Bad blank DVD batch?

MarkCC777 wrote on 2/7/2004, 2:47 PM
Has anyone out there ever bought a bad batch of DVDs? When I went to burn a DVD using a blank DVD-R and DVD Architect said that there was some error, can't remember what is said exactly. Then I put in a blank DVD+R and it worked fine, except towards the end of burning it said there was some error. Again, I can't remember exactly what it said, but the DVD plays fine on my DVD player.

After close inspection of the DVD-R I found that there was a very thin line, kind of looks like something started to get burned there. Every single one of my 25 pack of DVD-R have this little line, and every one does not work. The DVDs are TDK DVD-R, up to 2.4x compatible.

Another interesting thing: My TDK indiDVD 8x burner came with some blank media. One was the exact same DVD-R that I had purchased a 25 pack of, and guess what...it also had that little line and would not work in my burner. The only DVD media I could get to work was the DVD+R and I did not see a little line on it. Just wondering if I am the only one who got a bad batch of DVDs.

Another question, probably a dumb one also, what is the difference between DVD- and DVD+? Which do you recommend?

Thanks,
Mark

Comments

farss wrote on 2/7/2004, 3:01 PM
I haven't had a whole batch but I've had five in a row off one spindle with grot in the plastic making them unuseable. Problem something fell into the pot of goop. I've had one bad one of the brand I now use that had a major chunk out of it, but that's out of a few hundred so far.

To answer your other question, nah, go look up DVD Forum and DVD Alliance and have a wander around DVDHelp.com. In a nutshell, at a technical level theres a lot of difference, at a practical level not much at all. I can burn both but inly use -R, it seems more compatible and it's a bit cheaper. +R was supposed to be more compatible but I've not seen any results that indicate anything other than the contrary.
One thing I have noticed, 4x +R is quicker to burn the 4x -R, the difference used to be huge but advances in -R technology has closed the gap dramatically.
MarkCC777 wrote on 2/7/2004, 3:26 PM
Thanks,
I tried again with the DVD-R. Basically what's happening is that in DVD Architect I go to "Make DVD" ---> "Burn" ---> choose my folder ---> "Next" --->then.... when I have one of those "bad" DVD-Rs in the drive my burner is not even seen (sometimes). Sometimes it is seen though, and then I choose the speed at 2x ---> "Finish" and get an error that says "Warning: An error has occured while writing a file. Error 0x8004e0c8. (message missing)"

I don't know. I guess I need to buy some more blank DVDs. Any suggestions on brand?

Mark
tadpole wrote on 2/7/2004, 3:41 PM
I have indeed run into a batch of BUNK dvds -

took me forever to figure it out it was the disc and not the complier/encoder ect.. I had purchased the "same" Part # of discs before, and they all worked fine.. so never expected the discs to be a problem.. but, at closer inspection, my most recent batch of the discs inner ring label appeared to be a different "Brand" of disc.. and there were like some "bubbles" around the inner (non-data) ring.

Looked like i got a batch of the "rejects"

I did order the cheap/bulk ones.. guess you get what you pay for.

Now i only use "highest quality" name brand discs (dvd-r) and have had
no problems since.

Also - just like to add.. although my burner supports 4x write, i only burn at 2x.. have had problems writing at 4x.. buffer errors.. figure that was cuz my files were on a external USB drive - which i don't think could support the x4 burn rate.. fyi

btw - i usually go with PN 702588 from americal.com
Looking at their site right now.. looks like they have a new line/brand of discs,, "Prodisc"... haven't tried these ones yet..

MarkCC777 wrote on 2/7/2004, 3:51 PM
Thanks for the responses. It good to know that I'm not the only one that this has happened to. And it makes me feel better knowing that bad DVDs seem to be the problem and not something more serious. Just wish I could find that receipt so that I could take them back. Unfortunately I think it's long gone.

Mark
riredale wrote on 2/7/2004, 7:53 PM
With premium DVDs selling for less than a buck these days (Ritek G04 on www.meritline.com), I've given up trying to find a "deal" on cheap DVDs.

In over 300 burns, I've never had a burn failure that could be remotely traced to the G04 media. Never.

Now that 8x blanks are coming on-line, I would expect the G04 blanks to drop much further in the near future.
GlennChan wrote on 2/7/2004, 8:35 PM
from http://www.dvdrhelp.com/forum/archive/t172496.html

Just like with everything else in the world, I ALWAYS get what I pay for. If I pay extra money for expensive DVD MEDIA then i'm surely going to get the best quality, right? This is the ABSOLUTE BIGGEST FALLACY regarding DVD MEDIA. I have seen many posts where people think that they are getting the best quality media simply because they spent a few extra dollars. This couldn't be more false. Yes, MANY times in the real world, you get what you pay for. You won't get filet mignon for the price of salsbury steak, and you won't get a Ferrari for the price of a Ford. In many cases you do get what you pay for. But in the world of DVD MEDIA, you absolutely can NOT associate price with quality.
--- (end quote) ---
Basically if you read all of it, it'll tell you that you want good media like the Ritek discs.

---
Just to name some of the highest quality disks I know the majority of people have had the most success with success with are as follows:
Ritek, (mainly G03 & G04), Ricoh, Lead Data/ Primarily sold under the name ACCU, DUPEZ, AND PIODATA. Prime disks - Manufacutred by Gigastorage. Samsung BeALL DVD-R (Not +R) Optodisks - The highest quality appears to be the Gold-Topped 4x disks from the majority of the people who have used them. This is a list of the most compatibile and highest quality inexpensive media which can in many cases be far superior in both quality AND compatibility to more expensive name brands. Which certainly is better for all of us. :)
farss wrote on 2/7/2004, 9:24 PM
Here in Australia I only use Prodisc and the stuff is excellent. Also you can pay for what you want quality wise. I've bought a spindle of audio master CDs and they cost more than some DVDs but they are gold and if I have a problem the chap who sells the stuff here has a reputation to protect so I know I'll be looked after. I don't mind paying a $1 more per DVD to not have to get to 80% and then find the media has c**p in it.

The only thing is I'm not certain if the Prodisc stuff being sold in the US is the same as the local product. You can have a look at what I'm talking about at:
www.prodisc.com.au
He also has a HiDef DVD player coming out soon, currently in beta test.