I have been sticking to Ritek G04...

Ditto! I'm of the opinion "if it ain't broke, why fix it?" I simply refuse to toss out perfectly good equipment just to buy the newest, latest, fanciest, etc. When it begins to impact my business and/or pocketbook, then I will.
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Jay,

What will you do when they are no longer available? For example, I can no longer find Ridata branded PLAIN DVD-R in G04 media. Only white topped for printing.

John

Sorry, I edited my reply above while you were posting.

But when they are ALL gone--none to be found--then I will have no choice, will I?

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt if we made our thoughts known to them. I've contacted RITEK before and received a reply from a product manager. Couldn't hurt.

So why not buy as many as you can afford now? That's what we're doing. Hopefully, by the time they're all gone, they will have resolved the compatability issues (but I ain't holding my breath).
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That is what I have been doing. I am just trying to see if anyone has found an 8X DVD-R media that is as good yet. Eventually we are all going to have to face this problem. From a marketing standpoint "faster is better" because consumers don't know any better. It's like Camera CCD's. Add useless features and shrink the CCD size.
I have to laugh at the reports on the Dual Layer media everyone is so hell bent on using. Overpriced and unreliable. For now I'll stick with using TWO DVD-R's.

John

John, I right there with you.

From a marketing standpoint "faster is better" because consumers don't know any better.

You hit the nail on the head. Granted, there may situations where the time saved translates into money, but frankly we're not at that level. Even if we were, I'd be sending those jobs out to a replication house.

I have to laugh at the reports on the Dual Layer media everyone is so hell bent on using.

Again, I am in total agreement with you. Newer does not always mean better (not until it is dependable and universally accepted, anyway).

I've also been a Ritek G04 user, but recently I needed some in a hurry, couldn't find Riteks and picked up some TDK 8x -R discs, and fifty discs later no rejections .....

picked up some TDK 8x -R discs, and fifty discs later no rejections .....
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Peter,
What is the Media ID code on them?

John

Question: Why do DVDs not have the stablity or compatiblity that CDs have had?

Question: Why do DVDs not have the stablity or compatiblity that CDs have had?
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I don't know the difinitive answer, but what comes to mind are the different formats the DVD players have to play and the fact that in a given area much more data is compressed. That is why a scratch on a DVD has a much more negative effect than on a CD.

John

I had horrible nightmares the time I had to buy what was available; those were a 100-pack spindle of TDK DVDs. I got so many returns, and so many I threw out, because of burn failures.

I get my discs at www.shop4tech.com. I've been using Ritek G04. I don't want to lose those, either. I ordered a 50 pack of Riteks a few months ago, however a check of their site a fwe minutes ago and I couldn't find the ones I ordered. Not good

I tried the Ritek 8X G05's last year for a project. I burned 75 of them with Pioneer 07 driver and had no rejects. Maybe I was lucky.

My question is how long they will last? I'm looking for DVD's for archiving some projects and have not determined which are best for that purpose.

Ritek/Ridata G04 4X Printables from Meritline. Have burned maybe 100 with no compatibility issues; I may just order up another 200 to have on hand.

I've stuck with Ritek G-08 for the past few years, and have been very happy with them. Out of maybe 400 disks burned, not a single nonplayability issue due to the brand or -R format. (I've had a dozen or so issues with some DVD players refusing to play a disk with a label on it, but those players refuse to play ANY burned disk, +R or -R, with a label.)

Of the dozen or so cakeboxes I've purchased of the Riteks, one box had one disk at the very top that had obvious scratches in the outer circumference. All the rest have looked pristine.

I burn only at 8x with a Pioneer unit and Nero. As for media longevity, this has been discussed many times here and elsewhere. Supposedly the Ritek brand uses a uniquely-long-lasting dye that will outlive us all.

