Blank media is so darned finicky! About 3 years ago, recommendations on
CDFreaks.com and
VideoHelp.com were that Ritek disks (DVD+/-R/W) were great, with hardly any failed burns. I bought a bunch and was burning away happily. Then a year later I was suddenly burning DVD coaster after DVD coaster with the same Ritek models. Checked again at those sites and posted there, asking for suggestions as to why I suddenly could not burn successfully anymore. Everyone posted back "You're using Ritek media, and you have to ask?!?!?" Huh?!
I mentioned what I had read there and most posted back that that had been a whole year ago and the media manaufacturing market changes quickly. Grr... So then Taiyo Yuden disks were de rigeur. Bought some of those and had mixed results. Read more and discovered that - IF I did not have counterfeit disks - that the country of origin of the disks were a big factor. Huh again!?!?
Seemed that TY's made in Taiwan were OK but made in Japan were not - or possibly vice versa - I honestly can't remember which factories were supposedly creating good media and which were not. Of course by then I was pretty much drooling all over everything and mumbling incoherently.
But lately if you check those sites the better Verbatim media (read: DataLifePlus and their Archival quality disks) seem to be consistently getting very high marks. Kind of expensive, but no coasters yet with them.
Jim
