Thursday, 15 September 2011

Blank Dvd Media


I have had 100% success burning both data and video formats with this media at 4X using:

Sony Optiarc AD-7170A (firmware version 1.O4 supports this media at 4X, 6X, 8X, 12X, 16X)

Plextor PX-708A (firmware 1.11 supports this media at 2.4X, 4X, 8X)

LG GSA-T11N (firmware A104 supports this media at 4X only but can do 8X with other comparable media)

NEC ND-3500AG (firmware 2.TB supports this media at 2.4X, 4X but can do 8X with other comparable media)



As you can see, some of my older drives won't support faster than 4X with this media. I'm a little surprised that my oldest (the Plextor) would support 8X, but I haven't bothered to try anything faster than 4X on any drive because I'm rarely in that much of a hurry.



My burns are generally more than 90% of disc capacity so I am almost always using most of the recordable surface. My success criteria is not just an error-free burn; I have verified several discs by reading them at max speed (on a different drive than the burner) and comparing against the original source.



For me, these are a great value. For people who prefer wider 8X and 16X compatibility, these are probably not a good choice. AmazonBasics 4.7 GB 16x DVD+R (100-Pack Spindle)

I have used two brands of 16x DVDs quite a bit, verbatim and amazonbasics, so those will be my basis for comparison. Both disks work in my macintosh superdrive. The amazon disks are thicker and not as attractive as the verbatim disks, but they are cheaper. The thickness is not a problem in drives with a tray, but macbook drives don't have a tray. You put the disks into the drive, and the drive pulls them into the laptop. The thicker disks make different noises inside the drive, as if the drive may have some difficulty with the extra thickness, but I don't know whether or not it's a cause for concern. While the amazon disks will burn on my mac, they will not burn in some drives whereas the verbatim disks have never failed to burn on any drive for me. Right now, I'm considering buying only the verbatim disks because a wider variety of drives is able to burn them.



Lastly, the verbatim disks are more attractive. So if you want to give the disks to a customer or as a gift, you might want to use the verbatim.

These are reasonable quality (My ADIP was AML-003-00) and produce low error rates (PIE/C2 etc, see: [...] in a Samsung S223Q (you know, one of the few DVD writers that can burn the cheap Memorex DVD+R DL discs effortlessly and without errors), with a smooth transfer test playback that scales linearly right up to 19X on the outer edge with no dropouts or retries. HOWEVER, in a weird throwback to the early part of this decade, Amazon ships each disk with not one but two relatively huge blocks of text printed on each disc: "Amazon Basics" with the swoosh thing, and "DVD+R 4.7GBG0 16X 120min RWDVD+R"). Pretty much all good quality discs that are not $1 store cake box items tend to use a slightly opaque printed overlay with a stencilled area spelling out these no doubt essential pieces of information on every single disc. This means that you can write anywhere on the surface of the disc without the redundant text getting in the way. Maybe to save costs, Amazon's discs have no opaque surface layer, the DVD is raw (and thus very shiny and reflective), and a big percentage of the writable surface is occupied with the pointless text outlined above. With just a little change to make the discs less ugly, Amazon would get five stars from me but I am reducing it to 3three for the bad design implementation.

I have used Fuji, Memorex, Maxell and now Amazon. I average 200+ movies per year. The Amazon are as good as the Maxell and Fuji and better than Memorex. So far I've not had any platters, but then I always use +R's and burn at 4x speed for best video quality. There is plenty of room on the disc to write your label. The packaging is well done. As for shipping Amazon double boxed. Since I live in the boonies, anytime I can purchase a good product and have it delivered to my door cheaper than going to town, I'll buy it.

Just went through my first spindle of these disks. According to the AML number they are Verbatim disks. Haven't had a coaster yet and decided to post a review while I ordered another spindle. Consistently great price and the best shipping.

Firstoff, I have burned about 600 of these with no coasters. I am using the default HP BD/DVD drive that came in my laptop, so no fancy burner is being used either.



The ID of my DVD+R's was AML-003-00 (the AML's are rated as very terrible on some websites, but my results show the complete opposite). I tested these against the extremely highly rated Verbatim DVD+R single layers, and they actually outperformed them in terms of errors per sector.



Here are the results from the tests:



AmazonBasics DVD+R (AML-003-00)

PI Errors (Should not exceed 280 maximum): Average 16.04, Maximum 160.6 (the relatively high maximum was a single spike, so I ignored it as a test error)

PI Failures (Should not exceed 32 maximum): Average 0.01, Maximum 12.2



These results surprised me greatly, as they are VERY GOOD for most discs, much less a BUDGET DVD+R.



Now for the Verbatim DVD+R (MCC003)

PI Errors (Should not exceed 280 maximum): Average 29.04, Maximum 360.1 (There were 2 single high spikes, the rest of the test was very good, and since there were only 2 spikes, I didnt pay it much heed, but I would like to test another Verbatim DVD again).

PI Failures (Should not exceed 32 maximum): Average 0.04, Maximum 14.4 (There was only 1 single high spike, so I ignored it. The rest of the data was fine).



Also tested the 'terrible' Memorex DVD+R's that everyone complains about (they got 3/5 stars on amazon):

Memorex DVD+R (CMC MAG M01)

PI Errors (Should not exceed 280 maximum): Average 21.02, Maximum 140.1

PI Failures (Should not exceed 32 maximum): Average 0.02, Maximum 12.1





So all 3 DVD's performed extremely well, especially considering they are 'low-cost alternative' brands, not top-of-the-line DVD's. If you want more info on ECC PI/PO checking/errors, check out MYCE. great info there. All testing was done with Nero CD/DVD speed.



I will buy more of these when I get the chance.'


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