Verbatim Quality

[MikeyBK]

I have had at least a 2-3% failure rate with mcc004's but almost all those were in one set of disks from a spindle of 100.

Every now and then I run accross a bad tyg02 or yuden t02.

Same thing happened to me on a spindle of Verbs once, about 10-12 right in the middle of the spindle had some weird haze on it and they all failed, other than that I've gone thru 50 and 100 count spindles and have had virtually 100% burn rates.

I've also run across one or two TY discs that failed, but that is rare. I don't, however, use as many TYs as Verbs.

[MikeyBK]

@rahzel,

Well I'd say then that you and dolphinius rex know far more than me about media, because I have never contacted Mitsubishi-Kagaku directly, I've just been going on common knowledge from all the other members here and at a couple other forums and based on personal experience.

So cheers to you for knowing what you do and sharing.

[lordsmurf]

see next post

[lordsmurf]

The DigitalFAQ was written by a guy under the alias "LordSmurf". he gets most of his info is from people he knows, not from personal experience.

Your guesswork about digitalfAQ.com is entirely false.

Part of the reason the media guide is so well respected is because it based on experiences and tests from multiple users (and not just any user, but knowledgeable ones that work in related tech/media/video fields). I am absolutely one of these users, and have used recordable DVD technology since the DVD-R/General was released in 2001.

there is a thread over at CDFreaks where pretty much EVERYONE is making fun of it and hes defending himself. just search the forums at cdfreaks or cdrlabs and ill bet youll find lots of negative things about the DigitalFAQ media guide.

Arguments over guides tend to happen because people want to either nitpick or they fail to understand the point of a guide. It's there to assist you, a review to help you select better-known media. It's not meant to be the DVD equivalent of a religious text.

Most criticisms over the blank DVD guides stem from two things: (1) techs that want more mumbo jumbo and everything written to such detail that the guide would be a novel uncomprehendable to the average person it is intended for, or (2) people who want lesser quality media to be given undeserved higher rankings because they think their own personal experience overrides the more enlightened "general" experience of many more users. Ritek and CMC have long been the two most in question, though Ritek worship has pretty much died as folks started to realize how overrated it was during 2003 and 2004.

Is it jsut me or is the quality control at Verbatim on the decline? Ijust bought a spindle of 100 (16X DVD-R media ID is MCC03RG20 Taiwan) and I looked at the first DVD and it was real dirty espefcially at the beginning and at the outer most edge. I have been washing them with warm watter and a weak solution of dish soap. Both DVD's I have just burnt have pixilation at the start but then are OK. MCC03RG20 is first quality media but the quality controll at packaging is going down hill. I think I will be going back to Sony DVD's.

To address this post directly, Verbatim (Mitsubishi) is some of the best media you can buy. I've used it myself since 2001. Typically when you have a problem with an MCC disc, it's time to start looking at the burner and other secondary issues that could have affected your experience.

Media is a complex topic. Do not blame the disc too easily. There are quite a few factors to consider before arriving at the conclusion that a disc is bad (or good, for that matter!).

Good luck with all your burns!

[MikeyBK]

Good to see you stop in to explain your media FAQ guide and your knowledge in the area. For the most part I have to agree that Verbs have been top tier. However I did encounter a strange spindle which members here have stated that they believe is Prodiscs manufactured (+IDed Verbs), and that the better Verbs made in Taiwan are manufactured by CMC (PAPA IDed Verbs).

What are your views on this matter and and how did you come to that conclusion?

I'll attach the thread link afterwards.
Here is the thread

http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=73410

[lordsmurf]

Good to see you stop in to explain your media FAQ guide and your knowledge in the area. For the most part I have to agree that Verbs have been top tier. However I did encounter a strange spindle which members here have stated that they believe is Prodiscs manufactured (+IDed Verbs), and that the better Verbs made in Taiwan are manufactured by CMC (PAPA IDed Verbs). What are your views on this matter and and how did you come to that conclusion?

