Unbranded media

[TheRealMe]

I know that in most communities, unbranded media is greatly frowned upon, and for very understandable reasons. Well, I've found an extremely cheap "brand" of unbranded DVD that works just as good as anything I've ever used. I found out about them from my friend, who is not a trader, but a, let's say, DVD burning enthusiast. He said he'd gone through 200 blanks worth of these discs, and only had 2 burning errors! So I though...sure, what the heck, I'll snatch some, they're cheap, I won't be too put out if they're crap. So I did...and after going through 200, I've had less than 5 lemons (not counting the ones caused by my own idiocy). They come in 50 packs, so you couldn't really blame it on "good luck"...these discs are for real. What do you guys think?

[gsmyth79]

DVD media is very computer and burner specific. What works for you and your friend may not work for someone else.

In the future if you find a sweet deal like that I would recommend trying one before your get a whole lot in case your computer doesn't like them.

[AAR.oner]

for personal burning, thats great...but because of peoples varying systems, its best to use namebrand when trading with others...in addition, most "no-names" don't have as good of a shelf life as higher-end discs for archiving...i pretty much only use TYs for trading now, because they have proven themselves time and again

we've got a thread over here http://www.thetradersden.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5141
that people post good deals on media in...check it periodically

[Ted]

I can attest to the "unreliability" of the cheaper discs. I've burned so many that work on my drive, but when I put them in another drive, they don't read - as if they're still unformatted.

I don't use "good" discs, so I can't say anything about them, but I have seen in many places and heard from many people that TY's are the best.

I'm not into trading discs BTW, so don't get the idea I send out cheap discs. I'd use good ones for someone else ;)

[TheRealMe]

Some interesting information guys...very useful! Thanks.

[TheRealMe]

Ok, another question: I was looking at those TY discs, and they look similar to the discs I'm talking about. I was under the impression unbranded meant that there were no logos or anything on the top of the disc.

So the ones I'm talking about are called "Sonic". Here, I guess I'll give you guys a link and see what you think. http://www.shop4tech.com/user.htm?go=view_item&id=2687&cata=1&s_cata=

They recently discontinued the DVDs in question, but these are essential the same, except for the write speed (the old ones were x4).

[Ted]

Check out this thread for a little info on how to identify the TY disks:
http://www.thetradersden.org/forums/showthread.php?t=8812

There are also programs that you can run that analyze a sector on the disc thats tell you more info about it, but unfortunately you have to open the spindle to do that - it's only good if you need to know what you "got stuck with", unless you are able to return them to the place of purchase.

[tungarbulb]

I typically used the cheapie off-brand/house brand CD-R's for test pressings and other expendable stuff. I tried ripping a test pressing I made with such a disc 3 years ago, and my CD burner wouldn't read certain tracks. Caveat Emptor, baby!

[Ted]

I used to use them for archiving purposes, but after hearing a few horror stories about people losing data, I decided to archive on hard drives instead. It's more convenient for me too, although one glitch and I could lose my whole drive.

Eventually, I'll probably back up the hard drives with other hard drives, or just get rid of some of the older stuff I have that is no longer needed. A terabyte is a lot to back up - it tends to heat up the drives until they're almost too hot to touch :eek:

[Five]

wow... maybe you should stagger the transfer process a little!

a programmer frined told me that harddrives have a lifespan based on use. running bt 24/7 does take it's toll but if you back up teh HD you never use then it should be good for a long time (20+ years perhaps? I'm guessing.).

as for the lifespan of cdrs, nobody really knows yet. they're still too new.

[New Homebrew]

You pay the price for cheap media down the road when you try to read from it. I have cheap DVDs from a few months ago that are already unreadable. Off-brand CDr are even worse, really only fit for spare copies to listen in the car.

[Ted]

wow... maybe you should stagger the transfer process a little!I do. It was the first time that I copied about 50 or 60 GB (to consolidate) that I noticed how hot they got. When I noticed that, I then started doing it a little at a time. I was sweating for a few days before I was satisfied my data was still ok. I'm surprised the heads/arms, and platters didn't expand enough to screw up things. A lot of the data was on a server across the world, so note really a problem if I'd have lost it - except for the time involved transferring.

As for off-brand CDRs, I still have about 400 or so to put on HD before they become "lossy" :p. I hope I make it.

[farmstar]

Off-brand CDr are even worse, really only fit for spare copies to listen in the car.

Exactly, i have burned some cheap cd-r's put them straight into my cd changer in my car and what do you know, one i left in there for at least 6 months finally stopped working, went downhill fast with skips at first, error message on a couple of tracks, and then not even loading...heat and cold and cheap media...

[AAR.oner]

Ok, another question: I was looking at those TY discs, and they look similar to the discs I'm talking about. I was under the impression unbranded meant that there were no logos or anything on the top of the disc.

So the ones I'm talking about are called "Sonic". Here, I guess I'll give you guys a link and see what you think. http://www.shop4tech.com/user.htm?go=view_item&id=2687&cata=1&s_cata=

They recently discontinued the DVDs in question, but these are essential the same, except for the write speed (the old ones were x4).

yer payin *almost* the same price as TY's ...trust us, go with TY or a reputable disc atleast...eventually, you'll be singin their praises like the rest of us...or you can lose all yer shows after a few months or years...its really up to you :D