Best Prices For DVD Media

[davidf]

I just got back from one of the regular ACT computer fairs and thought a thread on pricing for DVD media wouldn't go astray.
So I just bought a 50 spindle of Princo 4x A Grade DVD-r for $46 thats only 92c a disc. No more CDR for me

[V205]

Aren't they still crap compared to the Ricoh G04 or something?

Originally Posted by davidf

I just got back from one of the regular ACT computer fairs and thought a thread on pricing for DVD media wouldn't go astray.
So I just bought a 50 spindle of Princo 4x A Grade DVD-r for $46 thats only 92c a disc. No more CDR for me

[davidf]

Originally Posted by V205

Aren't they still crap compared to the Ricoh G04 or something?

Not really most people seem to be fooled by the fact that the princo's have trouble on some writers when it comes to 4x burn maybe if they stopped playing with themselves they would realize that when it takes a known brand 30 mins to burn then the burn is 2x not 4x like the software is telling them.

Name brands tend to offer sweet FA in the value department so I avoid them.

Riteks have been a dismal failure on every single burn if I got to close to the discs alleged physical recording capacity. Both +/-. I have not had a successful burn of a ritek(after the 3rd batch of 10 I gave up on the brand plus the ones that did burn wouldn't work on a lot of dvd players) at more than 3.9gb.

Princos always step down to 2x burn but at about 0.5% failure rate(thats after 600 dvd blanks) and zero failure for reading on every brand of DVD player they have been thrown at I won't buy anything else.

[V205]

My experience with my last batch princo CD-R is that they stop working after about 12 mths from degradation.... perfectly fine at first and un-readable after a year or so.

I guess what I try to do nowdays is put less important stuff on value media and important data on good namebrand media.

Originally Posted by davidf

Not really most people seem to be fooled by the fact that the princo's have trouble on some writers when it comes to 4x burn maybe if they stopped playing with themselves they would realize that when it takes a known brand 30 mins to burn then the burn is 2x not 4x like the software is telling them.

Name brands tend to offer sweet FA in the value department so I avoid them.

Riteks have been a dismal failure on every single burn if I got to close to the discs alleged physical recording capacity. Both +/-. I have not had a successful burn of a ritek(after the 3rd batch of 10 I gave up on the brand plus the ones that did burn wouldn't work on a lot of dvd players) at more than 3.9gb.

Princos always step down to 2x burn but at about 0.5% failure rate(thats after 600 dvd blanks) and zero failure for reading on every brand of DVD player they have been thrown at I won't buy anything else.

[[w00t]]

with my expriance with princos that aslong as u dont get a scrach they will live much more than 1 yr, it usualy depends on what dvd burner u got and how u burn it

i had princos never failed me (DVD-R)

[bwg]

not really sure about longevity of media, as I only got a dvd-burner 2 weeks ago, but for what it's worth...
Wow, 92c / disc! I bought Shintaro dvd-r 4x from JB Hi-Fi for $21 per box of 10 in cases, I have since seen them for $19 per box of ten at Retravision. These discs are identified in Dvd-Identifier as Princo's. They were recommended by a friend who had burnt about 30 and found 100% success rate so far. All of them burn at 4x (~15 mins per full disc).
He also bought a spindle of 50 Shintaro's ($90), also from JB Hi-Fi, and found that out of the first 6 he burnt, 3 were coasters! (they were returned to JB who credited them no probs, BTW, incl. the ones he'd already burnt). So it seems that the Shintaro on spindles may be from a different source / stock than the boxed ones, don't know if the same holds true for proper Princo branded media. The first letter on the serial numbers printed around the center hole of the disc was different between the boxed and spindle media, M for boxed, S for Spindles. Don't know if this is relevant.
Burner (for me & friend) is a Pioneer 106d, BTW.
From what I've read of the Ritek G04's, they are the best of the 'value' media, although I've heard some people say stay away from the un-branded Ritek G04's (silver-top & ink-jet printable ones) as they are not as good as the commercially labelled ones. Who knows? I've found a place in Canon Hill where you can get the ink-jet printable Ritek G04's for $88 per spindle of 50. I might have to give them a try next time.

