Well, I'm down to the last disc of my TY 100 pk. I purchased sony dvd-r's 8x at best buy since the prices was awesome (29.99 USD). Supposedly they are almost or as good as TY discs. Although several posters say if it's not made in Japan...its not good media. On the sony label, it says made in Taiwan...but according to this page on digitalfaq.com....sony is very good....

I have not opened the pack yet, since I wanted to get input on whether or not to return this sony 100pk and stick with TY, or keep it...

http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm

Media ID Quality Guide

The following list is in preference order. The best discs are near the top of the list. The discs at the bottom of the list are suitable only for a landfill. PVC is the best of all, LONGTEN is the worst of all, etc. Note: Some codes may be listed twice, done because a -R, -RW, +RW and +R by the same company may not be the same quality. The format is listed because of this.

1ST CLASS MEDIA
Almost flawless burns with 95-100% reliable results:
PVC = Pioneer (Japan) = (-R)(-RW) ... media is no longer made
MXLRG0x = Maxell (Japan) = (-R)(-RW)
YUDENT, TYG0x = Taiyo Yuden (Japan) = (-R)(+R)
MCC, MKM = Mitsubishi Chemicals (Singapore/Taiwan) = (-R)(-RW)(+R)(+RW)
TDK, TTG0x, TTH0x = TDK Corp (Taiwan/Japan) = (-R)(-RW)
SONY0xD = Sony (Japan/Taiwan) = (-R)(-RW)

2ND CLASS MEDIA
Decent discs, though not perfect, about 80-95% success rate:
RICOHJPN = Ritek or Ricoh (Taiwan) = (+R)(+RW)
PRODISC = Prodisc Media (Taiwan) = (-R)(+R)
RITEK = Ritek (Taiwan) = (+R)(-R)(-RW)(+RW)
FUJIFILM = Fuji = (-R)(+R)
OPTODISC = Optodisc = (-R)
INFODISC = Infodisc Media = (+RW)

3RD CLASS MEDIA
Quality can be very questionable, about 50-80% success rate:
LEADDATA, LD01, LD, LEDA = Lead Data = (-R)(-RW)
BEALL = Samsung BeAll (Taiwan) = (-R)(+R)
MBI = Moser Beaur (India) = (-R)(+R)(+RW)
MAM-A, MAM-E (USA, Europe) = Mitsui = (-R)
PRINCO, fake TDK = Princo (Taiwan) = (-R)(-RW)
ONIDTECH = Ul Tran Technology (Taiwan) = (-R)
MUST = Unknown OEM = (-R)
GSC001, GSC002 = Gigastorage (Taiwan) = (-R)(+R)
CMC, CMCMAG = CMC Magnetics (Taiwan) = (+R)
PHILIPS = Philips (Taiwan) = (+RW)

4TH CLASS MEDIA
Pathetic garbage media, landfill material, about 0-50% success rate:
CMC, CMCMAG = CMC Magnetics (Taiwan) = (-R)
PIODATA, PIO = LeadData/ Ritek (Taiwan) = (-R))(+R)
OPTODISC = Optodisc (Taiwan) = (+R)(+RW)
LONGTEN = Jilin Qingda ??? (China) = (-R)
YIJHAN = Yi Jhan Technology (Taiwan) = (-R)
ALL FAKE MEDIA = mostly InfoSmart (HK), E-Net (UK) and Mitsui (USA,Europe)
AN31, AN32, ANWELL, AN30 = "default" stamper code (usually Infosmart) = (-R)
AML = Advance Media Limited (Taiwan) = (-R)
INFOSMART, ISO001 = Infosmart (China) = (-R)(+R)
DAXON = BenQ/Acer (+R)(-R)
VANGUARD, VDSPMS = Unknown OEM = (-R)
UME001 = UmeDisc (Hong Kong) = (-R)
WFKA = Wealthfair Investment (China) = (-R)(+R)

I have been buying the Sony -R (1X-8X) Accucore for more than a year now and have never seen anything other than "Made in Japan" EVER on the packaging. WTF! Are you SURE it says "Taiwan"? I tend to think Sony would be very strict about checking it's manufacturer's quality control and manufacturing method and would not risk spoiling their brand name equity even if they have alternate suppiers, but I don't know this for a fact. Or could the Best Buy Taiwans be old stock?

