4x Ritek DVD-Rs at Hypermicro.com

[Sarcoptic]

Just wondering if anyone has tested these yet, seem to be the first to actually but and not too bad priced around $2 a piece.

[Sarcoptic]

I am the savior, ordered 10 pack, arrived, burnt all 10 at 4x no problems whatsoever with the Sony DRU500A....lets all celebrate some what cheap 4x media!!!!!!!!

[TechMan]

Well for me 4x is still too expensive for the amount of DVD's I plan on burning. I just ordered last night 100 2x media for $81- with 2 day shipping from Hyper Microsystems. I will let you know how I make out with my DRU500 once I receive them

[boblx2]

I have the Ritek 4X discs from Meritline and have burned 3 of them so far and none will go 4X. These are the same ones posted elsewhere on this board with a picture of the package. I have the same ones and I am now burning a disc with Stomp RecordNow Max. It is a 4 gig file and it will take 38 minutes! That does not sound like 4x to me. I am using a Sony DRU-500A with the .10f upgrade. I have burned two previously with DVD Decrypter, one set at Max and the other set at 4X. Neither of them exceeded 2.3X. I have seen posts in other threads that said they got 4X out of them but I have not been able to do it. We have another Sony drive here also and it is not burning at 4X with these discs. I hope we are not looking down the barrel of another scam. This is starting to look pretty fishy to me...........

[Kennyshin]

38 minutes for 4GB is about 1.5x.

Anyway, these threads are all about the new 4x DVD-R media.

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7858
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7973
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=8085

so please don't create so many new threads when there are already more than one with the same topic.

[VEFF]

I am the savior, ordered 10 pack, arrived, burnt all 10 at 4x no problems whatsoever with the Sony DRU500A....lets all celebrate some what cheap 4x media!!!!!!!!

How long did it take to burn a disc?
Some people say the burn indicates a certain speed (i.e. was chosen?)
but don't always actually burn at that speed.

[Sarcoptic]

Oh it was 4x according to Nero, I was burning off a couple movies, 4GB+ and it took roughly 15 - 17 minutes, very nice speed!!! Its definitely 4x!

[Kennyshin]

Oh it was 4x according to Nero, I was burning off a couple movies, 4GB+ and it took roughly 15 - 17 minutes, very nice speed!!! Its definitely 4x!

Congratulations. You can now create nearly 100 DVD discs a day.

[Sarcoptic]

Wow your right, anyone have an PS2 games I can borrow

[boblx2]

Well we have 8 burners here, two of which are the Sony DRU-500A's with the 10f upgrades, two of which are the A05's and the rest are A04's. Neither of the Sony's would burn the Ritek 4X discs at 4X. They barely made 2X! The A05's however did burn at a healthy 4X with these discs. That was a bit of a diaappointment but a bit of elation too. That is the first production we have seen from the A05's other then a growing pile of coasters. The Sony's would at least burn the +R's at 2.4+. But I will reinterate the Sony would not burn at anything close to 4X with the Ritek discs, which incidently were recommended by Sony. We used the latest version of DVD Decryter, Stomp RecordNow Max 4.50 and the latest version of Nero. Having done all of this I am a bit skeptical about any reports that indicate otherwise. I doubt we have two bad drives or that all of our software or workstations are bad.

But we should take notice of the fact that 4X is here! At least as far as the A05 is concerned.

[VEFF]

Well we have 8 burners here, two of which are the Sony DRU-500A's with the 10f upgrades, two of which are the A05's and the rest are A04's. Neither of the Sony's would burn the Ritek 4X discs at 4X. They barely made 2X! The A05's however did burn at a healthy 4X with these discs. That was a bit of a diaappointment but a bit of elation too. That is the first production we have seen from the A05's other then a growing pile of coasters. The Sony's would at least burn the +R's at 2.4+. But I will reinterate the Sony would not burn at anything close to 4X with the Ritek discs, which incidently were recommended by Sony. We used the latest version of DVD Decryter, Stomp RecordNow Max 4.50 and the latest version of Nero. Having done all of this I am a bit skeptical about any reports that indicate otherwise. I doubt we have two bad drives or that all of our software or workstations are bad.

