Which DVD+R media is best for long-term storage? [2006-2007]

Which DVD+R media currently available would you recommend for long-term storage and for those situations where only the best is good enough?

You can select all the media codes that you think qualify - multiple choices are possible.

This poll supposes that a real (not fake) media code is used, and that the best grade available of that media is used - not "value" line media and not downgrade media sold under various discount brand names.

Media codes a.k.a. MID a.k.a. Manufacturer IDentification
All DVD media have a manufacturer identification code (MID) which is supposed to tell a DVD recording device about the characteristics of the media, so that the recording device can select the best way of recording (burning) the media.

Some brands use the same media manufacturers for their media, and this makes it possible to find the same media code under different brand names. Some manufacturers even use the media codes of other manufacturers, and this is popularly known as "fake" media codes.

How do I find media with a certain media code (MID)?
The easiest way is to use the VideoHelp.com media database to see the media that people have reported. You can search on several criteria, with DVD Media Code being one of them.

Here are direct links to search results for the media codes in this poll:

CMC MAG. E01	CMC MAG. M01	DAXON AZ2	DAXON AZ3
MAXELL 002	MAXELL 003	MBIPG101 R04	MBIPG101 R05
MCC 003	MCC 004	OPTODISCOR8	OPTODISCR16
PHILIPS C08	PHILIPS C16	PRODISC R03	PRODISC R04
PRODISC R05	RICOHJPN R02	RICOHJPN R03	RITEK R03
RITEK R05	SONY D11	SONY D21	TDK 002
TDK 003	YUDEN000 T02	YUDEN000 T03

Please note that some of the search results may be using "fake" media codes, and some may be downgrade media sold under discount brand names!

How do I find the media code for my DVD media?
Use Nero CD-DVD Speed (can be downloaded for free here), load your DVD into your DVD burner, select the Disc Info tab and look for MID under Basic Information:

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Last edited by DrageMester; 18-06-2006 at 06:40. Reason: Emphasized that multiple choices are possible!

I voted for MAXELL003, MCC003 (I meant to check MCC004, too), and YUDEN000T02.

YUDEN000T02 is one of the best discs available for initial burn quality, and most realworld aging data suggests these discs are highly stable.

Burn quality with MCC003/004 is nearly as good as YUDEN000T02, and I haven't heard many complaints regarding stability. Having said that, CMC Magnetics made MCC is the only outsourced MCC I fully trust. I just plain don't trust anything made by Prodisc for long term use, and MBIL seems to have some underlying burn quality/write strategy problems.

Finally, I chose MAXELL003 because it, so far, seems to have the best overall consistant burn quality of ANY MID! Couple that with this accelerated aging test where Maxell took top spot, and I'm convinced that Maxell can make some seriously kickass media when the "put their mind to it". In order words, their premium grade media.

I have switched to + just recently.
I'm using Plextor's YUDEN000 T03 (16x DVD+R Taiyo Yuden) right now but I can not
determine the longevity of a product which has been on the market just half a year or less.

I voted for quite a few, naturally (I'm a +R girl) - but I see that I'm the only voter for MBIPG101 R04 so far

@Arachne: no, You are not the only one

Already voted for several MIDs, but adding one:
OTHER : RICOHJPN R01.
It's still possible to find some. I bought several 10-packs from SVP not so long ago. - fantastic quality and stability.

I would have voted for this MID, but I can't because of recent bad experience of fast degradation with the Ricoh-branded ones.
I still recommend this MID under the TDK brand.I'm with you one this one. - actually I'm surprised that it's not in the poll. Even if they are hard to find now, I guess some people still have a couple of these discs in their drawers...?

That's understandable. I'd even be hesitant to recommend the Imation ones til I've had them a bit longer

I'm sorry, but this makes as much sense as a thread: "Which user will live longest?"
Hell, who knows?
It might be a lot better to ask which media has shown aging already! THAT is something we can observe.

Best wishes,
ux-3

When we learn a media holds data for long time it's probably taken out of the market long ago. On the other hand it's hard to determine MCC004 or TYG03 are good for longtime archiving since noone has had them for long. Still i think these polls are very good for telling what's better media and what's not.

Actually i think any post about suggestions for best media should be deleted bc ppl can just look here. If there are other problems they can post in blank media forum

santa it is about what is easily avaialable. As generallyanything below 8x is nigh on impossible to get these days it is not much point in having them in the poll.