Oh, my most recent project was making a 15-minute DVD short of a choral group's tour to Boston and subsequent singing of the National Anthem at Fenway Park (home to the Boston Red Sox baseball team and some of the most loyal fans I've ever seen). The audio was recorded in 4-channel surround, and the resulting disks were a big hit. I used Ritek G04 miniDVD blanks, purchased for about $.60 each from www.meritline.com. The surround audio makes for a very real "you are there" sensation.

John - it's not easy to read, but with a magnifying glass I think it says:

MAHS 12 JE 09184209 02

I live in Canada and I get Taiyo Yuden DVDs. They are supposedly the best. Other manufacturers are catching on and they're making fake dics with Taiyo Yuden codes.

John - it's not easy to read, but with a magnifying glass I think it says:

MAHS 12 JE 09184209 02
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Sorry Peter. Perhaps I should have explained.

You need to use a software utility like DVDIdentifier. It is easy to use but usage is described here.

The utilities are necessary because you cannot ascertain the manufacturer by the brand name. Outsourcing is a fact of life in industries today. There can be six or more different manufacturers for a given "brand".

John

I've stuck with Ritek G-08 for the past few years, and have been very happy with them.
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Riredale,
Are you sure that ID is correct? I have never heard of Ritek G-08. Ritek G01, G03, G04, G05, D01, and M02, R02, R03 or R04, and F1, but what is G08?

John

Had to go over to TY 8x, still burn at 4x though. Replicator said this is about the best of the bunch, agreed with me that writing at less than 4x will produce more errors, same goes for CDs, 20x is the optimum burn speed for modern media.

Anyone using DVDs for archiving is fooling themselves, I can take some comfort in the fact that they're one thing I'm likely to outlive. Realistically stored in a dark dry place they'll last 10 years, normal storage 5 years and that's for the very best ones that I'm paying $3.oo each for in bulk. The cheapest junk DVDs we're having fail within 12 months.

CDs can be made to last much longer by using gold and more stable dyes. The same chemistry will only work if we'd accept DVD-Rs that'd only burn at 1x and could only be read in PC type DVD players, forget playing them in a STB.
Bob.

Craftech:

You're right. I meant to say G-05. They burn at 8X. That was stupid of me.

As for longevity, this link mentions that dye-based disks (not aluminum pressed disks) should last a very long time. I quote: "...Among the manufacturers that have done testing, there is consensus that, under recommended storage conditions, CD-R, DVD-R, and DVD+R discs should have a life expectancy of 100 to 200 years or more..."

I do know from personal experience that sunlight can render a DVD-R disk unreadable after about one week (with the dye side facing up towards the sun). If you put a disk out in the sun (again, dye side up) and partially cover it, you can see the "bleaching" effect after just a few days.

EDIT: Found another article, this time one that is less marketing and more research. They project 100 years for a disk stored away from light and in a stable temperature and humidity environment.

I personally like Taiyo-Yuden and had poor experience with Ritek G04 and G05 media, but I appear to be unusual in this respect. Here are the error rates I measured from my own DVD-R archives.

As far as longevity, Mitsui America (MAM-A) claims their new "Archive Gold" DVD-R is significantly better than DVD media with a silver reflective layer, and they have a poorly-labelled graph to suggest this, however they say that testing is ongoing and more info will be available later.

Well, I am using DVD Burner LG (model SGA-4167B super multi) and DVD - R Imation and I haven't any troubles at moment to burn the a project dvd from DVD Architect or Nero.

Here in Peru DVD Burners LG is one a dvd burners must sells, Pioner, Samsung and no many and Iomega aren't many sells

And more DVD-R sells here are: Imation and Princo.

Juan

Fuji hub printables. We buy them in bulk, have used them for several years and have had only three failures.

Jack

Have been using DVD+R 8x of Fuji (made by TY) which are great and no problems at all - unfortunately just seen a new advertisement from my shop that mention the mediacode for that Fuji 8x DVD+R has changed into RITEKR03.....

Rudi