DVD Media

[Canuck]

Can anybody give me some advice on blank dvd's?
I've recently bought a 4X dvd writer and was wondering if I need to buy 4X discs or can I use any disc?
Also, can anyone recommend a good brand to buy or a good place to buy them from?
Thanks in advance!

[SHS]

what DVD burner did you get ?.

[Mark Lamutt]

It really depends on the burner. Typically, if you want to burn at 4x speed, you'd need 4x discs. But, there are some burners out there (like the pioneer a105) that have firmware upgrades available that let you burn 4x speed with 2x or even 1x discs. From what I've read, the Ritek discs are the best to use in this case.

[mlar]

Ritek is my preferred choice. They make good quality cheap disks. I usually buy the Ritek G04 disks ($1.75 per disk at rima.com currently, 4X DVD-R). I've burnt about 300 Ritek DVD+RW disks, 100 Ritek DVD+R, 400 Ritek DVD-R 4x and 200 Ritek DVD-R (1x/2x) disks (I burn on average 3 disks per day), and I have only had a handful of coasters, most of them at the bottom of the spindle, or because I simply messed up (like trying to overburn them). The disks I've had the worst luck with was Optodisc DVD-R/-RW. Princo has worked fine for me, but it feels like they are of dubious quality (the picture tends to break up on my Toshiba standalone, but it works fine on my Sony standalone), and their are questions about their longterm stability. As far as Ritek goes, my oldest Ritek DVD+RW is 12 months old, and it is still working, but beyond that I can't really tell you how stable they are.

I've also used the occasional Verbatim, Fujifilm or similar pack when they had deals at Fry's, but I haven't noticed that they perform any better than the Ritek disks.

I should mention that my DVD burners are Sony DRU-500A and a RICOH 5120A (which now has been relegated to my SageTV box).

My suggestion would be to get a sample pack from someone. I know that Rima has sample packs where you get a bunch of different brands.. Try them out and see what works for you.

[Canuck]

My burner is the teac dv-w50e which is apparently the same at the pioneer, just a different name.
Do you know if this burner supports 4X burning on 1 or 2X discs?
Is it really true that discs can deteriorate after some time?
I always thought that was a ploy to get people to buy the expensive ones...

[Mark Lamutt]

Canuck, I have no idea.

[mlar]

It certainly is true for CD media, I have some 7-8 year old cheapo CD-R disks that are unplayable now. I also have some gold CD-Rs that are from the same period, and they work just like they were new. Having said that though, I don't think you need to get the MOST expensive ones... Just stay away from the bottom of the barrel.

[SHS]

This best place to look for now
http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdmedia

Some say this best around below funny thing is I never like Verbatim disk I had ton problem with them in the past with your CDR disk as for Ritek I can't buy them at a local store here so your guest is good as mine is no idea.
Ritek
Verbatim

Fujifilm (I use this so far no problem to report burn 10 all ready no coaster so far)
Memorex (I was using this but there to high cost so I end up going to Fujifilm)

4x DVD are hard come by keep when buying your disk make sure you get -R disk not the +R Disk

DO NOT BUY THIS ONE
KHypermedia

[Canuck]

Thanks for all the replies and the advice!
I think I'm going to try to get a sample pack of different brands and different speeds and just try...
I'll let you know if there's any surprising results...

[Xleon]

I have the Sony DRU-500A and I can highly recommend it to anyone.

As for disks, I've been using DataSafe/DataWrite media and I've not had a single failure yet. They are +Rs which I find the most compatible for use in all my other drives and DVD players.

I'd stay clear of BulkPaq as I've had some problems with their -Rs as they often fail or are not very reliable when used elsewhere. A mate has also had problems with them in his burner.

Not tried any x4 media yet as they were expensive and I didn't mind waiting the extra time for a cheaper burn! The new Zero Defex Extreme Purple ones have got good reviews and they are quite inexpensive in that their x4 disks are the same price as other manufacturers x1 speed disks.