Blank DVD-R Media

[toby3]

Hi folks and Happy Easter! Just doing a little check on what "if any" difference there is between Verbatim Data Life Plus, or Verbatim 16x branded discs. Just want to use the most reliable & most durable discs for backing up movies. Have used Taio Yuden before and verbatim. Have had absolutely NO problems with Verbatim. Used to use Fuji, but now that Ritek makes them trying to stay away from them. :rock:

 

[DrinkLyeAndDie]

Hi folks and Happy Easter! Just doing a little check on what "if any" difference there is between Verbatim Data Life Plus, or Verbatim 16x branded discs. Just want to use the most reliable & most durable discs for backing up movies. Have used Taio Yuden before and verbatim. Have had absolutely NO problems with Verbatim. Used to use Fuji, but now that Ritek makes them trying to stay away from them. :rock:

Personally, I have no experience with DVD-R media. I only use DVD+R media. That said, Verbatim Date Life Plus work very nicely but I haven't used them in awhile. I used the ones with the Inkjet printable surface. They were more pricey. Now I just use the DVD+R 16x discs. The Singapore manufactured discs are the best, then Taiwan and then India in order of which is considered better. I've pretty much always used the Taiwan Verbatims and had no issues. I got some India made Verbatims recently and can't say anything negative about them as of yet.

If it is legitimate Verbatim media then I'd say the quality is solid regardless of which type of Verbatim discs. Others might have their own thoughts on this topic and there are many others who know far far more than I do about blank media.

 

[toby3]

Legitimate

Say I order from Meritline of Supermedia Store, how do I know it is legitimate Verbatim Media?

 

[oldjoe]

Both of those outlets are reliable so you shouldn't have any problems. If there is a problem , both sites have a liberal return policy.
I get my Verbatims from Newegg or from Office Max/Best Buy when they are on special....which is quite often.

 

[DrinkLyeAndDie]

Both of those outlets are reliable so you shouldn't have any problems. If there is a problem , both sites have a liberal return policy.
I get my Verbatims from Newegg or from Office Max/Best Buy when they are on special....which is quite often.

Just remember that although they are okay I don't think Best Buy sells Verbatims that are made anywhere other than India.

 

[oldjoe]

Just remember that although they are okay I don't think Best Buy sells Verbatims that are made anywhere other than India.

The last ones I purchased at my area's BB were not made in India but I assume that will differ by locale. Best to look before you purchase.

 

[DrinkLyeAndDie]

The last ones I purchased at my area's BB were not made in India but I assume that will differ by locale. Best to look before you purchase.

Lucky you. You're probably right.

 

[Ironpeddler]

Best Buy Verbatims

Just remember that although they are okay I don't think Best Buy sells Verbatims that are made anywhere other than India.

I bought the Verbatim blanks since I read you guys recommended them...Best Buy, 50 count, DVD-R & DVD+R for $12.99 on sale....all they had was a stack of each so I bought both.....they work fine so far. Didn't check the +Rs (threw away the wrapper) but the -R were made in Taiwan.

On another note, my son bought a 100 count TDK DVD+R stack from Costco (you guys hammered that version) last summer so he could bring some movies with him to college and I just finished them up this week....not one coaster and all burned just fine. All the backup copies look good on his 32" LCD and our 42' plasma TV to us. What was it that makes you guys not like them?...longevity?...resolution?....just curious.

 

[Webslinger]

What was it that makes you guys

Mostly myself and others that were aware of the problem

not like them?...longevity?...resolution?....just curious.

They are made by Ritek and a lot that was dumped on Costco was B-grade stuff (several spindles that people purchased could not be burned properly on any--and I mean any burner). I can burn a spindle of Memorex without issue as well, but that doesn't mean that media will still be playable in 2 years either.

 

[Ironpeddler]

Mostly myself and others that were aware of the problem.....

but that doesn't mean that media will still be playable in 2 years either.

WS...thanks for the quick reply......you mean there is a chance they will not work sometime down the road?....2 years? Holy crap. These things degrade that much, that quickly over time? I thought I had 10+ years before I had to worry about this. What is the quality issue?....the coating on the disc?....the manufacturing process?....the cloned original?

I must confess, then I started backing up my originals and started transferring my old home movies to DVD from VHS (when it was hard to find blank DVDs locally) I used to buy CompUSA blanks when they would run them on sale. I was naive enough to think a DVD was a DVD. Now I'm freaking out and I have to start taking those home movies and transfer them to better quality discs.

Geez, I guess it's buyer beware for sure.

I guess I do have to pay much closer attention to quality. Thanks again for the great advice.

 

[Webslinger]

you mean there is a chance they will not work sometime down the road?

All blank media degrades over time. So yes

2 years?

I've seen some junk fail in 6 months. I would hope most discs would last at least 5 years, but I strongly suspect that's not the case.

These things degrade that much, that quickly over time?

It's a possibility. Some may last longer.

I thought I had 10+ years

I think not. Archival grade stuff might (Verbatim Ultralife Gold Archival Grade)

What is the quality issue?

Organic dye does degrade over time, and burn quality, in turn, will also decrease over time (also heat, humidity, U.V., etc. can help to shorten a blank's lifespan).