Are they really -R's and not +R's? I never bought Sony +R's so I don't know where they are made. Look in a different store and see if they have Japan Sony -R's. I live in California and buy at Fry's Electronics most often.

Absolutely 100% sure...I looked at the label like 1000 times to verify :-P. Says made in Taiwan...if you look at the media guide i posted...it shows sony as japan/taiwan....yes they are dvd minus R's...8X purchased at best buy in PA.

If the stores and malls are closeby and still open in PA, try checking another store that carries the Sony -R's. This taiwan thing is a surprise to me. If it was up to me, as I said in the above posting, I'd still tend to trust and open them and try them but i'd be very disappointed if they didn't have exactly the same specs I have been using without any compatibility issues with my Pioneer burners and JVC players and changers.

Hmm, i doubt other store's sony's would be different...its sony labeling on the discs themselves, and on the cakebox.

Sony 8x DVD+R Made in Japan is YUDEN000T02
Sony 8x DVD+R Made in Taiwan is SONYD11
Sony 8x DVD-R would be SONY08D1 regardless of country of origin (Made in Japan or Taiwan).

The digitalfaq link you provided above is just plain old, has not been updated for years.

You need to tell us what is your burner (and firmware).

Please post the link where ya got that info :-)

Thanks

zevia to the rescue. Ya, I'd say open the Taiwans. Sorry for the surprised reaction but I just never encounted the -R Sony Taiwans. The disk and "cakebox" labeling both have the "Accucore" logo on them correct?

I own those media so the links are in my brain. LOL. Here: http://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia. Remember that the database in videohelp.com is gathered over long period of time. At this time, in the US, see my above post.

You're welcome. And welcome to CDFreaks.

As far as the +R's being made in both countries, I seem to remember reasonsnotrules once posted that the Sony +R's from Japan were relabeled TY disks but the Sony +R's from Taiwan were of "somewhat(?)" questionable quality.

I only by -R media except when making DL bitset/booktyped backups.

I also meant to ask you what brand of burner and firmware version you use?

Yeah whisper...they do say Accucore on the label...So what should I do? Return the unopened sony dvd-r 8X and stick with TY 8X dvd-r....or keep the Sony's?

i think SONY 8x +R MIT are SONYD11 or something like that.

i've never tried them out, but I'd be willing to bet that the TYs would outperform them.

arif1979,
Well, Mr. zevia (whom I have never met before) seems to have dropped out of Valhalla (the home of slain heros) with his impressive 5,150 post count and told us, per his above post, that the Taiwans have the same manufacturing code as the Japans. I guess I'd suggest you open them and give it a go if zevia agrees(?)

Yeah, I just dont want to open it and risk burning 1 or more and not being able to return it and be stuck with it... :-\

arif1979,
I know what you mean. I'm pretty much financially mature in life and i still can't stand wasted pennies or dollars. Old outlooks never die. But I'd tend to trust zevia's knowlege. But blame him not me if the info is wrong!

Yah, that's what you posted before and it seemed like pretty sound advice.

Whisperer

Pretty sound advice? Probably...but dont you personally use sony's most?

arif1979,
If your question is to reasonsnotrules, she uses Verbatim and TY mostly, as I remember.

If your question is to me I use -R Sony 1X-8X Accucore exclusively for SL media and Verbatim DL +R for DL backups. I may change to a +R SL media in the future when i buy the same BenQ burner with that neat little bitsetting utility that she uses. I'm fine for now with the Sony -R SL since all my JVC player/changers like them.

BTW: I still have not noticed you posting your burner's brand, model and firmware which may be important here and is certainly important for the archival informational value of this thread you started.

if you're referring to me, i use mainly sony 8x dvd+r MIJ.

they are sony BRANDED discs, but they are YUDEN000T02 media id.

aww you remember...

do you know how i take my coffee too?