Memorex 8.5GB 8X Double Layer DVD+R (50pk Spindle)
by Memorex
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Memorex 8.5GB 8X Double Layer DVD+R (50pk Spindle)
Customer Review: Can't recommend
Summary: 2 Stars
Unfortunately, I have to agree with the many other negative reviews here, especially in regard to the long-term reliability of Memorex. I have burned many Memorex disks over the last 5-8 years, both regular density and the 8.4 gig dual layer, and the regular ones that are 3-5 years old or more are now showing a high rate of failure. I haven't had the DL disks as long to be able to say yet but I am monitoring them and will find out. But I regard the DLs as iffy also, although I'm trying them out because I can use the extra storage capacity. I just don't have any confidence in their reliability for more than a few years. If you check the discussion forums on the web and various blogs you will see Memorex's discussed time and time again in regard to their poor long-term reliability. This makes Memorex disks useless for long-term storage. Of course you get what you pay for and Memorex are basically cheap, consumer grade media. Ritek's were also considered of poor quality in the forums I read.
On the other hand, the Verbatims and the Taiyo Yudens are quite reliable, although even the Verbatims are said to have slipped in recent years because they have licensed their technology to so many substandard off shore producers. If you can still find real Japanese made Verbatims they are probably okay. But if not, beware!
So even if you don't experience a high initial burn failure rate, Memorex is highly questionable for long-term archiving, which is what I need, or at least 3-5 years. But they aren't even reliable for that, based on my experience and other people's experience which I have seen reported in various discussion groups. I give them two stars here instead of one because they might be okay for short term storage and if you absolutely need the cheapest, most economical media.
Mitsui Advanced Media's dual gold/silver disks and also the Century disk, which is similar and developed by a partnership between Mitsubishi and Kodak, are quite good, but at over 2 bucks apiece they ought to be. For most purposes Taiyo Yuden is fine and theirs are around 36 cents a disk in packs of 100.
The Century disks are the most expensive of all, but also, they are guaranteed to be from runs of less than 25,000 from the original glass master. Most companies don't replace the master until 500,000 presses. This also causes problems because the master after the first couple of hundred thousand isn't that accurate.
Whichever media you decide to buy, caveat emptor because it's a mine field out there when it comes to purchasing decent media these days, one reason being because of all the fake brand name disks. I would just go with Taiyo Yuden. They are only made in Japan, but make sure you have real T-Y because of all the fakes. The real ones have a visible ring in the dye layer near the hub of the disks, which is said to be more expensive to manufacture and is harder to fake. Also, make sure the label on the package says it's from Japan, although that's not a certain criterion, but the extra little ring should be. Whichever media you choose, good luck!
Customer Review: don't buy MADE IN INDIA -- Amazon only sells INDIA discs :-(
Summary: 1 Stars
I sussed out the problem with these discs... if they are made in INDIA, they will not work or will burn with fail errors, etc. only the ASIAN made disc will work. i used these Memorex Double Layer DVD+Rs all the time with my NEC-3550 drives. (i have 2) and also in my 1-to-1 duplicator that has an ASUS burner inside. they were manufactured in Taiwan and i never had a bad burn. i always bought them at buy'dot'com but this time Amazon had them for twenty-eight bucks, so i got them. the first thing i noticed was the packaging said 'DUAL LAYER DVD+R' not the usual 'DOUBLE LAYER DVD+R DL' -- looking further, i noticed these were made in INDIA. after mumbling some choice words under my breath, i opened the package and tried to burn one. EEH! incompatible error! i was like, 'WTF?!?!' so i tried again, and again, and again, and on my other NEC drive, and again, and again... NOTHING WORKED! so, i dug out my older Pioneer DVR-108. i think it's a 8x DL burner... maybe 16x, but i'm sure it's 8x. anyway, i didn't get the 'incompatible' error like on the NECs, but it was odd that i could choose burning speeds from 1x to 48x for a DL DVD+R! so i picked 4x and it started to actually burn... but then half way it stopped, giving me an 'unstable connection' error. again, i was like 'WTF?!?!?!' the connection is fine. so, that's when i contacted Amazon and just set up a return.
I called Memorex to complain about these discs manufactured in INDIA, and i was told that it wasn't the first time the CS-rep heard of problems with the INDIA discs. he also told me that upper management KNOWS about this issue but the CS-rep didn't know if anything was being done to stop these INDIA discs from infiltrating the market. but the CS-rep did say that i could call them every single time i ordered DOUBLE LAYER DVD+R DL discs but received the ones from INDIA, and they would give me a pre-paid return label to send them to Memorex and they would send the Asian ones back to me. that's all fine, and i am very happy that next time i get these i can get the version that works with all of my burners, but i'll have to re-order like a month in advanced so by the time i've completed jumping thru hoops exchanging discs i'll have them when i run out.
AAARRGGHHHH! you'd think a company like Memorex could have better quality control so we didn't have to do all of this rigamarole.
Customer Review: Don't blame these discs for your hardware/ignorance/fanboy issues as they work great!
