Dropped by my local Microcenter to see if any media weas on sale. Well the Windata (it's not inkjet printable) 8x +R DL was on sale for $12.99 per 20 pack so I grabbed one thinking it might be Ritek rejects but it turned out to be RICOHJPND01 instead. An 8x burn was awful for the first 2 discs in my Samsung burner. 2nd layer was really bad for the first disc & the second disc was bad for half of the first layer plus all of the 2nd layer. Yep, instant coasters so I switched to 4x & tried 2 other discs. Guess what? Better test results!! 2 discs in a row had low PI's in the 20's for the first layer with PI's in the 90's for the 2nd layer. PIF's were 2 to 3 for the first layer with 4 to 6 for the 2nd layer & final scores in the mid 80's. One of those discs played perfectly in my Magnavox DVD recorder too. I'm not buying any more of these though as they are not inkjet printable.
Ridata 2.4x +R DL $27.99 per 25 pack white inkjet hub printable. I got some nice test results with this too in my burner after testing the first 2 discs. The only problem is they take a long time (around 40 minutes) to burn. The local Microcenter has 3 of these left on the shelf so I may take them then go back to Verbatim for DL's after they are all burned. Of course I'm not trusting either spindle of discs I bought today without testing each one for errors after it's burned (someting I never have to do for Verbatim DL's) before I decide to keep or toss the disc.
They also have 6 Ritek inkjet printable 4x +R Dl's for $32.99 per 25 pack. I'll grab one for testing to see how they do at 4 & 2.4x.
Questions: Anybody else get decent test results with the Windata DL discs or either of the Ridata DL discs? I just wondered. What about the Phillps DL's?. Not ready to dump Verb DL's (other than the expensive price) but these others are a lot cheaper.
I was in Microcenter last week, and a 10-pack of Verbatim DVD+R DL was only $13. Hardly expensive. Still cheaper than quality blank VHS tapes ever were.
Results are always mixed. That's how things go with low-grade media. It's never "bad" as much as it's just mixed results. Mostly bad, however. The random/chaotic combination of burner model, burn speed, firmware, those exact discs in yours hands, dust particles and moisture in the air, and the amount of data burned, all contribute to your experience. The problem is these variables always shift by tiny amounts. Low-grade media can spiral out of control into failed burned with the small change, while good media is far more stable under conditional changes.
8X DVD+R DL media manufactured by Ritek (including the Ricoh brand) use the inverse stack method of manufacturing developed by Ricoh. DL discs rated at slower speeds use the "2P" or photo polymer method of manufacturing in which a temporary photo polymer stamper is used to make impressions on one layer, is cured by UV light, is peeled off, and is then thrown away. IS is less expensive, less wasteful, and faster than 2P; and the resulting quality is superior to 2P production in terms of uniformity and freedom from contaminants.
There is a price to pay, however. A majority of DL drives--mostly models rated at 4X or slower--cannot record DL discs produced by inverse stack because, in simple terms, one layer appears upside down. Your Samsung drive appears to have better results with these IS discs at the slower speed, and that is not typical. There has been increasing pressure from retailers on manufacturers to reduce the cost of DL discs, and IS production is the answer Ritek and Ricoh have provided.
Originally posted by varnull: wow .. thanks Joe .. learned something very interesting there.
So did I. Btw, it must be something with that stack of Windata DVD +R's as I've tried the Ritek 4x & 8x and they both burned (as well as played back fine) at full rated speed on my Samsung burner which does have the latest firmware. Maybe they didn't pass Ritek's quality control?
Originally posted by lordsmurf: WinData is infamous for long having used low-graded stuff, even fake media IDs, so that would be logical and possible.
That brand should be avoided at all costs.
I agree on the low grade answer you gave howwever it is useable & I haven't had any Windata single layer discs go unreadable on me yet although I don't buy them anymore. The one pack of Windats +R DL's is the only one I will ever buy. It was only bought to check out the media. Whatever I burned to it was also burned to Verbatim +R DL's as well so if the Windata DL ever goes bad I have the Verb DL to fall back on for the data on those cheap discs. The Windata's were not used for movie backups.
