This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 24. July 2006 @ 20:44

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This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 24. July 2006 @ 22:57

@greensman

thank you for the abundance of confidence and the kind words, it really does mean a lot to me, you will not be sorry with the Benq 1650, i can help you in detail when you decide to pick one up~ :P bitsetting/booktyping is easily accomplished using QSuite for the Benq drives, it's a "set it, forget it" type of thing...easy to do when time comes...

but in the meantime, my good friend Mort81 has pretty much answered your questions exactly as i would have, he's actually the one who finally convinced me to go with dvd-rebuilder and CCE, along with the other encoders which i've only tried a few times~ :) the quality is unsurpassed when it comes to HIGHLY compressed movies onto a single layer DVD5, i've familiarized myself with procoder2 (as that's just my preference of encoders that i personally use) and CCE, all the various encoders have their pros and cons, it's about finding the one that suits YOUR needs the best (time wise) but the quality is excellent on ALL of them from my own limited usage of them.

mort81 is far more knowledgeable/experienced about dvd-rb and CCE than i ever will be, since i'm usually "pressed for time" i take the "quick way out" using clonedvd2 by slysoft; w/obvious video quality loss compared to dvd-rb and ur choice of encoders, but that's just something i have to deal with and compromise on due to my own lack of time~ :) the difference is definitely noticeable between clonedvd2 and dvd-rb+encoder, but dvd-rb is def. something to consider if you have the time..it's an excellent program and the various encoders (whichever u choose to go with) are very very good~ :)

as to your older TYs, i got some TYG01s still left to be burned, probably had them longer than you've had urs~ :) i'm confident you should have no issues with them, in my own experiences, for DVD-R media, the quality of the TYG01s is 2nd to none...even compared to that of it's faster TYG02 and TYG03 brothers, i really like them a lot personally~ :)

@tokijin

well, you always knew how i felt about digitalfaq's guide, their whole "ranking" system is obviously biased as to what THEY have used and "prefer"...it's decent as a GENERAL guideline, but the inaccuracies you have found are very much THERE, because i HAVE used those discs they have in both their "2nd class" media as well as their "3rd class" section~ :) but as with all things in media, it comes down to individual USER "preference" and compatibility with their particular hardware they are using, heck, u know me well enough that i would never PERSONALLY put TDK's own crap up there in the 1st tier and then the RitekD01s dual layers in the 3rd tier...once again, it's biased as to WHICH drives/burners they tested on and to how they came to their own conclusions, we all have varying degrees of success with x,y,z media; i've had nothing but success with RitekD01s, they obviously were testing w/ Benq drives to rank them in the 3rd class media section, my Sony (rebadged Liteon), Pioneer, and Nec drives have NO PROBLEMS with the "layer break" issues they mentioned, but my Benqs DO HAVE ISSUES w/ Ritek dual layers...it's a give and take~ :) also, firmware plays an equally important role in these media "rankings"...i don't know how many different updated firmwares they have used in their testing process, but often times, when a new firmware is introduced by whichever manufacturer of drive/burner, it USUALLY addresses write strategies or improves upon MID tables & compatibility with the various media out there in the market...it's a never ending process, firmwares will be introduced and improved upon as time goes on...

anyways, as to your main point of the question, Optodisc = CRAP as well as Infodisc too~ i would have easily without a 2nd thought thrown them into the "3rd class" media without hesitation...you are definitely correct there...once again, it boils down to the author(s) of digitalfaq having their own inherent "biases/preferences" on media, they have the right to their OPINION, as does everyone else...that's why i don't bash them anymore...i respect people's OPINION on things, it's the people who view digitalfaq as a website/reference guide that is "Carved in Stone" that i have no respect for...a good very generalized "guideline" it most certainly IS, i give them that much, but far from anything i would put up on a pedestal as the final WORD on media~ :) anyone who treats/thinks of digitalfaq as MORE than just a guideline of sorts is just as stubborn and ignorant as a "fanboy" of the components/parts/pc/console/company that he/she CURRENTLY uses~ :) intelligent people know how to gather facts from trusted individuals/experiences and compare it with their own results on said product, before making an INFORMED decision/conclusion on something...

who believes everything they read on the internet? everything they see on tv/media? does it come down to the question of pure stupidity running wild on society when someone believes what someone creates on a website? someone finds 1 single website that "reviews/rates" media and therefore it is GOLDEN/TRUTH? i think not... :)

@windtrade

no worries, since you JUST got ur Benq 1650 and JUST enabled Solidburn, give it a few MORE burns and your quality scores will improve...sometimes it takes a bit of time for ur drive to "learn" the media...my scores are consistent now because of ample burns that i attest to Solidburn "kickin in" :) also, DVD+R media will usually score higher than DVD-R (personal conclusion based on my own experiences w/ 5 diff. firmwares i've used so far on my Benq 1650) :)

let ur drive get "settled in"...u need not worry about it in the beginning, if worse comes to worse and after let's say 50+ burns on a particular MID coding, and you see NO improvement in the quality, might be a good idea to try a different firmware for it or even reflash your current firmware and "re-learn" the media again~ :) there are so many factors and variables that there is no RIGHT or WRONG way to go about it, you just gotta experiment a lil bit and find your "sweet spot" (ie. firmware revision, burn speed, media preference, etc)...it will come to pass with time and more burns under ur belt~ :)

edited to add a few scans, they are both CONSISTENT, only minor differences between them, Solidburn will help with that as you get more burns in... :)

here is a general average score i get with Verbatim MCC003 8x DVD+R media on a frequent basis, low PIE/PIFs, this one burned earlier today @8x :)



this one burned about an hour later, and yes it's a "naughty one" LOL



docTY

This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 25. July 2006 @ 02:21

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This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 25. July 2006 @ 14:03