Summary: 5 Stars
I normally don't write reviews but i just got tired of seeing these discs be rated so low! I have literally burned over 1000 of these discs with little to no issue. I think I've had a total of 1-2 bad discs this entire time. The ONLY time I've ever had bad burns was when it was something that I did wrong. Either my system was already loaded with other tasks and I tried to run the burn at max speed(which was only an issue a couple times) or I just chose the wrong settings. Even when that would happen the discs would still burn just fine. It's not the discs fault I attempted to burn a blu-ray movie with the wrong settings and now it can't be read by my PS3.
It amazes me that people blame these discs when the issues they're having are either hardware, ignorance, or Verbatim fan boy related. It's a well known fact that some drives just don't play well with certain brands of media. I've had 6 different burners and each one has worked flawlessly with Memorex. One of my burners came with a Verbatim disc in the box and guess what? I ended up with a Verbatim coaster as it failed only minutes into the burn. I don't care what the name of the brand is. If it works...I'll use it. With WELL over 1000 of these discs burned successfully under my belt, I will keep coming back for more. No way will I pay what the other "top brands" are asking for their discs. Even if they had a sale I'd still choose Memorex because I know it works. I find it highly unlikely I've just been incredibly lucky over 1000 times in a row buying the same discs from multiple vendors over the last several years.
So in closing these discs work absolutely fine for a great price. If they were as horrible as some of these ignorant fan boys claim, Memorex would've pulled them off the shelf years ago. I burn these discs at every different speed but as with any disc if you want to save yourself some hassle, always take a few extra mins and burn at a lower speed. It's been proven your discs will last longer and you'll have less coasters to deal with.
Customer Review: Good, if you use a good internal drive and Firewire for external
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought the Ritek flavor and also bought a Pioneer 116 drive at the same time, based on good reviews of that drive for DL disks.
I put the Pioneer in a new Bytecc USB 2.0 enclosure and tried some DVD+R burns on Memorex disks (not DL) that I have always used with success. The software is Roxio Creator 9. Most burns went well, with very few failures (out of some 30 burns, one failure). Then the Memorex DVD+R DL disks came and my success rate under the same conditions went to about 50%. Never got more than one good burn in a row. Typically, I could get to the "closing disk" stage and it would hang there forever. Interestingly, some of those failed burns seemed to produce a useable disk, anyway.
Next I bought a DL-burning capable Panasonic-made Multi-Drive for the internal bay in my Lenovo laptop running Vista Business. Same computer I had been using with the Pioneer drive in an enclosure. I have now gotten three successful burns in a row using these Memorex DL disks burning at 4X.
I'm begining to think the problem was not with the disks, but with the Bytecc enclosure and/or USB.
I also bought a Coolmax Gemini Firewire enclosure for the Pioneer and will give that a try.
As of now, I am very happy with the Memorex DL disks...except I see that the price is up about $5.
More...
I have now burned over a dozen of these DL disks using either my Lenovo's internal Panasonic DVD burner or my Pioneer burner mounted in an external Firewire enclosure. There has not been a single failure. It was not the disks...it was the USB 2.0 connection or the Bytecc USB enclosure I was using. The disks are reliable, you just have to give them good hardware to work with. Just bought another 50-pack.
I would change my rating to 5-stars now. Verbatim disks may be more tolerable of less than ideal hardware. Just a guess. I am very happy.
Customer Review: These COASTERS have a large hole in the middle.
Summary: 1 Stars
I have used the Memorex 8x 8.5Gb DVD+R DL for several years in my Sony DRX-820U with good success, using the maximum recommended speed of 8x. I have burned on the order of 'hundreds' with only a few bad ones in the lot. I recently purchased another 100 (2 packs of 50) and so far the odds are reversed; of about 30 attempts I have had THREE(3) good ones. Some actually make it almost to the end before they flake out. Just to rule out other causes I bought a pack of 5 Verbatim (more expensive) 8x 8.5Gb DVD+R DL and they work perfectly (5 out of 5 good burns). I also tried these in my external Pioneer DVD burner (DVR-X112), the Verbatim worked fine, the Memorex didn't. I only risked one each on that experiment at the lowest (safest?) burn speed of 1x. In all fairness, the Memorex disks are NOT on the media compatibility list for either of the two burner models mentioned, though the documentation suggests that "other brands of media" may be expected to work at 2x or less. Both burners have the most up-to-date firmware and drivers; that doesn't seem to be an issue. I have had good success/luck until now. The really nice thing about the Memorex is the really really low low price comparatively. That is until you factor in the disappointing success rate, if that matters. If these happen to be on your burner's compatibility list, you may still get lucky. At least check it out before you invest. For the rest of us, something about these DL disks has changed; the quality seems to have taken a dive. Not sure what I will do with the other 70 disks. As coasters they tend to leak, owing to the half-inch hole in the middle. I would tile the roof of my doghouse, except I already did that, (make sure they overlap that big hole in the middle). Probably will take them to the park and teach the squirrels to play Frisbee. That will be mildly satisfying. Suggestions?