What DVD Media works best?

[jdiner]

Ok. A quick question. As my work towards a nice all-in-1 solution for extraction and commercial cutting continues I need to know a few things. Much of the coming work will deal with DVD burning as that is where myself and so many others want to go with all of this.

So on the question of a DVD burner I have decided for myself on the A04/104 model from Pioneer. Seems to be the best and burns at 2x according to their data sheets and that is a nice thing.

In checking out my Apex AD-600a player online it is compatiable after a firmware upgrade/drive replacement. Which is sweet.

But then there is the question of media. I searched the forums here and found a comment on media at supermediastore.com having DVD disks for $.75 a piece. They do indeed. Which is a great price. But I have also recently read online that some media actually works better than others in some players... Which I find strange, seems like it would work or it would not rather than be "better".

So the question I have is has anyone had much experience with the media? I plan to order 1 to 2 hundred disks when I do so that I have plenty to test with and don't sweat coasters as I try various burning options... But I would like to spend my time on the software side of things rather than figuring out that the disks I bought are just plain crap.

So... Any comments? Etc...

--jdiner

[Ellipse]

Ok, are you watching my system or what!?!?!

I just ordered the same drive (good choice from what I am told) and was looking at the media myself. Only problem is that they are OUT of that type and you can only get the .96 media from them. Go figure. I will let you know how things go....

[laserfan]

I have an A03/DVR-103/whatever (got the white box OEM version) and it's burned everything. I first bought a 25-pack of DVD-RWs, then a 10-pack "sampler" of DVD-Rs (2 each of 5 different types) and the only problem I had was with one of the DVD-Rs and I think it was because my burning software (Nero) had a problem w/free disk space or something--not sure but I'm not blaming the media. I have a variety of DVD players here, and in the end I can state w/authority "if your player doesn't play DVD-whatever than it ain't gonna" i.e. either your player is going to play DVD-Rs or it isn't, the media hasn't been the problem for me.

I'd do it the same way if I was to do it over again; spend some money on DVD-RWs until you achieve a comfort level w/the process. Next I am going to buy a 100-pack of the cheapest "white" DVD-Rs (now down to .89 at meritline?) cuz I like having a white surface to write on. YMMV.

[rd001]

I have bought over 200 of the DvdPro (also called ProDvd) media from Supermediastore.com. It works fine in the Apex AD-1500 and AD-1100 players I've tested (both around $80 at Walmart, less at other places). They also play in the Apex 703 but there have been a few tiny problems with the 703 but I haven't yet proven that the problem is with the media. I think it's with using a DVD-RAM burner. All the discs I've made with my A04 have worked in the 703. I finally got one AC3 6-channel disc (Swordfish) with good A/V sync and the 703 played it in surround sound. Awesome.

All of the TyDVD's I've made with my A04 work in all three players without a hitch.

Of course, this cheap media is only 1x media. The 2x stuff costs a lot more.

jdiner, if you buy the cheap white-label DvdPro media in the 90-pack spindle and it doesn't satisfy you, I'll buy it from you. So you don't have to be worried about getting stuck with a bunch of media. You should try out the cheaper media anyway since that's what everyone around here is making TyDVDs with.

At the bottom of the Supermediastore page, they have some sampler packs of different media for around $20.

[captain_video]

You can't go wrong with any of the name brand media like Pioneer or TDK or whatever. I've had very good results with the Princo DVD-RWs. I also bought a 50-disc spindle of no-name DVD-Rs and they've worked out fine (no coasters so far). I had some of the earliest DVD-RW discs that totally sucked (again, no-name brand). If you can get some sampler packs like some of the other posters have suggested or just buy a few discs of various brands just to try them out, that would be the way to go. I know there are a lot of A-04 owners out there so it might be worthwhile starting a poll thread asking what types of media work best with different players (I have a A-03 myself). As for compatible DVD players, the Apex units will play just about anything on the planet. They certainly give you the most bang for the buck. I just wish they weren't so cheaply made. I recently bought a new Sony DVP-NS715P progressive scan player ($199.00 list) and it plays my DVD-RWs just fine. I think you'll find most, if not all, of the current DVD players being introduced will be compatible with DVD-Rs and DVD-RWs.

[scarabus]

I bought a spool of 90 PRINCO DVD-RWs from SuperMediaStore.com and have had great success with them. They cost me about $1.15 each plus CA sales tax, with free shipping. Very few problems so far.

EDIT The PRINCOs have plain white surfaces. You can only tell it's a PRINCO cos it has the name printed on the writable side near the serial number. /EDIT

Sometimes my APEX AD1500 doesn't recognise the disk, but opening and closing the tray fixes that.

I don't really see any point in buying cheap DVD-Rs. They record at the same 1X rate as DVD-RWs and have a higher failure percentage than DVD-RWs. Plus if you make a mistake, that's it - coaster time. These days I only ever use name brand 2X DVD-Rs, and then only when I need compatibility for someone else's system.

If you want name brand DVD-Rs, SuperMediaStore.com had 2X certified TDKs for $270 per 100 plus $20 off if you used the code "dealmac".

See this detailed analysis of recordable DVD compatibility.

[Perplexer]

Some players are extremely picky about DVD-R media. A buddy has a PS2 which scoffs at everything except Apple or Pioneer DVD-R media (which are usually $5/ea).

So if you're looking for max. compatibility and are less concerned about cost, go for Apple or Pioneer. If it's cheap and it works for you, then all the better!