[ru32day]

Here's my experience with Princo (also bought at ACT computer fair). Of 20 Princos (I bought 10 and a friend gave me 10), I've so far used 15. Four burned and played just fine. Seven wouldn't work at all. The remaining four burned fine, but cause the component DVD player to skip at the very beginning and the very end. It made no difference at all to the quality or response of these DVDs to drop the burn speed to 2x. In fact, the best four were all burned at 4x (and no davidf, they didn't take 30mins to burn).

I've tried them in two different burners (Sony 510 and Lite-On 451).

If Princo's work fine for davidf, good luck to him. He should not, however, make comments about the competence of others who have a different experience.

We can't be the only ones, because at the last fair there was a vendor with a big sign that said he wouldn't guarantee Princo (even though he still sold them) and he recommended Ultran to me as an alternative. I used the Ultran successfully, but have no way of knowing their longevity.

I'm keen to try Ritek G04s, but you can't seem to buy small quantities anywhere. I'm reluctant to buy a cake of 50 only to find they don't work for me.

I've good performance from Shintaros which, when checked identify themselves as Princo, but they're comparatively expensive. Perhaps they are from a different batch/source.

[snapper]

Apparently MSY in melb sell them in lots of 10.
http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS_W.HTM

These guys in melb will sell you any discs they have in any quantity:

DVD & CD Supermarket

Weekdays: 9.30 - 5pm Sat: 9.30 - 12pm

441 Warrigal Rd Moorabin
Tel: 9553 0671
Fax: 0553 2037
mob: 0421 7386 (could be wrong need to double check)
email: landmass2001@optusnet.com.au

[davidf]

Originally Posted by ru32day

Here's my experience with Princo (also bought at ACT computer fair). Of 20 Princos (I bought 10 and a friend gave me 10), I've so far used 15. Four burned and played just fine. Seven wouldn't work at all. The remaining four burned fine, but cause the component DVD player to skip at the very beginning and the very end. It made no difference at all to the quality or response of these DVDs to drop the burn speed to 2x. In fact, the best four were all burned at 4x (and no davidf, they didn't take 30mins to burn).

I've tried them in two different burners (Sony 510 and Lite-On 451).

If Princo's work fine for davidf, good luck to him. He should not, however, make comments about the competence of others who have a different experience.

We can't be the only ones, because at the last fair there was a vendor with a big sign that said he wouldn't guarantee Princo (even though he still sold them) and he recommended Ultran to me as an alternative. I used the Ultran successfully, but have no way of knowing their longevity.

I'm keen to try Ritek G04s, but you can't seem to buy small quantities anywhere. I'm reluctant to buy a cake of 50 only to find they don't work for me.

I've good performance from Shintaros which, when checked identify themselves as Princo, but they're comparatively expensive. Perhaps they are from a different batch/source.

I speak from not just personal experience but of 25 years experience in the IT industry with 15 years of dealing with products that burn CD's and in the last 3 years DVD's. I do know what I am talking about and I do know that the majority of people who are new to the DVD technology and a few just plain arrogant know it all's, are basically clueless when it comes to how things work. Much the same way that 90% of computer 'technicians' in Australia wouldn't get a job in a sweathouse PC assembly plant due to there total lack of knowledge. Princo B grade disks (the ones they sell in sub 20 quantity) are crap. The A grade which obviously you don't buy cause you don't get enough pocket money to buy bulk products are the ones that work.

The sony burner sony you mention shows just how ignorant you are as this product is notoriously bad with cheap brand disks and if you had a clue you would not attempt to burn Princo's at 4 speed on the drive.

Your knowledge obviously gained from a sign at a computer fair stand, puts you into the category of arrogant idiot with the addition of ignorance. A dangerous combination.