Verbatim media is pretty much the same from any of the plants manufacturing it, because the same materials and processes are used to create it, to Mitsubishi specs. They spent a lot of time in money a few years ago to bring those plants "up to speed" with their own technologies (like using metal azo dye), and the transition from a single Singapore plant to multiple outsourced plants really went smoothly. It allowed them to keep up with demand without sacrificing quality. Any differences between the media tends to be psychological for the most part, usually only stated by media "purists" that get too wrapped up in PIE/PIF type testing. Some folks just try to over-explain things too, which is where all the media myths and fallacies come from.

I will say that there are some curious results with Moser Baer discs from time to time that suggest it may be lesser than the others, but it's pretty marginal.

Personally, I would prefer either of the Taiwanese medias. For the most part, that's all I have access to anyway, in stores near me.

If you ended up in the unlikely scenario of buying a Verbatim spindle that reacted badly to your burner, and you were able to rule out all other variables (there are quite a few!) to conclusively blame the disc itself, then I would simply remind you that not every single disc that comes off the assembly line will be good. Not from any country, any manufacturer, any plant. That's precisely why a media guide exists in the first place, to help folks learn which media will be more or less likely to burn coasters.

As a consumer, anytime you buy anything, it's a gamble. But at least with a product like Verbatim/MCC, the odds are in your favor. So you're a wise consumer to use these discs.

Glad to help.

[Chewy]

In using over a 1000 disks between myself, my son and a friend or two that we shared some blanks with, using tyg01,2,3 and Yuden t02 and verbatim mcc 004, the ty media had 99.9/100 % success rate and decent scans.
The verbatim had a few bad disks and a lot more lower quality scans, some excellent also.
My bad spindle of verbatim suffered a 5% failure rate but also yielded several very high quality burns.

[MikeyBK]

It's quite possible that my experience with the bad '+'IDed Verb spindle was a fluke in that I just happened to get a defective spindle and it just happened to be the first and only '+'IDed Verbs I had ever gotten. All my other Verbs , all have PAPA ID#s.

Just seemed like too much of a ridiculous coincidence, but not an impossibility I guess. After replacing the '+'IDed Verbs to PAPA IDed Verbs, all is perfect once again.

[rahzel]

Arguments over guides tend to happen because people want to either nitpick or they fail to understand the point of a guide. It's there to assist you, a review to help you select better-known media. It's not meant to be the DVD equivalent of a religious text.

Most criticisms over the blank DVD guides stem from two things: (1) techs that want more mumbo jumbo and everything written to such detail that the guide would be a novel uncomprehendable to the average person it is intended for, or (2) people who want lesser quality media to be given undeserved higher rankings because they think their own personal experience overrides the more enlightened "general" experience of many more users. Ritek and CMC have long been the two most in question, though Ritek worship has pretty much died as folks started to realize how overrated it was during 2003 and 2004.

your guide is respected? as far i see, its not very well respected lol. some of the stuff on your guide is OK as a rough guide to buying media for people who are clueless. but for us who know, your guide is full of inconsistency.

you should know that with recordable media, things can change on a dime and the fact there are different grades of media from the majority of manufacturers out there.

also, i have personal experience with both CMC and Prodisc made, and lets just say my experiences with Prodisc made are not so great. i have also seen many others have problems with Prodisc made Verbatim media. CMC is far more consistent than Prodisc, and although i don't own any Moser Baer made, from what ive seen and from what ive been told from dolphinius rex, moser baer is better than prodisc as well. just because its made with the same materials and standards of Mitsubishi doesnt mean that all of them will be consistently similar. manufacturing quality obviously plays a VERY large part in the consistency of the media and from what ive noticed, CMC and Moser Baer (CMC especially) have much more consistency than Prodisc. another example of Prodisc's inconsistency is MikeyBK's case (in this thread: http://forum.digital-digest.com/show...=73410&page=3).
how can the problems be linked to your DVD burner if the CMC and/or Moser Baer made Verbatim work fine with your drive, but Prodisc doesnt? i mean, to you, they should be "pretty much the same", right?

to me, and to many knowledgeable people around the net, know that dolphinius rex knows his stuff. he knows more about recordable media than anyone i know. he has direct contacts with several manufacturers and some of them come to HIM with questions, and i completely agree with his criticism towards your media guide that i posted earlier in this thread. whoever people here choose to agree with is their choice... frankly i don't really care.