Nominate brands and media codes of your favourite blank DVD media

For the past two years you have been able to vote for your favourite blank DVD media in three different polls.

A lot of changes have happened in the last two years regarding what brands and media codes are available, which brands use what media codes, and which media is produced where.

So we think it's time to make some new 2008 polls with DVD media available today.

We will have one poll for brands (e.g. Verbatim, Memorex, Sony etc.) that people consider good enough for everyday use, without having to resort to careful selection such as e.g. "only the photo printable kind Made in Bulgaria by Acme Corp on Thursday afternoons".

We will have one or two polls for media codes (e.g. MCC 004, SONYD21, TYG03 etc.), depending on whether all media codes will fit in one poll; if not there will be one poll for DVD+R and one poll for DVD-R. The polls will assume legit media codes (not fake stuff) and the best grade of that media (not value line, overprints or similar secondary grades).

The poll(s) by media codes will be for long-term use - i.e. media you trust to last for a number of years.

We intend to poll by media codes instead of by specific product numbers, because there are far too many different product numbers such as e.g. Verbatim Archival Grade, Verbatim Hard Coat Protection, Verbatim MediDisc which are all premium MCC 02RG20 media and which exist in different packagings, which would account for at least 7 different choices just for this single media code.

You can nominate any brand and any media code that is still generally available, even if you don't use it yourself - we want a broad number of poll options that people can vote for.

Examples of what NOT to nominate:
Plextor (no longer make blank media)
TYG01 (4x media no longer generally available)

You can nominate as many brands and media codes as you like. In two weeks (June 16th) the nominations will close and polls will be created from the nominated entries.

You are also welcome to post suggestions about the form of the polls - you might think of a better way to do it than we have.

So, let the nominations begin...

Yuden000 T02

TYG02
TYG03
YUDEN000 T03
MCC 003
MCC 004
MCC 02RG20
MCC 03RG20
MKM A03
MKM 01RW6x
MKM 001
MKM 003

Taiyo Yuden (unlabeled)
That's
Verbatim

SONY D21

Incidentally, Target is having a sale on SONY blank media this week! I believe you can get a 50-disc spindle for $14.

In my limited experience

TYG 02 (Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD-R) based on personal experience
YUDEN000 T02 (Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD+R) based on recommendations here
MCC 004 (Verbatim 16x DVD+R) based on personal experience

Brands

• HP ***
• Verbatim ****
• Maxell */**** (mixed, in-house MXL-coded production being the better discs - see comments)
• LG **
• Benq **
• That's ****
• Mitsubishi ****

I'm not nominating any MID because of the varying quality from brand to brand for the same media code, and the possibility of fakes. I feel that going by MID isn't going to help much these days, because IMO things have changed a lot during the last 3 years, with manufacturers producing even more different "grades" of media depending on the contractors and the price these will offer.

These days I never recommend a MID without mentioning the brand/variation thing. An interesting exception could be YUDEN000T02 though, as fakes seem to be rare, and consistency pretty acceptable to good, over brands and sources.

I understand that the "specific model" approach would be too much work, nevertheless I think it would have been the ideal way to approach such a poll.. because of examples such as:
Panasonic-branded TYG03 (I wouldn't recommend separately Panasonic or TYG03)
Maxell broadcast quality which are great (standard Maxell can be really mediocre sometimes)
etc ...

But this would be more work and less fun.

Yuden000 t02

Mcc 004

As described in the first post, this nomination and the resulting poll(s) assume that the media code is legit (genuine - not fake) and the best grade (not secondary grade).

It's the closest we think we can come to group similar media without having to list hundreds or thousands of different but very similar disc models.

You can nominate brands and media codes that you wouldn't yourself use or recommend, but that you think should be included in the polls.

In Order (I trust these for long term storage) My most cherished back ups
YUDEN000 T02(Sony & Fuji or Silver Thermal)
MCC004(Verbatim)
TYG02(Silver Thermal)
MCC003(Verbatim)

good stuff I do not use much but I like(Probably good for long term storage also)Good for everyday use.
Any 16x Optodisc Shiny Top
Any 16x Ritek
CMC MAG E01
Prodisc F02 Shiny Top
RicohJPN R03 (Office Depot)
YUDEN000 T03(Silver Thermal)
MCC 03RG20(Verbatim)

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Last edited by jamescooley1; 02-06-2008 at 18:50.

