Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Derrek]

I have recommmended REX brand DVDs as a cheap alternative for blank DVD disks. I can no longer do so. I have found that a lot of my discs worked after the burn, however in the past 6 months, they have started to show errors. I'm not sure if it is because of the dye inside, or if they are effected by even the smallest scratch (they scratch very easy).

I am currently burning onto SONY media that I bought in the USA. I've had no problems with it so far. I am beginning to wonder about the long-term durability of burned DVDs.

[mindmetoo]

On the CD front, I've found no decent Korean CDs that last beyond a few months. Granted I'm a bit brutal on my CDs, but they all start to cloud over after a few months. Meh.

[the saint]

[Derrek]

I've done some google searches on DVD media, and learned, to my sadness, that DVDs are graded with A, B, C, and D levels of quality. A named-brand manufacturer will keep the "A" level disks for themselves to sell in USA/Canada, etc., then sell the other disks off to vendors in Asia. Or they sell them as "Data" disks that aren't as good as video disks, etc.

One way or another, they don't want to lose money, so they sell the disks anyway. Other companies will buy the disks and apply an off-brand name, such as "REX" or whatever. I had some disks by FORTIS that were pure crap... must have all been "D" level disks. You could see the defects easily. They looked like little warps inside the DVD. Maybe 1 in 10 even burned.

I will no longer use cheap media for burning DVDs. It's just not worth the trade-off in cost and time. By the way, most errors seem to happen in the last 1/4th of the disk. I've read that others have the same problems.

There have been several complaints by people online that one company -- Ritek -- used to make excellent disks. Many sites recommended them, however now, they are slipping their "B" disks into regular stock and people are finding problems. And get this.... TDK is selling the Ritek "B" disks as their own. Some guy in Canada checked into this (there is some program out there which tells you data numbers which say who made the disk).

There seems to be a lot of screwing around in the market, and some stores are buying the "B" level disks or worse, and passing them off mixed into their "A" stock, etc., to make a higher profit.

Useful links on durability:

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116473,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp

http://www.cd-info.com/tech/media/quality.html

[Demophobe]

Yes...it's hard to know. I have some real cheapies that have lasted years and are still going strong. I keep them in a CD book, out of heat and light, etc...

Anyhow, good tip on the "Rex" DVDs, although I have never seen them here. I am using some Japanese ones right now that seem alright. Time will tell I guess.