DVD media is making me crazy

[kdbilly]

I realize this is an age-old question/problem, but the only info i was able to find searching was years old, so it might not apply to new systems/advances, etc.

I recently bought a 100 piece rack of taiyo yuden 8x dvd's that were reviewed strongly just about everywhere. i initially had 5 good burns of movies for play on stand-alone dvd's, but have had nothing but failure since that. for no reason, the dvd's do not burn properly now. if i'm backing up data, files go missing. if i'm doing movies, they will not play on dvd players, but will on computers. i'm confused as to what to do and looks like everyone pretty much says verbatim is the way to go. advice?

btw - when burning dvd's for dvd players, i use idvd one-step and have done 50+ dvd's prior to the taiyo yuden batch with no problem. data burns are through finder. the system is a new 3ghz dual core macpro with 5 gig ram. is it just the media? if so, great, i have an 85 piece matching coaster set. bleh.

 

[MisterMe]

... is it just the media? if so, great, i have an 85 piece matching coaster set. bleh.

There is no mystery here. What you get out of blank DVDs depends on the media, the burner, and the player/drive. A good review might make good birdcage liner, but not much more than that. When you purchased that spindle of 100 blanks, you ran the risk of buying 100 coasters. It seems that your risk has been realized.

You should have started with top line media from a brand name manufacturer. If one does not work, then try another. If the media from the top line works, then you might try a less expensive line. Once you find media that is reliable over your workflow at a price that you are willing to pay, then stick with it.

As for your 85 coasters, think of all the damage to your furniture that they will prevent.

 

[-DH]

Taiyo Yuden has about the best reputation of any DVD manufacturer out there. I've used well over 1000 of their discs in the past year and only had one bad disc (cracked edge). The usually have very good quality control.

That said, any manufcaturer can have a bad run of discs. But before I'd blame it on that, make sure the DVD burner is OK. Clean the laser lens with alens cleaning DVD and try burning again.

-DH

 

[kdbilly]

thanks for the comments. i went and purchased verbatim discs as they seemed to be the disc that was most recommended for macs when i read through all sorts of things while trying to figure this out. as it turns out, i have the same problem with them as well.

as far as cleaning the dvd optics, etc., i'll give that a try but the system is literally only 5 weeks old and basically brand new. if the lens/optics are dirty after 5 weeks, that would just seem odd as i never had any problems with previous dvd burners and i never cleaned them.

should i trash the idvd prefs? could the encoding have changed somehow? i have no clue as to what to do at this point so any help would be great. i rely on it for backing things up and i do a lot of backing up as i'm a graphic artist.

 

[kdbilly]

i just tracked things back and it looks like problems started after i updated the os on 7/1/08 to osx 10.5.4. any idea about what i should do?