I know what media I want, now how do I buy it?

Blank Media
#1

I am new to this strange world of cdfreaks and the idea of buying quality media. There is a piece of information I did not see in any of the FAQs: I know what media I want, now how do I buy it?

I have tried to figure this out for myself, but even with a lot of reading I have failed. If the answer is not “go read the FAQ”, I will take what information I get here and write it up into something FAQ-like.

To start, I’ll include two helpful things I have found that most people reading this probably are already aware of. First, a page at videohelp.com that lists what media corresponds to which media code; it is HERE. Secondly, I also found a very informative, and recent, thread right HERE at cdfreaks that discusses what mediacodes mean.

  • [li]Question 1) As an example, I did some research, and asked a question here at cdfreaks, and I have decided I want to buy some MCC 02RG20 or MCC 03RG20 DVD-R discs. But how, exactly, do I do that? If I go to microcenter.com and look HERE at their Verbatim brand discs in the 8x speed, there are a LOT of options, including at least: “plain” in two differnent package designs, inkjet printable, “digital movie”, and LightScribe.
    [/li]
    Are these going to all be the same media code? How could I have discoverd the answer? Please note I am looking for a general answer not a specific one. (I have already found a source of the media I want.)
    [/ul][ul]
    [li]Question 2) Again as an example, at videohelp.com I can see people report that the MCC 02RG20 media code has turned up under roughly twenty different brand names. Am I correct, though, that this information is not usually useful helpful to me, as most of these brands sell a variety of media in the same packaging?
    [/li]
    Another example might be to suppose I wanted Taiyo Yuden TY02 media. From poking around the forums, and in particular in this THREAD, I can see that looking for Sony 8x media with a hexagonal spacer is a good bet. Is there a more general way to learn how to find the media one wants when the same packaging (Sony) is used for multiple manufacturers?
    [/ul][ul]
    [li]Question 3) To further complicate things, it appears the country of origin may be an issue as well, as mentioned for example in THIS thread. Is there a general way to find out for a particular media what countries of origin are available, and which are preferred?
    [/li]

Thanks for any input, hopefully I’ll be able to contribute a FAQ-like answer once I understand this material.

#2
  1. I actually only see one 8x option for Verbatim DVD-R at the Micro Center site and when I visit one of the physical stores—The Digital Movie discs. They indeed are MCC 02RG20. All of the Verbatim 16x -R discs sold in North America, regardless of packaging or surface, are MCC 03RG20, guaranteed. This is just known from people buying Verbatim media over the years.
#3

I slightly mis-wrote question 1. Instead of “… discs in the 8x speed,…” I
meant to write “… discs in the 16x speed,…” Oops.

You did a fine job answering what I tried to ask though - You are saying that there is no way (other than “knowing”) that all Verbatim 16x -R discs in NA are going to be 03RG20.

And by “knowing” I am including doing a lot of reading on this board.

-Ben

#4
  1. I actually prefer MCC 02RG20 to the 16x flavor, but it’s getting harder to find at retail… Verbatim or other. If you’re seriously concerned with the end result rather than the fun of hunting down obscure rebrands, you might consider these links:

Verbatim DLP MCC 02RG20 from ACCA/Rima
Verbatim DLP MCC 02RG20 from Newegg
Verbatim DLP MCC 02RG20 from Meritline

  1. I like the DataLifePlus line because it has always given me good results. I’ve never seen any MiI -R DLP, only MiS and MiT. Other members can probably give you a more complete/accurate answer on this one, though.
#5

Such a FAQ as the one you’d like is almost impossible to pull off. :disagree:

There has alaready been a fair number of similar requests, actually!

The problem? Well, things change too fast for 90% of the available brands on the market. Such a FAQ would almost need daily updates. :doh: I don’t think anyone is willing to do that, even less so since [I]consistently reliable[/I] sources of info to update this FAQ would be hard to get.

As for -R MCC. The only consistently reliable sources of A-grade -R MCC are the Verbatim and Mitsubishi brands, period. Infiniti was a consistently reliable source until recently, but not anymore (see my sig). The vast majority of other brands selling MCC media are either offering lower grade MCC or fake MCC.

In most of the world, “Made in Taiwan” and “Made in India” Verbatim DVDRs are MCC media, and “Made In Japan” Verbatim DVDRs are Taiyo Yuden media.

Though recently, in some countries (Brazil, Argentina) some “regular packaging” 16X Verbatim are RITEK (R05 + F1). This is something new that is gonna make things more complicated when people want to be sure to get MCC, as they will have to learn how to identify… the cakeboxes! :doh:

The MID/Brand/Model reports at Videohelp.com are very interesting for research, but are not a reliable source of info for MCC media since for many of these reports, users have no clue if they really have genuine (= not faked) media in their hands. :doh:

#6

Thank you for the feedback, here is a possible FAQ entry:

I know what media I want, now how do I buy it?

After learning about the range of DVD media, you have come to a decision, and are now wondering how to buy this media. Hopefully, you have a mediacode. If you don’t know what a mediacode is, you should read this fantastic summary.

Next you can use a very helpful reference at videohelp.com, which is linked HERE. You can go from manufacturer to mediacode, or mediacode to manufacturer.

At this point, your challenge begins. Suppose you want some TYG02 discs. As of this writing, videohelp.com lists 98 different manufacturers that have sold discs with this mediacode. You might recognize, say, Fuji as a brand sold in your local store. All set, right? No. Go to videohelp.com, and enter fujifilm, dvd-r, and 8x. You will now learn that these discs can have three different mediacodes! In general, there are few easy answers, with two exceptions addressed below.

One other wrinkle is the country of origin. Sometimes the quality can vary depending on what country the discs were manufactured in.

Realistically, the only solution is to use the search function and look through the recent threads here at cdfreaks. People will often write about what mediacode they found inside the package, once the shrink wrap was opened.

Exception 1) Verbatim discs, especially those sold in the United States, are almost always MCC 0xRG20 or MCC 00x.

Exception 2) Taiyo Yuden discs are amazingly popular here at cdfreaks, so you will find a lot of discussion of how to find discs to buy with Taiyo Yuden mediacodes, both at retail and mailorder.