The Digital Dolphin's 10 worst DVDRs of 2005...

[dolphinius_rex]

I don't feel like working (at work) today, so I bring you the following:

The Digital Dolphin's 10 worst DVDRs of 2005



#10: B Grade Optodisc media with TYG02 code. This stuff was everywhere, ruining the reputation of A Grade Optodisc, and didn't work properly on drives that couldn't handle the faked code.



#9: Ricoh 2.4x DVD+RDL, stuck in Verbatim's shadow for DL media, Ricoh's discs never attained the same or even similar levels of support from drive makers.



#8: RiData 2.4x DVD+RDL, with limited drive support, even when the media isn't crappy it doesn't work very well!



#7: Princo DVDRs. They haven't changed much, and they still suck!



#6: Memorex 2.4x DVD+RDL, easily the worst of all of Ritek's DVD+RDL OEM clients. Easily deserving of their own spot on this list of shame!



#5: Taiyo Yuden inkjet printables packaged in China.... the printable layer is far below the quality one would expect from a company like Taiyo Yuden!



#4: Lightscribe DVD+Rs! Have you seen the premiums on those things? It costs WAY more then it's worth!! and the stuff prints SO slowly, and only in old Gameboy spinache colours! And it's all made by CMC no matter what brand you end up buying. (also, where the heck are Lightscribe DVD-Rs?!?!)



#3: Verbatim 4x DVD-RDL... it's not Verbatim's fault the format sucks, but it does.



#2: Prodisc 8x DVD-Rs. How many people are sick of getting used to PRODISCS04, and unexpectantly receive PRODISCF01, or FUJIFILM03 or MCC02RG20 on their next shipment? Seriously, why can't they make up their fricken minds?!








And the NUMBER 1 worst media of the year, according to me is.....





















#1: Ritek 4x DVD-RDL media.... a poorly supported disc, in a very poorly supported format. The poor bugger never had a chance.

[zebraxor]

Perhaps the worst part about all this....

I don't think I could have said it better myself. This abysmal list really is close to 100% accurate in my opinion.

I certainly hope RiTEK are listening. Moreover, I wonder how much longer joe-average consumer will put up with this garbage?

Nice post bottle-nose.

[dolphinius_rex]

Perhaps the worst part about all this....

I don't think I could have said it better myself. This abysmal list really is close to 100% accurate in my opinion.

I certainly hope RiTEK are listening. Moreover, I wonder how much longer joe-average consumer will put up with this garbage?

Nice post bottle-nose.

I didn't actually intend to make Ritek the owner of 4/10 positions when I decided to make this list.... but as I was thinking of media types that pissed me off, they just kept coming up. I probably could have included Ritek's 16x DVD±Rs in there if I'd wanted to be mean too (as most hyped, and most disappointing discs). Actually TY's 16x DVD-Rs were pretty hyped and disappointing too for a while.

[thegdog]

#6: Memorex 2.4x DVD+RDL, easily the worst of all of Ritek's DVD+RDL OEM clients. Easily deserving of their own spot on this list of shame!

So I wrote to Memorex about how their DL media wouldn't work in one of my DVD players and performed spotty in my other one (yet Verbatim works flawlessly in both). And that the consensus on DVD websites was that Ritek media was crap and that Memorex DL media was just awful and people had problems with it everywhere I looked.

They told me to fax or mail in my receipt for the 25pack spindle I had purchased. (If I didn't still have the receipt, I could send in all the media.)

So I faxed in the receipt and didn't hear back from them. About 2 weeks after I faxed it in, I get this big package from FedEx. I see its from Memorex and I am wondering what they sent me. Maybe a DVD burner that can burn their DL media well?

Actually, they sent me 10 3-packs of their DL media in jewel cases. I was quite surprised.

Of course, its still the Ritek D01 media. (I was hoping it would be the Philips media they flirted with using.) Took me like 30 minutes just to unwrap all the plastic off one box (5 3-packs). Burned a disc. My DVD player still can't play it. Oh well.

[ItalianJob]

Ok for everything but 9. I have seen average/good burn of RicohJPND00 DVD+R DL 2.4X available in Europe, on BenQ and LG drives with proper fw. PI are quite high sometimes, but acceptable.

