CMC Media

[katana]

I recently came across some fairly cheap 'CMC' DVD media. Hope that's enough info to identify them.
How are these for quality? Anyone used them?
Thanks in advance for any info.

[UncasMS]

stay away from them ^_~

go for media from ricoh, verbatim or taiyo yuden

[2COOL]

Personally, I don't go for name brands or the company that makes them. I go for where it was made. If it's printed on the spindle's label, "Made in Japan" or Made in Singapore" I will expect it to be a way better quality than "Made in Taiwan", which seems to be what the majority of common computer stores sell. I just hate when I see Memorex goes on sale 50% off. It's just so tempting. These Taiwanese blanks seem to go on sale alot and the consumer, who doesn't do any research, will fall prey to buying these impulsively. Try going to a Best Buy or CompUSA store and just look over where most of the DVDs are made on the label. I can almost guarantee you that 95 to 99% of them is made in Taiwan. You might get lucky. One time my CompUSA had a couple of Made in Japan TDKs mixed in with the Made in Taiwan TDKs. It's like platinum amongst the silver.

Most of the time, I don't even need to use software like DVDInfo Pro to tell me what type of disc I have. If I know where it's from by glancing the label on the shelf, I don't bother.

That's why I buy my blanks on the internet and make sure I'm buying discs that are authentically made in Japan or Singapore and Taiyo Yudens is what I'm using now.

Another factor is the standalone players people have. Some have sensitive laser focusing and some are not. Cheap standalones will play almost anything. But, they are some of us who prefer high-end or top name brands so we learn the hard way when mix-matching good players with certain cheap discs. Here's an analogy. If you buy an over-$50,000 car, would you put in cheap gas with low quality additives into it? And if there were 2 gas stations with quality gas, you'll find through professional auto-maintenance technicians that a specific brand works optimally better with the specific car you have.

[UncasMS]

I go for where it was made

agreed

i have only bought ricoh made in japan for quite some time - taiwan based stuff can be very crappy

[dellwen]

I got problems with CMC media also. I rarely finish a burn with this media.

So I don't use them anymore. I go for Ricoh Japan. (which is readily available here)

[2COOL]

Thanks dellwen for your feedback.

[anonymez]

the same thing goes for 'princo' media. it seems i am the only one who is able to burn it flawlessly on my LG... everybody else despises it

but i still worry that maybe there is some hidden problem with my princo burns, so i stick to TDK, never had a single problem with either of my LG writers

[Taelon]

The only time I bought TDK, it turned out to be CMC MAG E01 media. Luckily I got thru all 50 of them without any trouble, but don't plan on pushing my luck

As far as checking the label, while I've heard buying only "Made in Japan" is usually a good indicator to go buy, the first RiData's I ever bought (online order) said "Made in Taiwan" on the cakebox label but turned out to have MID = RICOHJPNR01

[Chewy]

Sorry to be back on topic but my beloved Ritek R03s are, I believe, made in Taiwan. Hundreds and hundreds of burns - not a single coaster. Plays in my SONY and NAD.

For DL, I go only with Verbatims.

Regards

But will they COF? 4x? source?

and play in a ps2

[Chewy]

Maybe there is some hope for Tawain, I still have my doubts.

[alienfinder]

I used CMC and have not ever had a coaster and I use optodiscs aswell.

[katana]

Thanks for all your replies. Seems like some people get no problems with them. Looks tempting to buy a small quantity and try them out. The only thing I may be worried about is that 10 years down the line, the disks may not last as long as so-called better quality media like Ritek G04 etc.

[2COOL]

Maybe there is hope for to restore Taiwan's reputation on DVDs or should I say FVDs (Forward Versatile Disc).

Guided by Taiwan's Advanced Optical Storage Research Alliance (AOSRA) in conjunction with the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the FVD format is based on a red-laser based high-definition DVD.

Read more here

[anonymez]

@katana: the reason why i stopped purchasing the very cheap quality 'princo' discs was because of their overall physical apperance ( ). the top layer of the disc, where you are supposed to label the disc with a pen, was peeling off. this was with ~50% of the 50-disc spindle i bought. that made me wonder how long they would last, so i burnt those movies onto higher quality media, and i will never touch princo again. better to be safe than sorry (where sorry = having to back up your discs again )

@blu: ugly fingernails make the ring look even better

PS. my 1000th post!!

[decrypter]

Sorry to be back on topic but my beloved Ritek R03s are, I believe, made in Taiwan. Hundreds and hundreds of burns - not a single coaster. Plays in my SONY and NAD.

For DL, I go only with Verbatims.

Regards

Youa playa filmo on youra nads?