Ritek G04 - Reliable online merchant ?

[max2k]

Hi Folks:

I need some DVD-R media and I am leaning towards the 4x Ritek/Ridata.

I was looking up a few online merchants ( meritline, rima.com, shop4tech, supermediastore ) ..... I did a search here and I don't see much information that is recent.

So what's been the experience of folks here with online merchants ?
Did you have a good experience with someone that you can recommend ?

Also is there any other disc that I need to look at ( at about $1 a disc - 25 pack to start with ).
I can go upto $1.50 a disc if it means really good reliability(Taiyo-Yuden maybe ?!?! )

Thanks for your time !

[Kedirekin]

resellerratings.com and bizrate.com are both excellent resources for researching the reputation of online retailers.

I believe all of the stores you mention have mixed reputations (some more mixed than others). The way I look at it, you take a risk to save some money. If they mess up your order, you risk losing half your sanity from frustration as well as your money.

Personally I've placed 3 orders with shop4tech, and the orders have gone fine, though there was zero shipping status on any of them (not even a shipping confirmation e-mail). I'm about to order from them again, but that's not so much an endorsement as a statement that I'm willing to take the risk.

[windtrader]

I've burned a couple hundred Ritek G-04 and they have been quite good so far. I've had maybe 3-4 bad ones. At current prices, I would buy the branded Ritek/Ridata discs. You pay a bit more but I believe the quality may be better overall since Ritek is putting their name on the discs. Also, the online shops are guaranteeing the branded discs for 60 days. This is not the typical level of product warranty.

I've had good experience with Rima but I don't think they now carry the branded discs.

[sarahjh69]

datasafe ritek g04
fws ritek g04
are the best of the bunch
Europe has been flooded with poor quality riteks
and apart from the two brands named above they have
become very unreliable.
Hope you have better luck in the states!

[max2k]

Originally posted by windtrader
.....
I've had good experience with Rima but I don't think they now carry the branded discs.


Thanks to all that have replied till now ...

I have a question for windtrader .....

I checked on Rima.com and I saw this product

http://tinyurl.com/yvt6z
( "Ritek/RiDATA DVD-R 4.7GB, 4X, $1.00 ea., 25-Pack" )

Does that mean this disc is "branded" -- since it says Ritek/RiDATA

Let me know -- rima looks like its got better ratings than most and the price is about OK.

Thanks :)

[gooki]

"Silver Matte Finish (top)"

= Unbranded, which is not a bad thing since all my ritekg03's are of the same finish and from the 400 i have used I've had no duds.

[atreides93]

I suggest you go with rima.com and get the Ridata G04's.
Its Ritek's own brand....

[max2k]

Originally posted by atreides93
I suggest you go with rima.com and get the Ridata G04's.
Its Ritek's own brand....

Thanks to all ... am going to get this from rima

---
Ritek/RiDATA DVD-R 4.7GB, 4X, $1.00 ea., 25-Pack
Code: 1633-25
URL: http://tinyurl.com/yvt6z
---

gooki suggested that this is "unbranded" - but says that it works OK for them.

atreides93: Is there a specific Media Code that I can see (with say DvdInfoPro ) that will absolutely tell me that the disc I got is Grade A and its original and not a fake ??
Or is there anything that I can look for and confirm this ??


Thanks

[max2k]

OK - I've ordered the Ritek G04s thru rima ... should be getting it this week.

I'll post more details when I get the discs ( like Media code and was it "branded" or not ...)

Thanks

[LB]

Has G04's for .67$ each. :D

[atreides93]

I would not trust G04's from meritline if they're only 67 cents each...

Remember, there are some Ritek's out there that are of inferior quality..mostly the ones that are sold under different brand names.

[max2k]

Good -- I got the discs from rima - door to door in 5 days :)

Here is the media code for this


** INFO : Hex Dump Of 'Media Code'-Block Listed Below
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Preceding 'Media Code'-Block Discarded
** INFO : Format 0Eh - Pre-Recorded Information In Lead-In
0000 : 01 40 c1 fd 9e d8 52 00 02 76 0e 14 88 9a 80 00 .@....R..v......
0010 : 03 52 49 54 45 4b 47 00 04 30 34 00 00 00 00 00 .RITEKG..04.....
0020 : 05 88 80 00 00 00 01 00 06 08 12 11 86 67 80 00 .............g..
0030 : 07 88 80 00 00 00 00 00 08 05 1b 0e 10 08 09 00 ................


Its actually RiData branded - even though the top is blank/matte.
The inner ring (the transparent portion at the center) has a RiData logo -- maybe I'll post a pic later today.

Gotta burn and see :)

[OvERaCiD23]

newegg.com

Excellent seller and very good prices (can usually get 50 for $47 shipped). Matte top finish, Ridata brand, never a bad disc.

[geffroman]

Did you guys see that PioData has their new 8X media on blow out prices to get the ball rolling for the next couple days only...?

There is a link on our site direct to our supplier if you wanna check it out...

[jptheripper]

i order from supermediastore.com. Matte finish g04's are around 763-0 cents each now. 1 coaster out of 400.

Piodata blowing out prices b/c their dvdr blow, imo.

[geffroman]

whats wrong with the PIO data discs...? Them seem pretty popular...

We quit using Ritek awhile ago for BeAll/Samsung... Like them much better cause we just never get coasters... It isn't dark purple so it looks like a real DVD to our clients (we use them for back-ups of operating systems)... and they have no ring so full coverage labels can be used... Plus they are no more and sometimes cheaper than Ritek and our supplier gives us 60 money back guarantee.

[wmansir]

I've heard good things about BeAll (but that may have been from you geffroman :)), but I've been sticking with Ritek because I know they work well with my burner and standalone. I just ordered another 50pk from Newegg for $40 w/ free shipping. I could have saved 9¢ a disc if I had ordered 100 from Meritline/Supermediastore, but 50 lasts me 2-3 months and the way prices have been falling I don't want to stockup too much.

[windtrader]

Its actually RiData branded - even though the top is blank/matte. The inner ring (the transparent portion at the center) has a RiData logo -- maybe I'll post a pic later today.

The true Ridata branded discs have Ridata logo covering the disc, not the ring. I scanned a copy of one of my branded discs but not sure how to post here. Is there a way to attach the jpeg?

don

[atreides93]

Yes when you post a message, near the bottom is a button "Attach file"...just attach the jpeg.
A mod must approve the file though.