[MacDV] DVD-R Media

[Danny Grizzle]

On 1/27/03 5:53 PM, "Ian Tucker" <carlian at picknowl.com.au> wrote:

> Getting back to DVD-R media; I decided to use the Google search
> facility in Safari and managed to locate a warehouse in Canberra A.C.T.
> (Technology Warehouse Australia) which had 50 disc spindles for $A152.
> This price incs. freight.    The brand is "MAXMAX" ...........has
> anyone had any experience with these?

I do not try to save money on cheap optical media. DVD-R is not a commodity
product. I am also happy to pay for premium CD-R discs.

There have been plenty of published horror stories about discs which verify,
then fail to read only weeks or months later. Manufacturer quality control
is everything. To my way of thinking, laser action on the dye layer in
recordable optical media is like getting your ears pierced. Just as an ear
can weep and heal, so too can a dye layer slowly ooze, migrate, and fill
pits.

You are right to investigate brand names. For example, Memorex, despite
their consumer advertising as a "premium" brand, is untrustworthy. They have
been known to OEM label goods purchased off the spot market with very little
quality control or consistency from batch to batch.

I would located a trusted brand and a trusted vendor. Vendor is critical
because of care and attention to storage conditions. For critical,
irreplaceable discs, it is wise to not only record multiple copies for
storage at separate locations (fire, etc.), but also multiple copies at each
location on different brands of media, to insure against the possibility of
a bad batch or manufacturing run of an otherwise excellent product.

Any recurrence of disc failure would warrant blacklisting the brand.

Danny Grizzle