What DVD+/-R media should you buy?

DVD +/- R Media
Ever wondered why "cheap" DVD +/-R blank media is , um, cheap? Replace the "he" in cheap with an "r".The major manufacturers of blank DVD media contract out bulk stuff (spindles of 25, 50 100 etc.) to a company known as CMC Magnetics in China. The packaging might say TDK, Verbatim etc. but the discs are rubbish. CMC has the WORST repution for media anywhere. Individually packaged TDKs, Verbatims etc. are probably the real thing, the ONLY bulk media worth using is Taiyo Yuden (considered the best by the "experts" and power users out there). They cost around $1 per disk in bulk and are available from JPL Displays in Melbourne (you don't need a Credit Card, direct deposit into their account at your local Commonwealth Bank - I think).

How do you know what you have got??
Download DVDIdentifier (FREE);
Install it;
Run it.
Insert your blank DVD into the drive and click on Identify.
Be surprised that your 16X Verbatim is really an 8X CMC!!!!
Take the blanks back to where you bought them from and get a refund.
Don't buy that rubbish again.

Tips on burning DVDs (found out the hard way):

ALWAYS use quality media, cheap blanks DO NOT LAST - I have stuff that is less than 12 months old that will no longer play in anything (Princo brand, really more CMC cr*p).

ALWAYS burn at half the rated speed of the blanks (or slower if possible). The slower the burn speed the higher the quality. If you have a 16X burner and 8X blanks then burn at 4X. Trust me!!!

ALWAYS use Custom Ratio when using DVDShrink to create "backups" of your DVDs. Automatic uses the least possible compression to fit data onto the disc, thereby writing to the extreme outside edge of it. This is where the dye is at its weakest, particularly with cheap blanks (see above). Use Custom Ratio to compress it a bit further, thus avoiding the outside edge. Ever watched a pirated movie only to have it go nuts almost at the end?

If so, all three Golden Rules above have been ignored!