Read my post again before you make moronic comparisons of you precious 15 disks (b grade at that) compared to my burning of 600+ disks, I also note that somehow you are a magician at getting a lot of results from only a few disks (4 good burnt at 4x , 4 bad i assume at least 2 burnt at 4x, 7 failed, 5 not used) but you have comprehensive results for both 2 and 4 x burning). I made no reference to people who had problems with disks I made comment on the multitude of people who think they are burning at 4 times because thats what their software tells them they are being burnt at.

[bwg]

had a bad day davdf?
but seriously, re princo a-grades: after having burned as many as you have and over the time period you have, have you had many 'fail' ie become un-readable or start skipping after a certain age or number of reads? I have read somewhere (and I take it all with a pinch of salt, or a handful) that someone had princo's failing on them after about 6 months of use. What has been your experience?

BTW, I haven't burnt much so far, I'm still a noob, but I have burnt a few Shintaro's which I bought in small quantities (boxes of 10), which are identified as Princo media.

[redbears]

*** Steady on fellas, everyone is entitled to an opinion here. I don't want a usenet style slanging match, so please try to be balanced with your comments. ***

[ru32day]

Just as a point of interest, the Princo discs were clearly marked and sold as "A" grade and, if davidf looked elsewhere on the net, he'd see that I'm by no means the only person to have trouble with them. I've seen other posts that talk about a 50% failure rate from a cake of 100.

Oh, another point, I suppose it's the fault of both the burners tried, at various speeds, and all of the component video players that these discs didn't work perfectly for me?

Come on, davidf. These might be your favourite discs, but for the rest of us, they just aren't as good.

As to who is arrogant and a moron, I'm not the one tossing insults around - I simply suggested that you ought not to insult others whose opinions and experiences differ from yours - a suggestion that seems even more apposite now.

You may be in the IT industry, but the tone of your comments show you are by no means a professional of any description.

[davidf]

Originally Posted by bwg

had a bad day davdf?
but seriously, re princo a-grades: after having burned as many as you have and over the time period you have, have you had many 'fail' ie become un-readable or start skipping after a certain age or number of reads? I have read somewhere (and I take it all with a pinch of salt, or a handful) that someone had princo's failing on them after about 6 months of use. What has been your experience?

Not a bad day but a run of people who have a bad habit of not reading posts correctly. I originally started the thread as an indicator of availablity of media at good prices. It lent itself to the quality of cheap media which was fair enough and the vein continued that way. Indications were, in this thread and others that the princos were ok but ocassionally they did glitch.

So when someone jumps into the subject with zero helpful information and zero knowledge of what they are talking about it gets on my goat. Thing is I may have been a little harsh but ru32day struck me instantly as a typical usenet drone and I lowered myself to that level. (apologies to all).

Back to reality

Unfortunately longevity is hard to predict and although some people have been burning disks for more than 12 months i believe quantities burnt more than twelve months ago are yet to be large enough to give a fair indication of longevity. That said, the bulk of disks I have burnt that are more than 12 months old are ok (I wasted a lot of time checking this) with the exceptions of several that have been handled by those that are less careful than myself and have had surface damage. Still this is not good enough to get an idea of true longevity as I have skipped thru about 140 disks and princos are only around 50 of these, and the 3 princos that were damaged were not data but video and they skipped a little on the dvd player. I did have one disk(princo) that looked like it was watermarked and this was totally RS.

Now to my 'Favored' cheap disk - Princo used to mark their disks with an M or H indicating A or B grade this practise seems to have stopped but there is definitely a color difference between the two, A grade disks are a shade darker than B grade ( possible watering down of the dye), when you burn an A grade disk you can see the burnt tracks quite easily, on B grade disks they look virtually untouched after a burn. I have noticed at the computer fairs that once the word was out about princo offering 2 grades of disks all the suppliers suddenly claimed they only sold A grade but I know this is not the case.

So to those that have no problems with princo disks it is good news as the price is now under 85c / disk. To those that have sony burners or the earlier liteon burners don't attempt to burn princo's at 4 speed unless your software lets the burner auto step down. Gearpro and RecordNow are the only 2 programs that I know that recommend a speed to the burner rather than commanding it to use that speed.

[redbears]

*** OK. I think we can conclude there. ***