Inexpensive BD-R Media

[jdobbs]

I've been using Ritek and Titan for about 6 years now. I have used Optical Quantum in the past, but it's been a while. I have yet to have a disc go bad. I've had a few that were bad out of the package, but that's a less than 1% (probably closer to .1%). I guess it could be just good luck... I generally buy them from Meritline -- not sure if that makes a difference.

[Ch3vr0n]

hard to believe u guys are so unlucky with LG drives. The ondest still working drive i have is BH08 and that one would still be in use if i hadn't swapped it out for BH16. LG's never let me down. Drives last for years and i burn hundreds of discs a year.

[jdobbs]

Hope you continue to have good luck with them. But I'll never buy another one.

[Asmodian]

I had that experience with Lite-On, every Lite-On drive I purchased died in a few years. They were cheap though! I too have switched to LG with much better results, no optical drives have died since, though I also use them significantly less now with the price of flash so low.

All burned DVDs or blurays will be unreadable in 10 years, even the expensive media (unless M-Disc, maybe). At least all my burned CDs and DVDs have gone bad, maybe it was those Lite-On drives that burned them? This is stored in folders in the dark, sunlight can kill a disc in a week. Some blurays are already going bad at only ~3 years old (these were Ritek media burned on LG drives, but it was good for those 3 years).

What is everyone doing with so many burned discs in this day and age? I hope not long term archiving?

[laserfan]

I bought M-Disc for long-term archiving of data onto its BD-25 disc, which is so far adequate to keep all family documents and photos on. We have just a handful of home movies I would like to save "forever" on M-Disc but haven't gotten around to that yet. I just bought a 15-pack (25GB 4x) and I think they list for $75 bucks so yes, at $5 a pop they aren't cheap.

But if I were a home videographer with priceless home movies I would not archive these in any other way.

As for "why so many discs" when I first got-into making DVDs I did so of everything including lots of TV that I will never watch again. Not a great expenditure of time I suppose but it's been fun and I've learned a lot.

[Emulgator]

After looking for less expensive alternatives to Verbatim,
Ritek BD-R 25GB seem to be quite safe on my side.
Not that many written, but not a single coaster.
Drives: Pioneer BDR208-EBK, Matsushita BD-MLT UJ-240AS

[laserfan]

After looking for less expensive alternatives to Verbatim,
Ritek BD-R 25GB seem to be quite safe on my side.
Not that many written, but not a single coaster.
Drives: Pioneer BDR208-EBK, Matsushita BD-MLT UJ-240AS

I agree. All my BD-Rs are Ritek, labeled Memorex from Imation Enterprises "Made in Taiwan" and they've been 100% reliable for me.

[Stereodude]

After looking for less expensive alternatives to Verbatim,
Ritek BD-R 25GB seem to be quite safe on my side.
Not that many written, but not a single coaster.
Drives: Pioneer BDR208-EBK, Matsushita BD-MLT UJ-240AS
How much are you paying for the Verbatim discs?

[worknstiff]

RE: How much are you paying for the Verbatim discs?

Amazon, 44.00 for 50. Free shipping. You can't beat 88c each for Verbatim quality.

[Sharc]

RE: How much are you paying for the Verbatim discs?

Amazon, 44.00 for 50. Free shipping. You can't beat 88c each for Verbatim quality.
Did you check the manufacturer of these "Verbatim Quality" discs? There seem to be various, not all with 1st class reputation, at least from the past DVD times ......

[worknstiff]

RE: Verbatim Quality 1st class reputation, at least from the past DVD times

Yes I know about the AZO dye and Made In India controversy, but the ones I receive from Amazon all have the MFG in Taiwan and have burned 100%. I was getting maybe 1 out of 10 bad with the Optical Quantum BD-R's and decided to go back to Verbatim only.

[jdobbs]

RE: How much are you paying for the Verbatim discs?

Amazon, 44.00 for 50. Free shipping. You can't beat 88c each for Verbatim quality.Really? Hmm... I need to check on that. I just paid $36 for 50 Riteks at Meritline recently. 16c a disc isn't a bad premium to pay for Verbatim quality.

I've been using Verbatim DL BDs for series backups (where I backup multiple BDs or DVDs onto a single disc) -- they're selling for about $119 for a box of 50 at Amazon. That's not bad either.

[worknstiff]

Yeah, I used to buy the 20 pack Verbatim BD-R DL for 50.00 with free shipping from Japan. The only thing I didn't like was that they had the white inkjet coating on top and it took 3 weeks to arrive, lol. I really love that BD Rebuilder does 3D now and I only use one of those precious 2.50 disks occasionally. Thanks again jdobbs for helping me with my expensive 3D addiction.

[Rich86]

I realize this is an ancient thread, but I figured I would post a recent experience anyway.
Every Optodisc (OTCBDR-001-000) I have ever burned has now gone totally bad. Thankfully it appears it was only a single cakebox of 25 media. These appear slightly blue on the data side and were burned during 2011 with a Lite-On burner. I expect this was probably the first batch of printable BDR media I ever bought and used. Every one of these was perfectly fine after I burned them and for quite a while afterwards. But the other day I pulled out one of them to view and when it refused to even be recognized by multiple blu-ray players and my tower computer, I decided to check them all . . 100% bad and trash. Just a heads up for folks who have used this brand media and have anything important stored on them . . .
I've been using Ritek printable BDR media for over 10 years with no issues, but who knows what is around the corner . .

[stonesfan129]

I always use the SmartBuy brand ones. I want to say these are made by Ritek. I write them at 2x on my Pioneer BD212V burner. I run one of those OWC Mercury external 3.0 USB enclosures with it. I've had very good success and these are much cheaper than the Verbatim media which is just rebranded CMC now, not the quality Mitsubishi stuff they used to make in Japan.

99% of all my stuff is stuff I've gotten through my library anyway so I can always check it out again at no extra cost if needed.

[stonesfan129]

I have had a few Verbatim BD25 go bad in the past. Not many, but a few. The SmartBuy ones I've burned within the past year or two have still been fine. All my other Verbatims have been fine.

[Lucius Snow]

Take the media code VERBATIMe for single layer and VERNATIMf for dual layer.

[StainlessS]

...
I run one of those OWC Mercury external 3.0 USB enclosures with it.
...

I got 2 of those, nice solid construction, very happy with them (except price a bit steep).

[stonesfan129]

I got 2 of those, nice solid construction, very happy with them (except price a bit steep).

I picked mine up a few years back when they were cheaper. It seems like ever since Pioneer got out of the game, the prices of all these BD-ROM drives and accessories has just skyrocketed. I thought LG was out now too? I remember when you could buy a new internal drive for ~$80 new. I thought I heard something about them being hoarded in Japan or China, not entirely sure.

HDD storage/home NAS is a no-go for me. I've never had one last more than a couple years unless it was just cold storage for music (still have a 750gb HGST out of a laptop from like 15 years ago that is still going strong).

I don't want to pay for a lot of new Blu-ray titles (especially when they want almost $50 for pre-orders) so keeping BD-Rs and writers around saves me tons of money. My Pioneer 212 did die over the summer, just doesn't power on at all. I'm not sure what's wrong with it, can't get replacements anymore. I still have a Pioneer XD07 USB and an LG internal (inside that OWC Mercury enclosure) that have been fine though.