Now I'm freaking out and I have to start taking those home movies and transfer them to better quality discs.

If you want something to really last, then archival grade media would be a better choice.

"Look to Verbatim UltraLife Gold Archival Grade DVD-R media to preserve your family photos and home movies as well as critical corporate data. Each disc is manufactured using proprietary unique dual reflective layers to maximize both compatibility and longevity. To further extend media lifetime, Verbatim UltraLife DVDs contain a hard coating on the recording side to protect the discs from scratches.The gold reflective layer, naturally resistant to corrosion, prevents oxygen from coming through the DVD bonding material and corroding the silver reflective layer. Silver oxidation can be a primary factor which limits the lifetime of DVD media."


The problem is I find gold tends to have a lower reflectivity than silver. But maybe verbatim's "dual reflective layers" addresses that issue (I'm not sure). Traditionally, discs with gold reflective layers may not play on as many different dvd players as a disc with a silver reflective layer.

 

[oldjoe]

I have some Ritek that weren't watchable after 3 to 4 months. I have Verbatims that are over 5 yrs. old and still playback perfectly.

 

[Ironpeddler]

All blank media degrades over time. So yes




WS....where do the Original Studio Made movies we purchase fit into this time frame of degradation? I mean, I have VHS that still play after 20 years for God's sake (crappy, but watchable).

Is this the Music Industry all over again...first Vinyl, then 8-track, then cassette, then CD, now digital media....then ????

Are the BD made any better than a conventional DVD? I'm sorry for all the questions, but this whole thing caught me by surprise. Like you said, all these degrade over time and I know that, but I didn't think it was so short a period.

Ojoe...when you said those discs weren't watchable....what did they do...not load?....just pixelate like crazy?....skip? Do they take a dump at one time or is there a slow process at work here like in magnetic tape.

Thanks guys for your patience.

 

[Webslinger]

WS....where do the Original Studio Made movies we purchase fit

Well, click http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=11981 (lots of dvds are poorly made now)

However, if you buy one that's not defective out of the wrapper, then I feel they will last longer than discs you burned (discs with organic dye), especially in environments with lots of U.V. exposure.

Are the BD made any better than a conventional DVD?

click http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/blu-ray-disc-coatings-starting-to-rot/



I would say no.

Also the data layer is very close to the surface with Blu-ray.

I'm sorry for all the questions, but this whole thing caught me by surprise. Like you said, all these degrade over time and I know that, but I didn't think it was so short a period.
Ojoe...when you said those discs weren't watchable....what did they do...not load?....just pixelate like crazy?....skip?

Any can happen

Do they take a dump at one time or is there a slow process at work here like in magnetic tape

Tends to be a gradual process

 

[oldjoe]

Ojoe...when you said those discs weren't watchable....what did they do...not load?....just pixelate like crazy?....skip? Do they take a dump at one time or is there a slow process at work here like in magnetic tape.

Pixelation and freezing have been my experience w/cheap media. I can't say with any certainty how fast the process took place.

 

[Ironpeddler]

Thanks

WS...thank you so much for taking the time to answer me and putting up those links to help educate me....you're totally selfless and a true friend to us all.

I have referred to your 'Bad Disc' post a few times...we have had 4 movies we bought on there so far (I search!) and have returned them. I learned to use the Nero thing there to check them now ( I never knew what that was for in the Nero Toolkit).....thanks for that too.

Funny thing about this whole issue is that other than looking for scratches that my wife and kids create by mishandling the discs (which is my main reason for backing-up my collection..I was forced to!) I have never really looked for spots or discolorations in the reflective surface at all as a reason for not playing correctly..I really have learned something important here.

I have yet to buy any BD yet, the Playstation 3 seems to be unforgiving as it mechanically feeds them in with some of my son's games at times...plus, backing them up is no cheap process yet.

OJoe...thanks for chiming in as well, I now know what to look for in my older recordings...you're a great supporter to us rookies.

I guess the Engineer in me has me asking more questions than I ever could give back here....but I'll keep trying....thanks again.

 

[Webslinger]

Funny thing about this whole issue is that other than looking for scratches that my wife and kids create by mishandling the discs (which is my main reason for backing-up my collection..I was forced to!) I have never really looked for spots or discolorations in the reflective surface at all as a reason for not playing correctly..I really have learned something important here.

Quite often you cannot simply "eyeball" whether a disc is bad. Simply because a disc looks fine doesn't mean it is fine. Disc scans do help in that regard.

 

[Ironpeddler]

Quite often you cannot simply "eyeball" whether a disc is bad.

Will this do?...although breaking the spots down to their individual molecular components may be a bit of an overkill!...lol...but that's my arena.....thanks again.

 

[Webslinger]

lol

You're going to have to run disc scans. Either a disc can be read properly by drives or it can't.

Those spots in the blu-ray picture are likely due to moisture or oxidiation (the layers of the disc may have a slight gap). But that's not the norm for spotting a bad disc. You need to run disc scans.

When I buy a dvd, I typically scan it. If one doesn't scan properly on one drive, I try another. If it fails on two or three drives, the dvd goes back to the point of purchase.