The official "stop buying s**t media" thread

[X-EvansBasher-X]

Seems like many ppl are buying bad DVD/CD media & getting stuck w/coasters. I hope to end that, thanks to your friends over at VideoLan & Fatwallet.

First of all, some of the best DVD media recommended is Taiyo Yuden and Ritek. Just below that quality you'll find Ricoh & Verbatim.

Average to worst: Princo is OK if you can't find others. TDK is well below average, Infodisc & most store brands make up the bottom. Sony was once considered average, but has fallen due to wide variance in their best & worst media. They have also been known to mix in lower quality media with better, as part of in store specials.

If you intend on keeping your files for archival purposes (a long, long time), make sure you use great media.

Many ppl can't seem to tell the difference between bad & good media. If you want to go with authentic Taiyo Yuden, this guide will help you tell the real from the fake. Fake media is often made in Hong Kong or Taiwan in factories that sell other fake media. They produce them by the millions each week, and usually sell them to shady companies. You will absolutely never find fake TY media at a legitimate company such as Rima or SuperMediaStore. Your local musician's supply often sells good media for archival purposes, feel free to print the link I posted & ask them about it.

For CDR media, TY is highly recommended but sometimes overpriced. Verbatim & Ritek media are high in quality.

The important thing to remember when purchasing media is to know the MEDIA CODE. This is a code that is sometimes printed on the top of the spindle, or can only be accessed by your favorite DVD ripping program. All legitimate shops will tell you which media code that specific brand of media has. If they don't have it posted on their website, make sure you ask before ordering. Although I've never found any legit TY media that was crap, the other brands like Ritek and Prodisc sell lower quality versions for quick backup purposes.

So what's the big difference between good media & bad? Plenty!
Good media will keep its data under more severe conditions; it might well last 100yrs if kept in a cool, dry place. Higher speed burns (8x and above) with bad media will turn out poor quality Audio CDs; it will also lead to the occasional coaster. When burning games to DVD (i'll let you use your imagination), a slow burn at 1X or 2X could still come out poor if using bad media. Although it's not recommended, many ppl in the gaming scene have been able to burn 8X or above using TY/Ritek w/no problems.

It all comes down to how much you value your data. A few dimes per DVD won't matter if you are keeping something you want to last for years. However, if you archive things for short periods of time then use whichever media you choose. Just remember that store brand media (Office Depot/Staples/Circuit City/TDK rebranded) will often net a few coasters every so often. Is it really worth saving a few dimes for something that took hours to download??

I'll say this one more time:
If you intend on keeping your files for archival purposes (a long, long time), make sure you use great media. I hope this thread has helped you.

Google on worst DVD media (find out which NOT to buy, first)
Best DVD media on Google

[Sprung]

You seem to have put a lot of time and effort in that, and that's commendable.

But - I have burned over 540 Dreamcast and 140 Xbox games on any media that was on sale. Some are name brands, some have no brand name on them at all.

They all work.

The main problems with coasters are: Bad images, and mistakes by the user.

[Winged 2.0]

That is because CD media isn't very sensitive at all. The only time you really have to worry about media quality is when buying DVD media because there is more concentrated data per mm on the physical disc. I think. Whatever the reason is, DVD media is a pain.

[Sprung]

That is because CD media isn't very sensitive at all. The only time you really have to worry about media quality is when buying DVD media because there is more concentrated data per mm on the physical disc. I think. Whatever the reason is, DVD media is a pain.

I have Xbox DVD ISOs burned to pretty much every brand of DVD sold at Wal-Mart, Office Max, etc. in my area. The only costers I made were bad images. I know this because the next image I burned would be on the same type of media, and it would work.

[Zorlon]

Just so you guys and gals know the brand has nothing to do with anything, but the type of media pre pressed data is important for DVD's.

RITEKG05 data being good for dvd's, all bands can have this pre pressed data by the way.

In the U.S. most brands seen will use RITEK pre pressed data, but other pre pressed data is still available just not as common

CD's I have never had a problem with but some can take more damage than others apart from that they all work well.