[Riot]

I think it mostly depends on the standalone player that you are using (or want to use). Some of the cheap media will have trouble even reading back in the DVD drive of your computer, but so far I have not had that experience myself - just read about it.

On the standalone player side, the media does seem to make quite a difference. I've been doing VCDs and SVCDs for quite a while, and have had no problems with my trusty Pioneer 333. When I moved the DVD however (using the Pioneer 104 burner), I found out the Pioneer 333 has the 2/3 *feature* when playing 480x480 TyStreams. According to the specs I've read, the issue is that some players are reading a portion of the SDE header, which defines horizontal and vertical resolution. For display purposes, the information can be ignored, according the the MPEG2 spec, but some players do indeed read this information, which results in the 2/3 issue. So I sought out to find a player that didn't have this *feature*, but instead ignored the SDE header, and settled on the Pioneer 444.

While testing out various DVD-R media, I found the Pioneer 333 would play just about anything. It didn't reject or skip on any of the media I tested. A friend has a Sharp DV-600, and while it would load all the media I tried, it did skip on the cheaper DVDPro media, but was happy with both the Verbatim and Apple DVD-R.

So I started testing the Pioneer 444, and found that it was much more sensitive to the media than the Pioneer 333 - a reasonable tradeoff I guess. I burned the vcdhelp NTSC test DVD onto all my media types. Cheap DVDPro $1.25 sometimes would not even load, and when they did, they would skip or produce artifacting during the video sequences. The Verbatim $4 was fine on the test DVD, but skipped noticeably on another custom DVD I had created. The Apple $5 had no problems with the test DVD, and also no problems on any of the custom DVDs I created. Then I heard that the Princo $1.40 are more reliable than the DVDPro's, so I orderd a set of 10 to test them out. Just got them today. Tried the test DVD, and it played fine. That is probably what I will stick with unless I'm burning something I want to share with others. In that case, I would go for the Apple media.

I would definitely *not* recommend buying bulk quantities of any type of media until you've had a chance to test a few thoroughly on your particular standalone player. Granted, the more expensive media will probably work on any player, so take that into account if you plan to let your friends borrow your DVD-Rs. Otherwise, if you just plan to play on your system, look for the cheapest media that will work reliably in your player.

[tdavis80]

I bought some white DVD-R (bulk) as well as some DVD-RW.

My Sony PS2 likes both
My older Sony set-top player likes both.
My (GE 3 tray) 5803 likes both
Cheap Walmart Orion player likes DVD-RW
A buddies RCA sort likes both but prefers DVD-RW (can play through DVD-R but has problems finding chapters)

Some people at work have problems with DVD-R but aok with DVD-RW.

Obviously there is a difference between the two.

FYI: My Sony set-top box likes CD-RW but not CD-R.

My burner is A04 and burns the bulk DVD-R at 1x speed. The bar code must have the speed encoded somewhere.

PS: tytool is getting a good workout :-) Can't wait for Band Of Brothers to rebroadcast.

Hope this helps.

[jdiner]

Thanks for all the suggestions. The sampler pack seems like the way to go. I had missed it completely when I checked the web site.

And if the DVD-RW's are that close in price at the same speed they do sound like a great alternative. No coasters as you just wipe and try again.

--jdiner

[rd001]

If you're going to try the Supermedia store products, notice that some of it is the so-called "silver" media. This is the kind that has produced the most compatibility problems for me. And it is generally the cheapest stuff around. I think that what Supermediastore currently calls Supermedia brand media is actually this same "silver" media. The silver discs don't like a 703 player which is about the same vintage of design as an AD-600 player.

The white-surfaced DvdPro (white covering on top all the way to the inner hole) is far more compatible with the cheap Apex players I've tested. If you get a sampler pack, you'll probably see the "silver" ones in a case that has a sticker that says "ML-DVDRSILVER". These discs are silver on top and on bottom and have the transparent central ring like a regular audio CD.

Just wanted to be clear about Supermedia's two cheap brands.

[cory]

i have used about 250 of the dvdsilver ones and
have only had trouble in a couple of players. and those
dont support dvd-r at all.
have had 3 players not work. 2 said in the manual they
did not support dvd-r. the other one was
a 14" flat panel tv with a built in dvd player that was
installed in a kitchen. i have used them in some of the
hand held portable players as well.
i have a rca player that does not like to fast forward at 6x.
all other speeds are fine so i know it must be a player problem
not a disk one.

other than that they have been great. and i just got
another 180 pack that cost me $.80 each.

in all i have gotten one coaster. and that was because of
a computer problem.

[Hoochster]

I dunno if they are the best cuz I am getting started in this too for both Xbox and Tivo. But www.yesbuy.net has the Primo RW's for $93/100 with free shipping! They have other brands too but just putting my 2 cents in. I appreciate all your work JDLINER and all those that have helped!

Hoochster

[jdiner]

Originally posted by scarabus
I bought a spool of 90 PRINCO DVD-RWs from SuperMediaStore.com and have had great success with them. They cost me about $1.15 each plus CA sales tax, with free shipping. Very few problems so far.

Darn. Doesn't look like they sell those anymore. Any other good sources for DVD-RW media?

--jdiner

[Hoochster]

It was pointed out to me that I fat fingered the brand name above. It is Princo DVD-RW's there too. I personally don't know they are good but have been recommended to get them for compatibility with Xbox and a lot of DVD Players. So I ordered some myself. The price is right for the purpose. So hoping they are worth it myself.

Hoochster