 \| Link
Ghitulescu Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 5,772	Just out of curiosity, how do you check their quality? http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Revi...20888&PageId=0

25th August 2009, 21:28	#5 \| Link
GaPony Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 496	cdrinfo.com and similar places have proprietary software along with other professional software for checking the quality. I just use my eyes and ears.

29th August 2009, 15:55	#6 \| Link
cybercurves Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 6	There's a place called megamediamall.com that has BD-R media for as low as $2.59 per disc or $64.25 for 25. http://www.mediamegamall.com/blank-m...-c-29_139.html

29th August 2009, 16:23	#9 \| Link
shamoo Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 48	can someone tell why verbatim is the best for dvd's but it seems it doesn't matter what BD media you use? i know verbatim are made better for dvd but is there no such issue with blu-ray? at the moment i have only used verbatim BD 25, and have had no problems but at about £5 per disc ($8) so if there is no difference in what disc to use then i could save myself some money, or if anyone knows where to get cheap disc that are either in the uk or deliver to uk.. thanks

29th August 2009, 17:38	#11 \| Link
GaPony Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 496	I'm pretty sure that everyone is manufacturing to the original specs for BD-R media, so quality is pretty uniform. Once some "College Boy" figures out a way to cut some corners and save a few cents, we'll see prices... and quality drop, I'm sure. Back in the day, there were only a few manufacturers of DVD media and quality wasn't an issue, but prices were relatively high. You can see where that went. BD-R will be no different once its widely used on PCs. Right now we're in an extremely low percentage of the population. Very few people actually burn BD-R media on their PCs.

29th August 2009, 18:01	#13 \| Link
pbeumer2001 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 47	I live in Europe and I have done over 300 copies now. About 5 of them are bad copies. I`ve used MediaRange in the past. 25 euro for 10. That`s about 35 USD Now I use Variox. The are 20 euro for 10. That`s 28,60 USD Only reason I`m burning on Variox is the price. The quality is the same. My burnspeed is 2x max. Higher than 2x made some discs not playable in some players

29th August 2009, 18:04	#14 \| Link
GaPony Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 496	Now that's where the issues are! Standalone Players! The quality and standards used in manufacturing are all over the place.

30th August 2009, 10:51	#18 \| Link
Wombler Affable Wanderer Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 451	Is there any software available yet to do quality scans on Blu-ray burns in a similar fashion to DVD media scans (that show up PIF and PIE spikes etc)? Wombler

30th August 2009, 16:59	#19 \| Link
GaPony Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 496	I don't know of any, but just like with DVDs the proof is in the viewing. I find that software like Nero CD/DVD speed are very subjective based on the player itself. I've had plenty of discs that scan poorly and playback perfectly, others than scan well on one drive and poorly on another drive, so I let my eyes be the judge.

30th August 2009, 23:22	#20 \| Link
Wolfe999 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 78	@ Mediogre: Thank you very much for the Rakuten link. I was a little bit afraid and "only" bought 80 TDK's. Indeed it's cheap. Though I still haven't received the e-mail with the definitive shipping expenses, I think the end price for each BD-R will be around €2,60. Unimaginable prices to buy from Europe... at least to my knowledge. Cross my fingers they are good media (they are manufactured by Imation). Just a sidenote about Verbatim. Yeah, they used to be the "shangri-la" of DVD and CD media... but lately I was unlucky enough to get a batch manufactured in India by Moses Baer that were absolute s**t. In some places, among them Netsoftmedia-dot-com, in the USA, they sell only Verbs made in Singapore. Go always for those. Regards and thanx again :-D. PS: If I'm satisfied with these BD-R, I'm sure will buy often from Japan