Advice needed buying Taiyo Yuden Disks

[tagor1]

I was wondering if someone on this board would be kind enough to help me.
I have been reading posts on here for days now trying to figure out what blank DVD disks I should buy, and honestly most of this stuff is "way" over my head.
I have given a honest try, sorting through the vast amount of information, and do understand some, but could honestly really use some advice.
I have a collection of family videos that I want to burn to DVD.
My main goal is to buy a reasonably high quality DVD, that will be reliable and store the data safely for a long time.
I am using a fairly in-expensive burner (NEC ND3550A / 16x8x16x DVD+RW / 16x6x16x DVD-RW / 8x DVD+R DL / 6x DVD-R DL / 48x32x48x CD-RW / Black / Dual Layer / OEM DVD Burner with Software)
After reading your posts I have decided I want to buy some Taiyo Yuden Disks, as they are generally regarded as the best.
I hope this is a good choice, if not please tell me.
My problem is that even having made this decision, I had no idea ordering them would be such a problem for me.
There are so many choices, 4X, 8X, 16X, what the top surface has on it, how they are packaged, and if they are genuine or fake.
Right now, I have been using Maxell, Memorex, BenQ, disks. Usually 8X and I generally buy +R
I live in Canada, and have found two online web sites located in Canada (much easier to buy from with credit card authorization, shipping and duty hassles)
http://www.tape.ca/products/dvdmedia.html
-and-
http://www.blankmedia.ca/prodsubcats.asp?id=62

I guess what I am really asking is could someone just tell me what disks to buy and from which site??

Are either of these web sites reliable? (not selling fakes) Or are there any better Canadian sites?
I think I would like either 50 or 100 qty.
Should I worry at all about +R or -R (I know there is debate, but for home movies is it really important, my main concern is reliability of data storage)
I do like the look of a white surface on top better than shiny (I find markers look nicer on them) but not a 100% need.
I am fairly happy with 8X, but would 16X be better for not much more $$
Should I even consider the "value" disks? My instinct say's no.
I would be willing to spend a little more $$ for a spindle to store them on...
And finally, is my DVD burner ok? (Don't really want to buy a new one)
Thank you for any advice offered in advice, it is really appreciated.

[SantaKlaus]

Should I worry at all about +R or -R (I know there is debate, but for home movies is it really important, my main concern is reliability of data storage)

I can only reply to this part of the question as I live in Europe and don't know the stores overseas.

My personal advice is to go for the +R if you're concerned with stability, I have read tests showing that the -R TY discs are less stable than the +R ones.

[DrageMester]

tagor1, welcome to the forum!

If you want to burn your family videos to DVD I would presume that those are invaluable to you, and you definitely don't want to lose the content due to bad media or accidents during handling!

That's why I always recommend in such cases to burn every video onto at least two different DVD media from either different manufacturers or different types from the same manufacturer. Then you can use one of the copies, and you can store the other copy in a safe location.

The reason I recommend two different media types or manufacturers is, that this minimizes the chance of losing both copies simultaneously due to a production problem in a single batch of media.

Using Taiyo Yuden media as one of those manufacturers is a very good idea, because TY media is widely regarded as being among the best media available. The most compatible TY media currently are the 8x rated DVD+R and 8x rated DVD-R media.

For the extra copy of your videos, I suggest using e.g. Verbatim 16x DVD+R or DVD-R media which is the most widely compatible 16x rated media.

Should you worry about +R vs -R media? Maybe!
There is a small percentage of DVD players that don't play DVD+R media, and there's a smaller percentage of DVD players that don't play DVD-R media. Of the DVD players that don't play DVD+R media, most of them will play these media if they are burned with a booktype of DVD-ROM.

In other words the compatibility of DVD-R media and DVD+R media with DVD-ROM booktype is roughly the same, but DVD+R media without DVD-ROM booktype is slightly less compatible with (older) DVD players.

Your NEC ND-3550 can burn DVD+R media with booktype DVD-ROM, but only if you flash your drive with unofficial firmware supporting bitsetting. You also need to change the default booktype to be DVD-ROM after flashing the firmware. You can get such firmware here (e.g. Liggy's ND3550 Bitsetting Firmware 1.06).

If you don't want to mess around with unofficial firmware, you will get the most widely playable DVDs by using DVD-R media.

You can get DVD media with different surface types, mainly those that can be printed upon using an inkjet printer and those that can't. The non-printables are less expensive, bu if you have a printer capable of printing on CD/DVD media and you want to print labels on your DVDs, you can buy the printable surface media instead.

I don't live in Canada, but I have seen many canadians posting that blankmedia.ca is a very reputable shop.

[Icy_Mt]

OK, let me simplify:
Best for least:
DVD-R 8X Taiyo Yuden Shiny (TYG02), $21 for 50 (These should burn @12x in your burner no problem)_: http://www.blankmedia.ca/proddetail3.asp?id=303
If you want to print them:
DVD-R 8X Taiyo Yuden Printable, $28 for 50: http://www.blankmedia.ca/proddetail3.asp?id=406
Backup with different manfacturer and media and +R for double safety and compatibility per Dragemester's suggestion:
Best for least:
Verbatim DVD+R 16X Silver (MCC004), $28 for 50: http://www.blankmedia.ca/proddetail3.asp?id=663
I'm not an NEC user but these get better results @12x for a lot of people.
If you want to print them:
Verbatim DVD+R 16X Printable $29 for 50: http://www.blankmedia.ca/proddetail3.asp?id=1035

[tagor1]

Thanks so much, exactly what I needed, great advice!

[trevorgehman]

I would personally get the 8X DVD-R, Tayo Yuden brand from http://www.Rima.com.

Last I checked they were $15 for 50 of them.

[smata67]

Just a comment here on the "shiny" TYs. I just got a batch and I'm not that thrilled with how difficult it is to read writing on the surface and it also shows fingerprints, scratches, and dirt more than a matte finish, which is usually what you get retail. I am referring to the "silver lacquer thermal" type here. I personally would get the inkjet printable or buy other branded TYs if I wanted to write on the surface.