Which Media for general use ?

[TheOldGit]

Hi Folks,
I'm about to order a Sony AD7220A (IDE) for my ACER T120 machine (all IDE) - XP SP3 2Gb (max) Ram.

I'm almost too embarrassed to ask, but what is a decent quality DL media for such a drive ?

I’m guessing at +RW (as apposed to Minus) & +RAM.types,,, but what about Brands, Speeds, models etc ?

The machine is a normal, general purpose home set-up, so don’t have exacting standards to meet (at the moment).

I don’t want to ruin everything by getting the cheapest garbage,,,, but don’t want to spend money on the ‘Best’ just for the sake of it. I guess the question ought to be: Value for Money.

Thanks for reading this.

[Ian]

I believe that drive is based on a Lite-On design so you will need Taiyo Yuden DVD+R/-R media if you plan to write at 22x. Otherwise, here are my recommendations. I'm not sure about the UK, but all of this is readily available in stores in the US.

DVD+R/-R: Verbatim and Sony
DVD+R/-R DL: Verbatim.. don't bother with anything else
DVD+RW/-RW: Verbatim
DVD-RAM: Maxell

[TheOldGit]

Thanks again Ian,
I'm not too worried about writing at 22x speed today,,,,
but who knows what i'll want tomorrow ?
So it's as well to know it all now.

There dosn't seem to be a lot of DL +RW stuff over here,,,,, tons of +R tho'.

thanks for your help.

[TheOldGit]

Am about to order a trial pack of:
VERBATIM 43666 +R DL 8.4 at about $18.50 inc del
VERBATIM 43488 +RW SL 4.7 at about $9.91 inc del.

Have asked about Maxell RAM & waiting for reply. I couldn't find it on their site, so I guess they don't do them.

I'm now looking into a few DL CD discs for the car.
In your opinion, Is Verbatim still the brand to go for ?

[SkaarjMaster]

How about what CD-Rs for general use? I use TY for burning music, but everything else I don't want to use something that good. What's out there these days?

[Ian]

Lots and lots of CMC, Ritek and MBI. I stopped buying CMC long ago, but I'll use pretty much anything else from major brands for everyday stuff.

[SkaarjMaster]

Finally bought some CD-Rs from Office Depot for general use. Basically, I had two choices - one from China and one from Taiwan. Guess which one I picked? Yes, correct, the one from Taiwan. Here's what the info says on the CD-R:

Front label part: Memorex CD-R 52X 700MB 80min
Outer inner rim (just off recordable, readable from label/top side): RFD80M-79928 80 5E
Inner rim (readable from top): Z KA911131853RB23

Nero InfoTool shows this (pertinent parts):
Supported speeds: 32X - 24X - 16X - 10X - 4X
Blank capacity: 79:59.70
Manufacturer ID: Ritek (97m15s17f)

Looks like I picked the right one.