But we should take notice of the fact that 4X is here! At least as far as the A05 is concerned.

It seems the meritline discs aren't the same as the hypermicro.com ones.
I still have a fair number of blank DVD-R discs, but I may order 25 or 50 from hypermicro anyway.
Life is short...

[VEFF]

Oh it was 4x according to Nero, I was burning off a couple movies, 4GB+ and it took roughly 15 - 17 minutes, very nice speed!!! Its definitely 4x!

Nice!
Good deal on 4X media.
Might get some, even though I still have 30 odd 1X/2X/2.4X
DVD-R/DVD+R blanks

[boblx2]

Sarcoptic, which burner are you using? I have tried those Ritek 4X discs on two Sony DRU-500a's with the 10f upgrade and neither of them would burn faster then 2X. I tried the same discs on the A05's and they burned at 4.1 and 4.2 X. Up until now the A05's have been pretty worthless. Anyway I would like to know of anyone who truely got 4X speed out of those Ritek 4X discs with a Sony DRU-500A because we have not been able to do it. I can't imagine what we could be doing differently.

Thanks........

[Pradeep]

As has been said already, it looks like the meritline DVD-R's are not identical to the G04 Ritek's that Hypermicro sell.

[boblx2]

I was thrashing around in the Hypermicro web site yesterday and on the ordering line they have a compatiblity statement that only mentions the A05. It does not mention the Sony DRU-500A. However I have heard talk about different products between Hypermicro and Meritline on other boards. As long as they work at 4X on my A05 I will be satisfied with running my Sony at 2.4 X with +R's. But the A05 burns them at 4X no matter what software I use. I am thrilled to al last find media that the A05 will use for more then coasters!

I also saw a post somewhere that indicated that Pioneer will be putting out a new firmware upgrade for the A05 in January that will make it more compatible with other media. I guess their revenue is falling fast. Imagine that! There was something about not getting royalies from most of the cheaper media suppliers. But I guess they must be mending their ways. Well we can hope anyway.......

[Kennyshin]

There was something about not getting royalies from most of the cheaper media suppliers. But I guess they must be mending their ways. Well we can hope anyway.......

Those most of the cheaper media suppliers supply most (90%) of the media produced in the world. The media royalties alone mean more than 10 billion USD for the few companies for the next few years. Where did you learn it?

[boblx2]

It was on one of these threads. Not sure if it was here or at mediapubs but one of them had a post. If look through the DVD threads you can probably find it. Not sure how much of it I believe but it does sort of add up..........

[Kennyshin]

There are some published information on the web how much you have to pay for each DVD media and DVD drive you sell (CD as well). Per unit. The Taiwanese and South Korean manufacturers (Samsung, LG, SKC, Ritek, CMC, LiteOn, Prodisc, Princo, BenQ, etc.) have protested about it for some time. I think the fees per each disc will be reduced a bit as there will be billions of units instead of millions in the coming years.

[dko]

I was thrashing around in the Hypermicro web site yesterday and on the ordering line they have a compatiblity statement that only mentions the A05. It does not mention the Sony DRU-500A.

could be that they don't have any DRU's to test, looks like they've been of stock for a while.

I also saw a post somewhere that indicated that Pioneer will be putting out a new firmware upgrade for the A05 in January that will make it more compatible with other media.

Rev. 1.21 came out wednesday night. I can't find it anymore, but if you want it I can upload it somewhere. This revision will not let you record Ritek G03's at 2Xor 4X or generics at 2X. G04's still burn at 4X, so it looks like Pioneer mainly worked on compatibility with other media, not Ritek.

[boblx2]

Thanks for the offer but why would I want to install a firmware downgrade? The A05 already burns Ritek 4X. It sounds like all I am going to do with that is remove burning of 2X on generic media. Not that I have found any media other then Ritek that will do anything but make coasters.
But since the A05 burns Ritek 4X perfectly I guess all I need to do is buy up a bunch of Ritek 4X media while it is at a decent price.

Thanks again...

[DirtyAbdul]

There was something about not getting royalies from most of the cheaper media suppliers. But I guess they must be mending their ways. Well we can hope anyway.......

