How many of you are actually able to get great quality burns often? From reading these threads over and over again, I am really regretting purchasing this drive. If some of you could please tell me what sort of media you have had best results with that would be great.
So far I’ve used ritek g04 and g05 and they’re garbage. They might scan at around 95 in nero cdspeed and then a week later they drop down to 90 or lower.
You will find out by reading the forums here that ritek is poor media, and Verbatim is one of the best. This forum http://club.cdfreaks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33 Has more info on good/bad media.
I’d stick with +R media for this drive. -R seems to be okay but I get far better scans on my Taiyo Yuden +Rs than I do on my TY -Rs.
Thank you for your responses! I have read the forums regarding media tests over and over again, I’m eager to hear from users of the 3520 to post the media/media codes that have worked best with their 3520. 
I only used a couple of medias for prolonged time with my 3520A, they are Ritek G04 4x DVD-R and Taiyo Yuden 4x DVD-R. TY media is definitely a better one to use, giving great burn quality everytime even at 8x. Ritek gives decent quality only at 4x. Will try Verbatim too in the future, heard many good comment about them.
I only use Verbatim 16x -R media, and never a hiccup. Best Buy and Shopko on occasion will have these on sale for $9.99
$9.99 for 1? For 15? For 25? For 50? For 100? 
I assume these are straight Verbatim (DataLife) and not the DataLifePlus? Made in Japan or Made in Taiwan? What’s the media code? Have you done PI/PO scans on them? I’ve given up on trying to find Made in Japan Maxell and FujiFilm DVD-R. Maxell sold me a 100pk that was supposedly MIJ and turned out to be RITEKG05. I can’t find MIJ FuliFilm anymore. Time to find another media. In the meantime, I’ve resorted to T-Y via mail order. Ugh.
I just purchased 5 spindles of fuji 8x dvd+r , 4 of them are yuden000 t02 and are far better than the ritek g03/g04/g05
The last spindle was prodisc 0001 -r and to be honestl, i’m not even gonna bother testing it. I’ll just return it and try to find more of these made in japan fuji’s.
I get the best results with TYG01 AT 4x, then TYG02 at 8X, then TDK TT02, YUDENT02, and old style Ritek R03, all at 8X. I also get superb results with Ritek +RW RICOHJPNW11. The least desirable is Verbatim MCC 003 and finally Verbatim 02RG20. I don’t use any Ritek anymore because of quality control; the same for Prodisc. Firmware is L&D’s 1.UF.
Burnmaster from Allmediaoutlet.com is genuine TY and a very good price.
What about the Verbs 16x + MCC004 I have had great success with them and 1UG firmware
9.99 for 25 Verb 16x + and - at Best buy tomorrow 7/24
I have yet to burn any 16X media as I go for quality burns rather than speed and there is not a significant savings in time as there was when we went from 4X to 8X.
Sooner or later all the media will be 16X multispeed media and I will have to adjust and buy some. In the mean time I am stocking up on 8X.
BTW, Verbatim MCC will be my first choice when I take the plunge.