Very good media, but no longer produced and almost impossible to find these days.

The best grade is indeed very good, but only the secondary grades seem easy to find these days, at least in Europe.

Brands: Verbatim, Sony, HP

Media Codes:
MCC 004
MCC 03RG20
MCC 003 [still available as VideoGard, DigitalMovie, etc in the US]
MCC 02RG20 [still available as VideoGard, DigitalMovie, etc in the US]
MKM 001
MKM 003

SONY D21
SONY16D1

YUDEN000 T02

If space permits:
RITEKF1
RITEK F16
ProdiscF02
CMC MAG M01 [HP-branded]
CMC MAG AM3 [HP-branded]


Comments: the Ritek and Prodisc media is under the Maxell brand, but I avoided listing Maxell as a brand because they also use CMC media that's more variable than HP-branded stuff.

The CMC codes are generally best quality under the HP brand. The 16x stuff is generally even better under LightScribe, though some have found the opposite.

Verbatim's 8x stuff is "easily" found at Best Buy as Verbatim's video-oriented discs. However, the lack of availability elsewhere may not make it worth it to list them.

I have not personally experienced Taiyo Yuden unbranded discs, and the YUDEN000 T02 comes in the way of old stock Sony media.

I've got some backups that still play after four years,
on RicohjpnR01 discs.
Unfortunately they're just about impossible to find now.

Yeah sorry Drage I forgot MCC003 is no longer in production, but it is easy to find still in the USA I just picked up 400 last month.

Guess I'll have to eat my words...

Verbatim's North American website lists two 8x DVD+R media, presumably MCC 003, so I guess we will consider them still generally available in North America and include MCC 003 in the relevant poll.

SONY ( YUDEN T02 ) Non Accu Core
FUJI ( YUDEN T02 and TYG02 )
MAXELL PLUS Series ( TYG02 )
HP Light Scribe v1.0 ( CMC.MAG. AE1 & E01 )...and more

No Verbatim because always I got bad Batch

Mediacodes (in no particular order):

CMC MAG. AM3
MCC004
TYG03
YUDEN000 T02
SONY D21
SONY16D1
RICOHJPN R03
CMC MAG E01

Brands (again in no particular order):

Verbatim
Sony
HP

All these, of course, are assuming that the media code is legit and best grade, as Drage pointed out.

Tygo3

Mcc 004

Brands

Ricoh, Datawrite, Infiniti, Intenso

Nominated brand: Verbatim.

MCC 003 is still easily available online in North America from places like Meritline, in a 100-pack, and at retail shops in an oversized 25-pack called the Digital Movie spindle.

I agree that CMC MAG E01 should not be on the list, because the premium branded stuff is mostly gone. The only thing left in North America is Nexxtech, and that is definitely B-grade.

Oh dear, I'm sorry, I admit I've ben reading the first post too fast.

So here are my nominations, non-MCC-nor-TY (because there's no need to add to the others input, and everyone already knows I love YUDEN000T02 and MCC004 anyway )


MXL RG03
MXL RG04
MAXELL002
MAXELL003
MBIPG101 R04
CMC MAG E01
CMC MAG AM3
OPTODISCR016

Yeah, actually we need some bad brands in there (so newbies can see we don't think much of them, so you can add these anti-nominations of mine then:

Ridisc
Rimedia
Datasafe
Arita
Mediarange
X-trade

@CJ2: I used to love Ricoh and to like Infiniti, but they both fell at the Memorex level IMO.

None of this media exists anymore. Sony TY? Gone. Fuji TY? Gone. Maxell TY? Recently discontinued, I believe. Lightscribe E01 & AE1? Pretty sure that's gone too, but don't quote me on that one.

I'm not sure if the Maxell media codes can be considered generally available anymore, what do others think?

Can't hardly find MXL RG04 or MAXELL 003 in North America, but I assume it's plentiful in Europe?