16x has been around long enough for people to extrapolate the possible longevity, especially MCC004, TYG03 has nothing to do with this thread, though I see where you are coming from where TY16x is concerned.

I get the point but yet, if users are wondering if these strange Ricoh-branded 4X +R discs that are lurking in their drawer or at their local shop are any good, I think it does make sense to mention that it's among the best media available and can be burnt @8X in most drives (and even @12X in Benq drives with SB/OS) with excellent quality and near-perfect stability.

BTW, some street shops still carry 2X media...

Whoa, I'd really want to get some more 2x and 4x media, especially if it's MIJ or MIS. My little collection of ten YUDEN000 T01 is small!

Oh yes I have seen 2x but only in the RW range, and Tuffdisc at that Though now I am going to have to look more closely at the +Rs just to see if I see any.

I agree that's why drage most probably put in the "other". My Traxdata are that MID, and are holding up well, though the only place I could get them was at the poundshop, and they have sold out I was going to get a load for a friend who still has a NEC1300A.

Its too bad that ricohjpnr01 isn't made anymore. I would take it burned at 8x over a lot of the 16x media avalable right now. I did see some ricohjpnr01 at wallgreens the other day (maxell 4x+r) though it was horribly overpriced (probably why they still have it). How is this for a scan of a 3 year old disk. I'm betting if I looked hard enough I could find something 4 years old that scans as good. Fyi this scan was done about 20 minutes ago.

i have had only one experience with RICOHJPN R01 / Imation (25-cake) and i must 100% agree with all guys who mentioned them, these are excellent discs

I actually got lucky (for once). When I first started burning, office max would occationally run imation on sale really cheap, and any time they had something else on sale really cheap (including off name stuff), when they ran out (5 minutes after they opened on the first day), if you bitched and complained enough they would usally substitute imation. Even though I didn't even know what media codes were at the time, I knew that the 25 packs of 4x+r were good (the ones in bare spindles only, the ones with the spindle in a box were ritek). I uses almost exclusivly ricohjpnr01 from the start. It's no wonder that later when I found out what media codes were, I kind of became a richojpnr01 fanboy. Now I think I would trust mcc003/mcc004 the most right now (though I still have a few hundred r01 for special stuff).

I'm using Ritek R03 from 1.5 years ago, and now still read fine

TY and again TY, but i also vote maxell + mcc + TDK, never had any problems with this MID's .

What strikes me is that so many people have voted for YUDEN00T03, though there is no data whatsoever to judge of the expected longevity of these discs. This is blind faith.... not very rational IMO.

Just seen this, and your other reply in the -R thread...while I understand where you're coming from - this could have made a really good discussion topic when the polls were being considered...

It would be nice to have 5 years worth of solid evidence regarding the longevity of DVD media you can buy now. Unfortunately that is virtually impossible in a fast-moving technology field such as this.

The media types, that were released long enough ago to get a good understanding of the long-term behaviour, aren't generaly available in stores anymore. That's why there is no 4x or slower media in the poll(s).

The media you can actually buy now haven't been around long enough to get solid evidence about how they will work long-term.

So it's not an ideal scenario and a compromise is necessary in order to have any poll at all on this subject. Having poll choices for media that you can no longer buy is only of academic interest IMO, so it's better to have some choices for newer media that you can actually buy now!

I got my first Taiyo Yuden 16x DVD+R (YUDEN000 T03) media seven months ago, so it has been available for enough time to get at least some idea of its behaviour. I'm not going to speculate on how long other people, who voted for T03, have had their T03 media.

Me neither. I'm not going to speculate on anything, as I'm sure people have their own very good reasons for where they place their votes.

I think I got my Plextor T03s around the same time as you, BTW.

I voted for Verb, TY and strangely enough, CMC MAG E01. I've got 1 1/2 year old TDK CMC MAG E01s holding up just fine. The only discs showing problems are those which got scratched due to mishandling (my early disc storage techniques left a LOT to be desired - I just chucked the whole pile of discs on a table in a stack then).

I would vote for Maxell MIDs as well but those are impossible to buy here in Singapore. All the Maxell discs here are bloody ritek or ricoh.

Some posts discussing CMC MAG E01 have been moved to a separate thread, so that this thread doesn't go off on a tangent:

CMC MAG E01 discussion