The only shame is that they are *not* cheaper than MKM001 (and unlike Verbatim DVD+R DL 2.4X, they do not support 4X overspeed)...

Moreover, some Ricoh DVD+R DL 2.4X in spindle are reported to be "Ritek DL" inside...

[dolphinius_rex]

Ok for everything but 9. I have seen average/good burn of RicohJPND00 DVD+R DL 2.4X available in Europe, on BenQ and LG drives with proper fw. PI are quite high sometimes, but acceptable.

The only shame is that they are *not* cheaper than MKM001 (and unlike Verbatim DVD+R DL 2.4X, they do not support 4X overspeed)...

Moreover, some Ricoh DVD+R DL 2.4X in spindle are reported to be "Ritek DL" inside...

Well, number 9 is not as bad as number 1

The fact still remains though, that the media is not nearly as good as it should be. If you compare the media to regular Ricoh brand single layer media, the quality difference is quite large. And there are still several drives that are common that don't burn it very well, or consistantly (I think the consistancy thing is more Ricoh/Ritek's fault).

[Scour]

Hello!

Only one Optodisc ?

And Princo No. 6 ?

I miss the TY/MCC-fakes in your list, those much more worse than Prodisc

[dolphinius_rex]

Hello!

Only one Optodisc ?

And Princo No. 6 ?

I miss the TY/MCC-fakes in your list, those much more worse than Prodisc

Well, the list is what I considered to be the top 10 worst DVD medias of 2005. Optodisc's A Grade media is good stuff and better supported all the time. The only problem Optodisc has is their B Grade media, which I think you already know all too well, being in the European area

As for the TY/MCC fakes, they really aren't so much a problem if you make smart purchases.

Of course, these are all my own opinions, you're free to have your own, and/or make your own list

[Gabe]

#9: Ricoh 2.4x DVD+RDL, stuck in Verbatim's shadow for DL media, Ricoh's discs never attained the same or even similar levels of support from drive makers.

#8: RiData 2.4x DVD+RDL, with limited drive support, even when the media isn't crappy it doesn't work very well!

#6: Memorex 2.4x DVD+RDL, easily the worst of all of Ritek's DVD+RDL OEM clients. Easily deserving of their own spot on this list of shame!

#3: Verbatim 4x DVD-RDL... it's not Verbatim's fault the format sucks, but it does.

#1: Ritek 4x DVD-RDL media.... a poorly supported disc, in a very poorly supported format. The poor bugger never had a chance.

#9: Sometimes I think that this media is not really better than Ritek-DL, but better supported from some drive-manufacturers

#8/#6: Ridata and Traxdate are Ritek-own-labels and get ususally A-Grade; so Memorex get other quality? I think no company produce B-Grade

#3: Verbatim is the only manufacturer for good -R DL. The compatibility-problem is not to blame on MCC, only on the DVD-Forum that isn´t capable to allow booktype-setting.

#1: Never had one

[Wesociety]

LOL at "Gameboy spinache colors"!
Spot on.

[RJW]

Ok for everything but 9. I have seen average/good burn of RicohJPND00 DVD+R DL 2.4X available in Europe, on BenQ and LG drives with proper fw. PI are quite high sometimes, but acceptable.

The only shame is that they are *not* cheaper than MKM001 (and unlike Verbatim DVD+R DL 2.4X, they do not support 4X overspeed)...

Moreover, some Ricoh DVD+R DL 2.4X in spindle are reported to be "Ritek DL" inside...

Well, number 9 is not as bad as number 1

The fact still remains though, that the media is not nearly as good as it should be. If you compare the media to regular Ricoh brand single layer media, the quality difference is quite large. And there are still several drives that are common that don't burn it very well, or consistantly (I think the consistancy thing is more Ricoh/Ritek's fault).

I would blame for the problems regarding consistantly both parties. This means drive manufacturers and ricoh/ritek.

[Phoenix '97]

#6: I've never seen a disc give me a quality score of 0 before:


If you check in that other thread the two year old 2x fake Princo media got a score of 95!