Ritek 4X DVD-R Silver - $1.99 each, 10, 25, or 50 pieces!!!

[jdindino]

Came across these on my search for budget media for the A05, thought someone might find these useful:

http://www.qtccdr.com/product-detail.cfm?category=DVDR%20Media&subcategory=4%2E7GB&product=DVDR%2DS4%2E7G%2D4X&unit=N


Decent (although limited reviews) resellerratings:

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1742.html[/url]

[Kennyshin]

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

In the above thread, you can find the same retailer and more about inexpensive 4x DVD-R media.

[boblx2]

Notice that the link that jdindino found for the Ritek 4X media also specs the A05 and does not mention the Sony DRU-500A

Interesting! Anyone find a link for 4X media that specifies the Sony drive, I have not found one yet.

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[jdindino]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but I thought the "free firmware update" Sony released for the DRU-500A was for 4x on DVD+R, not DVD-R. It was my understanding the DRU-500A does not do 4X DVD-R. I just sold my DRU-500A and got in on the Cendyne (Pioneer) DVR-105 deal at Officemax this week for $150.92 after tax and rebate.

[VEFF]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but I thought the "free firmware update" Sony released for the DRU-500A was for 4x on DVD+R, not DVD-R. It was my understanding the DRU-500A does not do 4X DVD-R. I just sold my DRU-500A and got in on the Cendyne (Pioneer) DVR-105 deal at Officemax this week for $150.92 after tax and rebate.

Actually the DRU-500A does BOTH DVD-R and DVD+R at 4X...

[jdindino]

I stand corrected. I've sold my DRU-500A to a friend, once I get some of these Ritek 4x from the link above I can give him one to try to see if it will work with the DRU-500A if anyone's interested.

[boblx2]

jdindino, I would be interested because I have tried the Ritek 4X from two different vendors on two differenet Sony DRU-500A's w/1.0f firmware and neither of them would burn at 4X with this media. They burned it at 2X. However the media would burn at 4X with an A05.

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[jdindino]

I just ordered the media today, so when I get them next week I'll post the media info and take them over to my buddies house and try them out and post the results here.

[VEFF]

jdindino, I would be interested because I have tried the Ritek 4X from two different vendors on two differenet Sony DRU-500A's w/1.0f firmware and neither of them would burn at 4X with this media. They burned it at 2X. However the media would burn at 4X with an A05.

...........

Was one of the vendors Microcenter?

[boblx2]

No, actually they were meritline and Hyper Microsystems. I am burning one of the Hyper discs right now on the Sony and it is actually averaging less then 2X. It peaks at about 2.3 but also drops off to .6 very often. So I doubt the average is anywhere close to 2X. We have two Sony DRU-500A's here with the 1.0f upgrades and this is the results on both of them. Either we have two bad drives or two batches of bad media from two seperate vendors. I could be convinced that we have two bad drives because we bought them from the same vendor at the same time. We actualy bought the drives from a local retailer named Fry's. I would not be too surprised to find that these were some bad drives that Sony sold off as seconds are something. This retailer sells lots of products and then never has them again. Kind of like they got them from a railroad sale or something.
However we paid top dollar for them. And there was no mention of them being defective. They are supposed to have the full Sony warranty, etc.

I should also add that both batches of media will burn at 4X on our A05 drives.


..............

[jdindino]

Precisely why I got rid of my Sony. Although the new 1.0f firmware solved alot of the cheap media issues, it doesn't seem to have done anything for the high speed (or lack thereof) burning issues. I paid like $335.00 with tax on my Sony DRU-500A, and just sold it for $315.00, plus I took advantage of the $50.00 rebate, which I have confirmed I will receive with Sony. Fortunately, I made about $30.00 after rebate, and got in on the Officemax deal for the Cendyne (Pioneer) DVR-105 (A05) for $150.92 after $50.00 MIR (Which is still going on, BTW). The Cendyne doesn't seem to have any problems with the cheap media either for 1x, and many people report the sub $2.00 DVD-R 4X discs work fine from multiple vendors mentioned in this thread. I'll take the extra $200.00 saved and bought 100 4x media with the $$$$ I saved. My .02.

[VEFF]

No, actually they were meritline and Hyper Microsystems. I am burning one of the Hyper discs right now on the Sony and it is actually averaging less then 2X. It peaks at about 2.3 but also drops off to .6 very often. So I doubt the average is anywhere close to 2X. We have two Sony DRU-500A's here with the 1.0f upgrades and this is the results on both of them. Either we have two bad drives or two batches of bad media from two seperate vendors. I could be convinced that we have two bad drives because we bought them from the same vendor at the same time. We actualy bought the drives from a local retailer named Fry's. I would not be too surprised to find that these were some bad drives that Sony sold off as seconds are something. This retailer sells lots of products and then never has them again. Kind of like they got them from a railroad sale or something.
However we paid top dollar for them. And there was no mention of them being defective. They are supposed to have the full Sony warranty, etc.

I should also add that both batches of media will burn at 4X on our A05 drives.


..............

Sorry, I meant Hypermicro, oops.
Thanks for the info. I will need more discs in the relatively near future; I had been considering these, but now I may wait...
Which burning software are you using?

[boblx2]

Most of the burning I am referring to is using DVD Decrypter but I also use Stomp Record Now Max 4.50. Neither of them will burn at 4X using the media mentioned. Since you managed to burn at 4X there must be a problem with these drives. I guess we need to send them back to Sony.

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[VEFF]

Most of the burning I am referring to is using DVD Decrypter but I also use Stomp Record Now Max 4.50. Neither of them will burn at 4X using the media mentioned. Since you managed to burn at 4X there must be a problem with these drives. I guess we need to send them back to Sony.

........

I haven't tried any 4X media yet, so you might have mistaken me for one of the other posters above?
I was planning on getting some 4X media soon, so I will wait till more
information is available.

One of the sellers of the branded Ritek 4X DVD-R media (about $2.60 - 2.70 versus $2) lists them as being ideal for the DRU-500A...
Not sure if they are different from the unbranded hympermicro ones...

[VEFF]

I stand corrected. I've sold my DRU-500A to a friend, once I get some of these Ritek 4x from the link above I can give him one to try to see if it will work with the DRU-500A if anyone's interested.

I am interested as well.

Thanks!

[boblx2]

I am no longer sure who claimed that Ritek 4X worked at 4X on their Sony DRU-500A. I know I read posts from some and was told I needed to buy the "real" Ritek 4X discs from Hyper Microsystems. So I did that and found that they are exactly the same as the Meritline media. As I mentioned though, all is not lost they work fine on my A05. But I would really like to get them (or any othere 4X media) working on my Sony because that is why I bought the Sony. So it is a 2 edged sword: They do not work at 4x on my Sony but they are the only media that work on my A05 which is refreshing. Before this I wanted to send the Pioneer back! But I would like to pin down whether the Sony is just bad or if it is a bad design, bad firmware, etc. I know the media works at 4X so now I need to come up with why it don't work on at least two Sony's that I know of. One post indicated that I needed to downgrade the firmware to 1.0d in order to burn Ritek media at 4X. This didn't seem right but I am willing to do it if it will make the drive work.

Thanks for your information and help........