# [Multi]DVD & CD Reviews



## tkin (Mar 3, 2012)

Hi guys, in this digital era most important to us are our datas, pics, movies, games, songs etc, and to keep them safe we are ready to go to any means possible.

Now we know HDDs are extremely unreliable, not to mention the hell they are costly these days, pen drives are also unreliable and prone to getting lost, cloud is not an option here(to hell with NIB), so only safe means to store data are DVDs and CDs(for compatibility, no one uses cds anyway).

In this article of mine, I will review dvd and cds regularly, of different brands, local, imports, all will be tested and tried, this will take some time as I have to gather the discs, but be patient, all will be done soon.

*Hardware:* ASUS DRW 24B3ST, LG GH20NS10(for old discs, to test archival abilities).

*Tools used: *
1. DVD Identifier, to read the Mediacodes.
2. Nero Discspeed 10.5 to test quality.


*Companies tested so far are:*
Verbatim(TTH02 by TDK): *brand new
Moserbaer(MBI 01RG40): *brand new
Lasertras(CMC.MAG.AM3): *4 yr old disc, so low quality, but scans very good, better than new Moserbaer
Frontech(RitekF1 by Ritek): *old
Phillips(CMC.MAG.AM3): *old
Sony(Sony 16D1): *old
Writex(MBIPG101): *old


*
Reviews:*

*1. Verbatim:*
*Media Code:* TTH02 by TDK(afaik TDK do not make discs any more, they are using the code, I have to dig up more).

*Quality scan of new DVD, burned @ 8x by Nero Discspeed:*
*i.imgur.com/ArFQP.png

*Impressions:* Hell yeah, looks at this scan, its the best so far among all disc I had tested, look at PIF, very good disc, quality scan also turns out good, don't expect taiyo yuden quality, but the best discs you can buy locally, and its cheap too, about 12/- per disc, buy this eyes closed. Remember this is the 50 pack DVD-R spindle available at Flipkart, letsbuy and ebay(dvdstoredelhi), it says azo, also some people have wrong impression that itbazaar aka dvdstoredelhi imports verbatim only, they do not, verbatim has official presence in India, itbazaar imports made in japan discs, which are best, but atm out of stock.



*2. Lasertras(local):*
*Media Code:*CMC.MAG.AM3 by CMC Magnetics.

*Quality scan of 4yrs old DVD burned @ 8x by LG GH20NS10 Drive:*
*i40.tinypic.com/23tpj0x.jpg

*Impressions:* PIE and PIF values appear ok'ish, specially PIE which looks very good, quality is not good since its been 4 yrs, but better than old moserbaers, I bought these disc for 10/- so surprisingly good. And the disc still reads fine on any drive.



*3. Moserbaer*
*Media Code:* MBI 01RG40 by Moserbaer India.

*Quality scan of new DVD, burned @ 8x by Nero Discspeed:*
*i41.tinypic.com/34o7z1d.jpg

*Impressions:* Not good, PIF is lower than Lasertras, but for a new disc its not that good, quality score looks cr@p for a new disc, awful, really. Not suited for long term storage, but good for 2/3 years storage, and distributing. Price is 14/- per disc, so its not that good at all.

*Contribution by Tenida:*

*1.**FRONTECH DVD-R*

*Manufacture name:* *[Ritek Corp.]*
*Manufacture ID:* *[RITEKF1]*
*Screenshots:*


Spoiler



*i.imgur.com/zW1xL.jpg
*i.imgur.com/cuKus.jpg
*i.imgur.com/RmKdw.jpg


_________________________________________________________________
*2.**PHILIPS DVD-R*

*Manufacture name:* *[CMC Magnetics Corp.]*
*Manufacture ID:* * [CMC MAG. AM3]*
*Screenshots:*


Spoiler



*i.imgur.com/Zgt7j.jpg
*i.imgur.com/a3yiq.jpg
*i.imgur.com/ujvua.jpg


_________________________________________________________________
*3.**SONY DVD-R*

*Manufacture name:* *[Sony Recording Media Co.]*
*Manufacture ID:* *[Sony16D1]*
*Screenshots:*


Spoiler



*i.imgur.com/4yNfn.jpg
*i.imgur.com/fgZym.jpg
*i.imgur.com/NI0wP.jpg


_________________________________________________________________
*4.**WRITEX DVD-R*

*Manufacture name:* *[Moser Baer India Ltd.]*
*Manufacture ID:* *[MBIPG101]*
*Screenshots:*


