Fake (?) Verbatim DVD+R

Blank Media
#1

Hello, this is my first post.

I am relatively new to all this CD/DVD burning stuff.
I just recently bought my first box of blank DVDs, but prior to that I browsed these forums to find out more about the available media and the differences between them.
The general consensus was that Made in Japan DVDs were the best, so I decided to buy some of these.

So I went into Office Depot, and they had SONY, SILVER LINE, TDK, TEAC and VERBATIM DVD-Rs and DVD+Rs.
I must have gone over all the boxes and cakes on the shelves, looking for the text “Made in Japan” – but I just couldn’t find it!
All these vendors manufacture their discs in India or whatever.

Then, suddenly, I spotted a cake of Verbatim DVD+Rs, and the label clearly stated “Made in Japan.”
I was thrilled, but upon close inspection of the label I noticed that the copyright statement said “© Merbatim Corporation, 2005”.
I compared these to other Verbatim cakes, and those others (manufactured in India) clearly stated “© Verbatim Corporation, 2005”.

I also noticed that the “Merbatim” cake label was of slightly lesser printing quality when compared to the other Verbatim cake labels.

Are these “Merbatim” DVDs fake? Has anyone ever seen one of these?

I have to say though, that if these are indeed fakes, then they are very good ones: they are nearly indistinguishable from genuine Verbatims.

#2

Hi grosz, welcome to the forum :slight_smile:

Don’t panic just yet, there are a few things we can check over to see if they’re fake, or it was just an innocent typo.

Open up the box, and have a look around the hub (centre) of one of the discs for a set of hub codes. The Verbatim disc I’m looking at now has one code on the see through part of the hub, and is Made in India.

If you find a set of numbers/letters in that area, please post them, and we can go from there :slight_smile:

#3

Were these 8x or 16x discs?

I somehow doubt that Verbatim make innocent typos.

#4

I rule nothing out :wink:

The hub codes will tell a lot of the story. And FWIW, although they could very well be fake, I would have thought Office Depot were too big a chain to risk selling fake stuff. It’s like finding fakes in PC World.

Edit: However, since the OP is in Israel, I don’t know how tight big chains there are on buying in fake stuff. So they may very well be fake. :wink:

But again, as I said, rule nothing out because anything is possible.

#5

This is most likely genuine Verbatim 16x DVD+R (YUDEN000 T03) in a 50 disc cakebox.

I have read about the Merbatim typo in the “Italian Chat” subforum of CD Freaks once, [B]eltranquil [/B]posted a scan of the shrinkwrap. But I can’t find it right now. :confused:
This was also mentioned on some German forums.

Apparently Taiyo Yuden doesn’t like Verbatim much. Their 20 disc slim packs of Verbatim Pastel 52x CD-R also had a picture of the “Compcat Disc” structure…

#6

Interesting…thanks for the info, Evilboy, much appreciated. :slight_smile:

Looks like it could be a typo after all then :p…albeit maybe not so innocent :wink:

And ROTFLMAO @ the part in bold, that’s brilliant :bigsmile:

#7

OK I concede that. :slight_smile:

#8

Thanks for all your responses.

My post wasn’t clear enough: I did NOT buy the “Merbatim” discs, because I suspected they were fake.
Instead, I ended up buying a 25-disc cakebox of Verbatim “photo printable” 16x DVD+R, made in Taiwan.
(Nero InfoTool says these are MCC 004, but you gurus probably know that already… :))

But now that I know “Merbatim” was a typo, I think I will go ahead and buy those “Merbatim” discs anyway. It seems like MIJ DVDs are quite hard to come by here in Israel.

BTW: Is it ok/possible to use a regular Sharpie or CD marker to write on the white surface of a “photo printable” Verbatim DVD?
I don’t have one of those DVD label printers.

Thank you all – this is a great forum!

#9

Sure. :slight_smile:

#10

25pc. cakeboxes of MIJ Verbatim 16X here in Europe have a grey bottom (as opposed to black for MIT or MII). The 50pc. MIJ cakes have the typical Taiyo Yuden shape that can easily be distinguished.

At least make a little drawing on those printables, [B]grosz[/B] :wink:

#11

How do you make a typo when every label should be printed in huge bulk quantities?

I sense fake. Taiyo Yuden is not the ultra best media ever. Verbatim MCC004 is easier to obtain and it works just as good if not better.

Take the risk if you want. I hope they aren’t too expensive.

#12

How do we know that a huge amount with a typo didn’t make it out? Just because we haven’t seen them. :wink:

Anyway, it may be fake, it may not. IMO only hub codes would help here, and it looks like that may not be possible to find out. :slight_smile:

However, I agree with MCC004 being just as good, if not better :wink:

#13

Verbatim (real MCC Verbatim) also had a typo once… they linked to www.d[B]h[/B]dhs.com instead of www.dvdhs.com on some MCC 03RG20 packaging. :bigsmile:
If you google, you can find out more about it.
Of course TY is not godlike, but the MCC/Verbatim guys are not godlike either.

If you pick MCC 004, you should always prefer Made in Taiwan (or Made in Singapore, if you can find it) over Made in India. I just had an inconsistent MCC 004 batch from India (I have more pretty scans than just this one) :a

#14

-It’s just a wrong typo for batches made in 7/2006, (also in many 25discs spindle),as I asked for info,local distributor.
-Here,there are many cake boxes mix with other with right typo.-They are all genuine YUDEN000 T03 :slight_smile:

#15

Hi,
I saw yesterday cake with Merbatim info, so is it really typo or fake? Could I buy it as TY?

#16

Today I bought Verbatim DVD+R 16x (YUDEN000 T03) - cake 50. Merbatim too :slight_smile:
Here is my “screenshot”

So is there any final opinion about this media (Verbatim DVD+R 16x (YUDEN000 T03, Merbatim, reorder 43550)? Is it worth taking?

#17

Hehe, nice screenie :D…I like the way you included the hub code, nice touch :smiley:

#18

Yes, but first burn is not so “shiny”
Media: Verbatim 16x DVD+R (YUDEN000-T03)
Drive: NEC 3550A->4551A 1-X3
Burn speed: 8Ñ…

81a295f8bf8d.png645×531 38.6 KB

#19

You know you can attach your scan to your post using “Manage attachments”, stops long loading times from hosting sites :flower:

#20

Done!
I thought small preview (even from other image hosting sites) are way better then large image-attachments :slight_smile:
Especially for those who has bad inet or “weak” pc (rendering fullscreen images with P200Mhz is not so easy too)