mentioned here about 6 - 7 months ago problems with Ritek were cropping up a lot (after years of being the best to use) ..
After so many people here recommending Ritek I bought two 100 packs of the Ritek Ridatas that were on sale at Meritline and got about 30% media failure errors in DVDA2. I went back to the el cheapo Prodisc and get about 1% errors now (but usually can burn even that 1% if I choose a slower speed).
Randy

Like I said in the other thread, maybe it's time to offer the JVC D-VHS tapes as certified backup.

JJK

some Verbatim are real crap (made by CMC awhile ago - no longer) and some are real good (made by MCC and TAIYO YUDEN)

saying Verbatim means nothing without saying which media codes ..

8X Verbatim DVD-R Datawrite Printable is made by Mitsubishi -- you can buy the same thing 50% cheaper by buying Prodisc printable 8x dvd-r - media code MCC 02RG20 for both

Another good brand of discs is Verbatim, we burn through millions of them every year and have yet to have any problems with them. They have a great printable surface as well, they hold up black better than any disc I have ever seen. With most other discs the blacks tend to turn out to be a washed out dark brown but with the verbatim's it's a true black.
==========
Which Media ID? MCC 02RG20 ?

John

We're still using the white 4X Verbatims for the inkjet....8X for the thermals.


Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD-R:MCC 01RG20 ]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc Type : [DVD-R]
Manufacturer ID : [MCC 01RG20 ]
Disc Application Code : [Unrestricted Use : Consumer Purpose]
Recording Speeds : [1x - 2x - 4x]
Blank Disc Capacity : [2,298,496 Sectors = 4,489.3 MB = 4.38 GB]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[DVD Identifier - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The reason we use Verbatim is becasue Verbatim is licenced media and Prodisc is not.

Maybe I'm just missing something but how do you identify or specify a particular type BEFORE you buy it? I know there is software that reads for lack of a better word codes, but that's after the fact.

On a related question if you have an older 2X or 4X DVD burner do you need to upgrade the firmware to use 8X speed media? I was in a retail store the other day and reading the fine print on the label (8X media) is pretty much had a disclaimer saying the media may or may not work if you didn't.

If so is that true for all burners or only some makes?

licenced media? both are types are the same thing -- who told you one was "licenced media" and one was not? Because it is not true ..

BillyBoy - better bulk media agents will have the media code on the website - as well as some also listing the grades ...

> On a related question if you have an older 2X or 4X DVD burner do you need to upgrade the firmware to use 8X speed media?

Sometimes not even that works. I have a Pioneer A05 which is rated at DVD-RW 2x. I just bought a spindle of Ridata DVD-RW 4x and the drive won’t even recognize them and I have installed the latest firmware! It’s pretty scary if companies are discontinuing older media because the new stuff just doesn’t work in older drives.

~jr

There was a thing a while back where Phillips was going after duplicators for not using media that was licenced by them. I know a lof of duplicators were sued and a some of them were shut down, we've always stuck with Verbatim to avoid anything like that. I know there were a bunch of articles about it but I don't remember exactly where they were from.
Here's where you can check to see if your media is licenced or not.

According to this web site, Prodisc is licensed.

If the media code is indeed the same as Verbatim, this would seem an easy choice at a fraction of the price.

B.J.

All I know is that I while back I used some Prodisc DVD-R's and I had nothing but problems with them. There were a LOT of compatability and burning issues. I have no idea what the media code was on them since I threw most of them away because of all the problems. At least for our company it's worth spending the extra 10 cents a disc to make sure we get something that will work and make our clients happy.

>>...Ritek printable DVDs...

I have been using these with no problems at all.

I buy in batches of 100 and burn at 2.4, max bit rate of 6K though.

No problems at all here.

MCC is covered - in as much as they (along wth Sony and all are the names on the lic) - they are also listed in the database


prodisk or Ty or verbatium are all covered ..

a lot of duplication places dont pay the ac3 , video , dts (now suspended) fees i suspect (adds up to about 1 cent per disk it seems) .. home users sure dont .. nor almost any corp users ..