Spoiler



*i.imgur.com/o2BRo.jpg
*i.imgur.com/hLKZs.jpg
*i.imgur.com/EISFK.jpg



*The guys who made it possible:* *Tenida*


*How you can contribute:* You can test dvds, cds, bds etc, you need to get these tools(free) and first use DVD Identifier to test the Mediacode, take a screenshot of that page and post pic here(optional), next burn it @ 8x or 16x in nero disc speed under burn tab, KEEP ALL SETTING DEFAULT, take a snap the same way(optional), next test the quality of the disc under quality tab and take the snap(must), then write a review like I did, with pic and impressions and I will merge your post here with mine with your name on the contribution list, this is a big job and I need all of your help.
DVD Identifier - Your DVD, HD DVD & Blu-ray Companion
Nero DiscSpeed 11 - VideoHelp.com Downloads

*PS:* For some drives the quality tab in discspeed does not appear, to fix it go here via regedit: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Nero\Nero 10\Nero Toolkit\Nero DiscSpeed\CD Quality

And double click the key blocked, and remove entry for your drive(samsung, TSST both for samsung drives, HL-DT for LG and plextor for plextor, or remove them all together).

Regedit is a tool that can render your system useless, do not use it if you are not experienced with it, I can't be held responsible if you screw up.


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## sumonpathak (Mar 3, 2012)

hokey...got some dvd's in my hand...tell me what to do


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## tkin (Mar 3, 2012)

sumonpathak said:


> hokey...got some dvd's in my hand...tell me what to do


Read the contribute part.

Download the two softwares I posted above, install and run them, test already burnt disc with nero discspeed(quality tab)(default settings), take screenshot and post here, I'll merge them.

If you have a new disc and wish to sacrifice one, then burn it from the discspeed tool from the create disc tab @ 8x(for local dvds), for good dvds like verbatim you can use 16x but 8x is advised then test quality. Post away.

PS: For some drives the quality tab does not appear, to fix it go here via regedit: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Nero\Nero 10\Nero Toolkit\Nero DiscSpeed\CD Quality

And double click the key blocked, and remove entry for your drive(samsung, TSST both for samsung drives, HL DT for LG and plextor for plextor, or remove them all together).


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## Revolution (Mar 4, 2012)

Thanks for review!
Next time I wanna see a review on Verbatim DVD+R made in Japan too.....
Want to see the difference between AZO and Imported Janap Discs.


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## tkin (Mar 4, 2012)

Revolution said:


> Thanks for review!
> Next time I wanna see a review on Verbatim DVD+R made in Japan too.....
> Want to see the difference between AZO and Imported Janap Discs.


Out of stock everywhere, now verbatim has official presence here, doubt they will import discs from japan here.


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## thetechfreak (Mar 4, 2012)

Well, a really well done and well written review 

Well done


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## tkin (Mar 4, 2012)

^ Thanks.


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## sasha007 (Mar 4, 2012)

So are verbatim discs better than moser bear , Sony discs as well .?


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## tkin (Mar 4, 2012)

sasha007 said:


> So are verbatim discs better than moser bear , Sony discs as well .?


Verbatim(Made outside India)>>>>>>>Moserbaer

Have to test Sony out.


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## Vyom (Mar 4, 2012)

A good initiative. Personally I used to use only Moser Baer, but then migrated to Sony and never looked elsewhere. These benchmarks can surely bring the best brand out.

Expect some contributions from me soon.


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## tkin (Mar 4, 2012)

Vyom said:


> A good initiative. Personally I used to use only Moser Baer, but then migrated to Sony and never looked elsewhere. These benchmarks can surely bring the best brand out.
> 
> Expect some contributions from me soon.


Some sony dics, if you can spare a disc, make a new disc and test, and also test an old disc.


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## Revolution (Mar 5, 2012)

tkin said:


> Out of stock everywhere, now verbatim has official presence here, doubt they will import discs from japan here.



Huh,strange!
Why price still high then ?
Verbatim price should be decrease now......


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## Zangetsu (Mar 5, 2012)

Good Article I will try to help also...


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## tkin (Mar 5, 2012)

Revolution said:


> Huh,strange!
> Why price still high then ?
> Verbatim price should be decrease now......


