Yo. I finally decided to search for the best DVD-R media, and there is just too much conflicting and potentially out-of-date information out there for me to quickly make a decision.

I've been using Ritek, mostly. I got Taiyo Yuden once, and it was a bad batch (or they may have been fake, whatever).

Can you guys please tell me what brand of DVD-R (it's more compatible with standalone DVD players, right?) has the best value/reliablity, and a good (U.S.) site to buy it from?

Thanks in advance. C-ya.

Verbatim or Taiyo yuden premium stuff seeing as ure in the us isnt it supermediastore.com or rima.com for media
EDIT: go for rima by the looks of things some nice disks from there ive heard

There are also sales on Verbatim media at the various internet stores as well as retailers like Office Max, Best Buy, etc. from time to time. Currently, Best Buy has one of the best buys [ironically], but after tomorrow the sale will probably be over, and deals on Verbatim rarely come around for the big retail chains.

Also, TY media cannot be found at big retail stores, so you will want to stick to the internet for that. You might be able to get results from Value Line stuff, but if you want guaranteed good results, go Premium Line.

You can always keep up with the latest sales by looking in the Bargain Basement: http://club.cdfreaks.com/f58/

Also, our old polls on media are still very relevant. They can be found in this forum. New poll[s] are upcoming, so watch to see how they go.

The best DVD-R brands are (arguably) That's and Verbatim.

As That's is not sold outside Asia, you're left with Verbatim.

If you standalone player accepts DVD+R (most do), DVD-R will not be more compatible in the least. A standalone player either rejects DVD+R (disc not recognized), or accepts it entirely, with no downside whatsoever. There is no in-between: it's a feature of the player, not a matter of quality.

So. If your player accepts +R, +R Verbatim are more consistent in quality than the -R (though the -R are fine).

You could also consider Made in Japan Sony-branded media.

Happy burning.

I would go with Verbatim 16x DVD+R (hands up who didn't know I was gonna say that ).

BTW, welcome to the forum!

Thanks, guys. I guess I'll go with Verbatim. Are they all good, or should I look for certain product numbers? And are there any unsafe places to buy them (that sell fakes)?

go with a big reputable company , i prefer the made in taiwan ones myself but the made in india seem to be decent for most others and im finally getting decent batches of them

The best choice for most people and most uses would be to buy Verbatims when they're on sale at Best Buy or Office Max. You just can't beat those deals for quality and price. I love TY discs, even the value line, but I prefer not to buy until Supermediastore is offering a great deal.

Rima seems to be the online place to media-shop for a lot of US members here, as well as keeping an eye out in regular high street stores (Best Buy, Fry's, Office Max etc) for deals on Verbies

Hopefully That's can be found easily in Greece.

Thanks for the correction vroom , I always forget this!

I still have a hard time to remember this, i remembered this because i need to get some more 8x +R That's.

Five years ago i was out trying to find some TY cd's and everybody was looking at me like i was from Mars, the fun part is that now everyone here (that's Greece) thinks he is the expert.

I followed your advice and got 4 50-Packs of Verbatim #95101 DVD-Rs from Best Buy for $11 a piece. Is that a good series?

Also, even though it says 16x, I can still burn at 4x, right?

Thanks, again, in advance, again.

Yes. But why 4x?

You can burn at at least 8x with good quality using those discs. Sticky thread you may like to read if you're set on burning at 4x: http://club.cdfreaks.com/f33/slow-wr...o-good-247643/

Well, I'm actually burning the discs with a 700 Mhz Athlon (Windows 98 SE). The ol' girl can't really manage more than 4x.

If you absolutely, positively MUST burn at 4x, then I recommend you stay away from 16x media and get 8x media. 8x Taiyo Yuden-made media as well as 8x Verbatim media is still available on the Internet. If you can, even try to find 4x media.

Depending on the drive, you may be able to do 4x with a readable quality. Other drives do horribly.

Can you post your system specs outside of the processor?

What RW drive do you have?
But I think that almost all modern drives can handle 4x burning even on 16x Verbatims (especially +Rs) at decent quality.

With a DMA/133 Hard drive, proper DMA settings, and low fragmentation, you can burn @8X even with a Pentium II 233 Mhz. Tried it last week.

The processor doesn't seem to have much impact on the burning process.

Yep, Verbatim is true multispeed media, and most burners handle it properly at this speed.

I have a Standalone thats got problems with +R media, it stutters and chokes upon reading +R media, with -R media no problems at all... its a "cyberhome 4620", they are known for their bad laser-pickups (thats why the manufacturer is now bankrupt). It even dislikes my verbatim MCC +Rs but eats very cheap -Rs from CMC...

Sounds like a comparison has been made only between so-so (or badly burnt) +R discs, and correct and well burnt -R discs. That's the most sound explanation.

Normally, as already stated in threads dedicated to +R vs. -R, either a player refuses +R entirely ('no disc', 'unrecognized disc', 'incorrect disc', 'incorrect function' etc..) or it plays it just like -R. No in-between. If +R plays 'but doesn't play well', surely it's the discs quality that is the culprit, not the +R vs. -R thing. There can be, probably, exceptions.