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Media ID Quality Guide
The following list is in preference order. The best discs are near the top of the list. The discs at the bottom of the list are suitable only for a landfill. PVC is the best of all, LONGTEN is the worst of all, etc. Note: Some codes may be listed twice, done because a -R, -RW, +RW and +R by the same company may not be the same quality. The format is listed because of this.
1ST CLASS MEDIA
Almost flawless burns with 95-100% reliable results:
PVC = Pioneer = (-R)(-RW)
MXLRG01, MXLRG02 = Maxell = (-R) ... be aware of unbranded fakes
TAIYOYUDEN, YUDEN, TYG01, TYG02 = Taiyo Yuden = (-R)(+R) ... be aware of unbranded fakes
MCC = Mitsubishi Chemicals = (-R)
TDKG02, TTG01 = TDK Corp = (-R) ... be aware of unbranded fakes
2ND CLASS MEDIA
Decent discs, though not perfect, about 80-95% success rate:
PRODISCS03 = Prodisc Media = (-R)
INFODISC = Infodisc Media = (+RW)
SONYD04 = Sony = (-R) ... be aware of unbranded fakes
RITEKG03 = Ritek = (-R)
RICOHJPN = Ritek or Ricoh = (+R)(+RW)
MCC = Mitsubishi Chemicals = (+RW)
OPTODISC = Optodisc = (-R)
RITEKR0x = Ritek = (+R)
RITEKG04 = Ritek = (-R)
3RD CLASS MEDIA
Quality can be very questionable, about 50-80% success rate:
LEADDATA or LD01 or LD or LEDA = Lead Data = (-R)(-RW)
RITEKW = Ritek = (-RW)
PRINCO, unbranded TDK = Princo = (-R)(-RW)
ONIDTECH = Unknown OEM = (-R)
MUST = Unknown OEM = (-R)
4TH CLASS MEDIA
Pathetic garbage media, landfill material, about 0-50% success rate:
RITEKG01, RITEKG02 = Ritek = (-R)
PIODATA = Lead Data = (-R) ... often sold as "Pioneer OEM" but that's false
Unbranded PIO = Fake Pioneer = (-R) ... often sold as "Pioneer OEM" but that's false
Unbranded SONY = Fake Sony, Hong Kong OEM = (-R)
OPTODISC = Optodisc = (+R)(+RW)
AN31, AN32, ANWELL, AN30 = Hong Kong OEM = (-R)
Unbranded MXL = Fake MXL, Hong Kong OEM = (-R)
CMC = CMC Magnetics = (+R)(-R)
YIJHAN = Hong Kong OEM = (-R)
MATRIX = Hong Kong OEM = (-R)
LONGTEN = Hong Kong OEM = (-R)
ANYTHING ELSE = Unknown OEM or NEW
New medias to watch for: MXLRG03, RITEKM02,RITEKG05
Be careful for CMC and PRINCO discs, as those are becoming more common in those "special sales" seen almost every week since early 2004. Some companies prefer dollars over quality, so be careful. Also be especially careful of "house brands" or no-names. Stores like Fry's and CompUSA have horrible return policies too, so if you end up with an unfavorable media ID, do not burn a test, just take it back for a refund and take your business elsewhere.
Accu = LEADDATA
Americal = RITEKG01, PRINCO, LEADDATA
Apple = MXL, MCC
Arita = RITEKG03, RICOHJPN
Bulkpaq = PRINCO, PRODISC
CompUSA = PRINCO, OPTODISC, LD
Datawrite = PRINCO, PRODISC, AN31, RITEKG03
DupEZ = PIODATA, LEADDATA
Esbuy = RITEK, LEADDATA, other budget IDs
Fuji = TAIYOYUDEN, MCC, RICOHJPN, PRODISC
GQ = PIODATA, PRINCO, RITEKG03, RITEKG02, LEADDATA, LD
HP = CMC, RICOHJPN, MCC
Imation = RITEKG03, CMC
KHypermedia = CMC
LiquidVideo = OPTODISC
Matrix = MATRIX, LONGTEN, YIJHAN, MUST
Maxell = MXL, RITEKG03, RICOHJPN, TYG01
Memorex = CMC, RICOHJPN, PRODISC, INFODISC
Meritline = Fake MXL, other budget IDs
Mirror = AN31, ONIDTECH, PRINCO
Optodisc = OPTODISC
Philips = CMC
Pioneer = PVC
Princo = PRINCO, Fake TDK
Prodisc = PRODISCS03, MCC
Ritek = RITEKG01-04, RICOHJPN
Sonic/Shop4tech = LONGTEN, MATRIX, MUST, YIJHAN, other budget IDs
Sony = SONYD04, RICOHJPN, MCC
Supermedia = Fake MXL, other budget IDs
TDK = TDK, RITEKG04, RICOHJPN, MXL, CMC, MCC
Verbatim = CMC, MCC, YUDEN, RICOHJPN, RITEKG03
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