What high? Verbatim, 12/- per disc, moserbaer 12/- per disc, sony is like 15/- per disc.


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## Revolution (Mar 6, 2012)

tkin said:


> What high? Verbatim, 12/- per disc, moserbaer 12/- per disc, sony is like 15/- per disc.



No,I mean last time Imported Verbatim was also available at that same price.
So,though price should be less cos the are not imported.


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## tkin (Mar 6, 2012)

Revolution said:


> No,I mean last time Imported Verbatim was also available at that same price.
> So,though price should be less cos the are not imported.


Well, moserbaer's are made in India, 12/- per disc, sony imported from abroad(maybe), cost is 15/-

Verbatim, imported, 12/- per disc


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## Revolution (Mar 7, 2012)

Sorry.I'm kinda confused.
U told Verbatim AZO is now available in India and don't need to import from Japan.
R those made in Japan or India ?
I mean these r the same one which were previously imported by dvdstore or other ?.....


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## tkin (Mar 8, 2012)

Revolution said:


> Sorry.I'm kinda confused.
> U told Verbatim AZO is now available in India and don't need to import from Japan.
> R those made in Japan or India ?
> I mean these r the same one which were previously imported by dvdstore or other ?.....


Well, verbatim is currently imported by verbatim india, some discs are made in taiwan(50pk dvd-r with azo label), some discs are made in India by moserbaer(100pk dvd-r), now verbatim dvds made in Japan are best(taiyo yuden), there were imported by dvdstoredelhi(ebay seller)/theitbazaar.com, but out of stock now, verbatim india does NOT import from japan, but these made in Taiwan discs are fine for archival use.

As for your concern, these dvds are imported: *www.flipkart.com/verbatim-dvd-r-50...fGXiCpEMb2p6CuA--&_r=8BZycwWYzy9y0Kp1c8Uj4Q--

And these are the ones I had reviewed.


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## Revolution (Mar 8, 2012)

Flipkart charge always little extra than other.
Saw Verbatim DVD+R 10 Pack Spindle Rs.188/- at Flipkart.
Why so high ?
Do u think DVD+R way better than DVD-R ?
What's the main difference ?
I never used any DVD+R till now....


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## tkin (Mar 8, 2012)

Revolution said:


> Flipkart charge always little extra than other.
> Saw Verbatim DVD+R 10 Pack Spindle Rs.188/- at Flipkart.
> Why so high ?
> Do u think DVD+R way better than DVD-R ?
> ...


True that, dvd+r is same as dvd-r, just that they are managed by different groups of companies, like hd-dvd and blue-ray, dvd+r supports a few extra features but nothing that concerns us.

PS: Verbatim DVD-R is imported, not sure about DVD+R.


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## Tenida (Mar 10, 2012)

*1**FRONTECH DVD-R*

*Manufacture name:* *[Ritek Corp.]*
*Manufacture ID:* *[RITEKF1]*
*Screenshots:*


Spoiler



*i.imgur.com/zW1xL.jpg
*i.imgur.com/cuKus.jpg
*i.imgur.com/RmKdw.jpg


_________________________________________________________________
*2**PHILIPS DVD-R*

*Manufacture name:* *[CMC Magnetics Corp.]*
*Manufacture ID:* * [CMC MAG. AM3]*
*Screenshots:*


Spoiler



*i.imgur.com/Zgt7j.jpg
*i.imgur.com/a3yiq.jpg
*i.imgur.com/ujvua.jpg


_________________________________________________________________
*3**SONY DVD-R*

*Manufacture name:* *[Sony Recording Media Co.]*
*Manufacture ID:* *[Sony16D1]*
*Screenshots:*


Spoiler



*i.imgur.com/4yNfn.jpg
*i.imgur.com/fgZym.jpg
*i.imgur.com/NI0wP.jpg


_________________________________________________________________
*4**WRITEX DVD-R*

*Manufacture name:* *[Moser Baer India Ltd.]*
*Manufacture ID:* *[MBIPG101]*
*Screenshots:*


Spoiler



*i.imgur.com/o2BRo.jpg
*i.imgur.com/hLKZs.jpg
*i.imgur.com/EISFK.jpg


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## tkin (Feb 16, 2013)

*Updated first post with Tenida's inputs, sorry for bumping this guys, but I'll be adding some more scans soon.*


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