Those most of the cheaper media suppliers supply most (90%) of the media produced in the world. The media royalties alone mean more than 10 billion USD for the few companies for the next few years. Where did you learn it?

well, it seems like "Ian@LynxDV" at this posting ( http://forum.firmware-flash.com/viewtop ... c&start=50 ) says:

"The Royality cost for DVD-R is 20p per disc, this goes to the DVD-Forum, on x2 speed DVD-R there's another Royality of 20p, this goes to Pioneer, total royalities for a x2 speed disc is therefore 40p.

Simple common sense tells you that a disc claimed as x2 speed that is sold for 55p, hasn't had the Royalities paid on it, and therefore shouldn't be expected to work properly, i.e. no royalities = no dye calibration in drive firmware.

Pioneer have put a stop to the fake x2 speed discs so it's likely they will not be sold for much longer, don't be angry at Pioneer, it's not them that are lying about the origins and speed rating of the disc, it's the people who are putting their brand name on it you should be blaming. "

this guy's supposed to be a seller in the UK, and his statement sounds reasonable.

DA

[Kennyshin]

There was something about not getting royalies from most of the cheaper media suppliers. But I guess they must be mending their ways. Well we can hope anyway.......

Those most of the cheaper media suppliers supply most (90%) of the media produced in the world. The media royalties alone mean more than 10 billion USD for the few companies for the next few years. Where did you learn it?

well, it seems like "Ian@LynxDV" at this posting ( http://forum.firmware-flash.com/viewtop ... c&start=50 ) says:

...

this guy's supposed to be a seller in the UK, and his statement sounds reasonable.

DA

His comments are mostly related to Princo DVD-R. I do not remember the figures I read somewhere before but 40 cents per disk seems to me exaggerated or outdated.

Princo does not supply "most" of the cheaper media. The world's No. 1 DVD media producer is Ritek and its market share is not over 40% as far as I know.

As long as the insider information in the trade is completely revealed in real time, I cannot trust such comments from people who import and sell the media for their profits at face value. I have faced enough number of such people on South Korean web who twist information usually not publicly available to suit their own purposes.

Let's suppose...

Princo $0.56 retail priced DVD-R media = no loyalty paid
Ritek $0.7x retail priced DVD-R media = paid (?)

Princo makes profits at least twice more than Ritek per each DVD-R they make and ship? What about Lead Data, CMC, and Prodisc? And where did the information come from? DVD Forum in Tokyo or Pioneer?

The fact that Princo used TDK's code was reported on a very popular website at least five months ago in Japan.

@boblx2

Is your source the same one or is there more?

[boblx2]

Well I have ordered some more of the Ritek 4X discs. This time I ordered them from Hypermicro. If they don't work on the Sony, like the previous ones I bought, that is okay because they work perfectly on the A05. I will let you know if there is a difference. I seriously doubt that there is but we will see..............

[SubbyWubby]

Ok guys I'm a new poster here but I have read alot of information on the forums regarding 4x media for the Sony DRU-500A, well I happened to purchase that same media from HyperMicro and had the same problems with the Ritek Media buring at 2x even though it says its buring at 4x in Nero.....now on the other hand I ordered Pioneer OEM 4.7 GB DVD-R Media 4x from http://store.yahoo.com/runpc/pionoem47gbd.html and have successfully burned them at 4x now what is weird about this Pioneer Media I purchased it shows as Manufacturer ID: RITEKG04 in DVD Decrypter same exact ID as the ones I purchased from HyperMicro execpt these burn at 4x with no problems and played back fine on my standalone dvd players. I hope this information is useful to you guys.

Thx

[boblx2]

Subbywubby, thanks very much for the information. I tried to order now but could not reach the site. It is probably a very busy site.
I noted that it was specified for the Sony and the Pioneer drives, unlike the Mertiline which was only specific for the A05 drive where it worked perfectly. It is peculiar that Pioneer media would work on a Sony drive when nothing else does. I have heard right along that this whole mess was to do with royalties from the different media makers.

I will try it again. Thanks again for letting us know some useful information and verifying that my Sony drive is probably not bad. There have been some who said the Meritline media worked on their Sony drives so I was beginning to wonder.

..........