What's The Best DVD-R and Where Do You Find It?

DougDVD wrote on 9/29/2002, 12:20 AM

I have been using Pioneer DVD-R media for my Pioneer A03 recorder, which are pricey. Anyone know where I can get them cheaper? Anyone know of an equivalent replacement that is cheaper and where to get them?

Comments

Luxo wrote on 9/29/2002, 1:43 AM

Apple is a reliable brand at $24.95 for a box of 5, and someone recently posted a link on this forum to a DV Magazine test that found Maxell to be the most reliable. Don't know the price though. If you want to stick with Pioneers, meritline.com has then for $6.99.

Luxo

DougDVD wrote on 9/29/2002, 11:21 AM

I checked out Meritline and was happily surprised to find they are cheaper than what I have been spending on them locally. It appears the Pioneer White Printable DVD-R's for $72.99 (10 pack) is the way to go for me. That averages $7.29 a piece. The other brand's prices are close enough that I might as well stick with the Pioneer brand I have had success with. So unless someone else knows where I can get these Pioneer discs cheaper, I might as well go for it.
Thanks for your help. You have saved me many $$$$.
Doug

DougDVD wrote on 9/29/2002, 12:09 PM

I found the DVD-R white at Tape Resources for only $4.98. Amazing! Hard to believe I was paying $20 a disc just a year or so ago. I don't think anyone will be able to top this price, but I'll keep checking back just in case.
Thanks for the help!
Doug

Luxo wrote on 9/29/2002, 4:39 PM

Are you actually printing on these discs? What price range do such printers run?

Luxo

vonhosen wrote on 9/29/2002, 5:43 PM

On a budget in the U.K. we have the Epson Stylus Photo 950 inkjet that can do the job. It's about £300 - £350 here.

http://www.epson.co.uk/product/printers/photo/styphoto950/index.htm

I believe the equivalent in the U.S. is the Stylus Photo 960.

WT wrote on 9/29/2002, 10:05 PM

Hard to beat $0.89/disc. (DVD-R)

www.cdrsolutions.com

Of course, I haven't bought any yet, but jeez, that's cheap as hell.

WT

DougDVD wrote on 9/29/2002, 10:22 PM

I'm not printing on them, although your basic CD label printing system would work. I guess I am getting the white label because the resemble the discs that I have always used from Pioneer. I can't tell if their "general use" discs are of the same quality. The general use DVD-R's are cheaper by about a $1 a disc, but can anyone guarantee they are the same quality as the Pioneer white label CDs?

stepfour wrote on 9/29/2002, 10:59 PM

I purchased some Pioneer DVD-R a few days ago from tapeandmedia.com for $3.69 each.
Order of 50 or more units are $3.49 per disc. The white, printable Pioneer DVD-R are $5.99 each. These prices do not include s/h but they have a wide choice of reasonably-priced shipping options.

psg wrote on 9/30/2002, 11:02 AM

I just purchased a sampler package of 12 DVD-R's from Meritline. There are two of six different types of DVD-R's from their product line. I thought it was a good way to test the various types of media to see which ones work well in a couple of DVD players I have. The price was right: $20 for 12 DVD-R's. So far I've only tried one, but it worked in all my DVD players including a 5 year old Sony player and a newer APEX player.

See : http://www.meritline.com/dvdrblankmedia.html

nolonemo wrote on 9/30/2002, 11:22 AM

I have read bad reports of generic "white label" DVDs, I think on vcdhelp.com. I would be wary unless I had tested some. I am also told that quality on generic disks will vary from batch to batch, so even a test may not tell the whole story.

DGates wrote on 9/30/2002, 12:44 PM

I've been burned by Meritline a few times. The batch I ordered was full of glitches once burned. They use various Taiwanese vendors, and the quality control is limited or non-existant.

I switched to Verbatim. Great quality disks. I first got them in a 15-count spindle from Best Buy for $59. In just a couple of months, the price has dropped to $41.99 ($2.79 a disc), and currently has a $6 mail-in rebate, $34.99 ($2.33). So now I'm giving out more DVD's, and I don't have to worry about the quality issues.

RBrandt wrote on 9/30/2002, 1:20 PM

Pioneer is not a disk manufacturer. Mitsui is the OEM for Pioneer and you can buy their disks direct from them (www.mitsuicdr.com) or Meritline, or others. I only use Mitsui disks and have never had one come back, even with high bitrate video and full disks.

fathamike wrote on 10/1/2002, 6:17 AM

I just bought some TDK DVD-R's at thenerds.net for $2.30. I've used many TDK disks and never had a problem with them. As opposed to Meritline, which only work "most of the time".