Media deals this week - Page 70

Not sure about Ty discs, but I had a spindle of generic shinny top CDs and mostly used them up before I noticed the top layer would occasionally flake off, making the CD useless for the most part you could actually see light through the CD.
I also have a spindle of Comp USA DVD +RW discs that are shinny on the top, I very rarely use them(mostly for testing) but I've never noticed the top layer flaking off. Maybe it has a lacquer coating??
Other older -R DVDs I have, Philips immediately comes to mind are shinny except for the brand, disc type and speed which are silk screened to the top. I wonder if they are also unprotected? Lately I've been liking the Sony -R DVDs which have a matte white printable surface. When they get low I'll probably switch to Ty when they have a good deal including free shipping. Aren't the white top Ty's slightly more expensive? I would think since Ty's specifically say lacquer top they are coated.

Jeff,

It doesn't get any better than this:

http://www.supermediastore.com/produ...media-100-pack

Supermediastore has free shipping on orders more than $25.00 so you may want to order two cake box spindles or something else, say a DVD wallet album, to get free shipping. I just started a new album today. The old album, started on 12/19/2009, is full this morning with 520 home-recorded DVDs. I usually like to keep at least 2,000 TY Premium Line 8x DVD-R discs on hand. Anything below that number means that I'm getting low on discs.

I'm expecting more of these TY cake box spindles to arrive in a day or so.

Notice that this sale is through today only.

Thanks DD, I just ordered 2 spindles and a wallet, my first Ty's BTW what does Cake box mean? Is it just another word for spindle?

I assume "cake box" refers to the design where the clear plastic upper part matches up with the non-protruding base. The cake boxes have tabs along the lower rim of the upper part that mates with a groove running around the base part.

Maxell also uses a cake box spindle but most other brands have a protruding base with locking tabs. In my opinion the protruding base spindles are easier to open and close.

As the TY 100 disc cake boxes are a bit clumsy I repackage my TYs into 25 disc spindles once I've opened the TY cake box.

The attached photo shows a 50 disc protruding base spindle, TY discs in a Maxell 25 disc cake box, and an empty TY 100 disc cake box. The combo recorder seen in the photo is an early production example (March 2007) of a Magnavox ZV450MW8 set up for dubbing to a Philips 3576. Somewhat obscured behind the Maxell cake box is a TriQuest 3-device A/V selector from Big Lots.

O.K. that makes sense. I actually prefer the case to be flush with the bottom but I've only ever purchased one 50 spindle years ago with that style which I reuse. All my other spindles including Maxell, Verbatim, Sony, Philips etc. have the style where the bottom is quite a bit wider than the main body. Another small + for Ty's, at least for me

Wow, a T-Y virgin. I would of never figured you as one of those.

BTW - I already have enough T-Y 8X Premium in reserve from the last SMS sale. However, SMS also has Verbatim 8X +DL's in a 30 pack for $1.29/disk, in case you are interested. That's as cheap as what I was paying for the 2.4X +DL on sale. I just picked up a spindle (cake box) of the 8X. Sale ends tonight.

Yes, that includes TY.

Think about what a lacquer is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacquer -- it's a clear coating that is polished on, and can dry matte or shiny. With DVD-R/DVD+R, most times this is a shiny coat. In fact, the only discs I recall NOT being shiny were PRODISC media, with their pearled finish. The lacquer coat used by TY is just a fingerprint magnet. If it has a "silver inkjet surface", then it has an added surface to absorb ink, and unprinted it is matte silver in nature.

Last time I saw bulk TY CD-R, the discs were foil-exposed like any other. The problem is stores are using "silver lacquer" as a generic term now. Europe and USA stores both.

Cake boxes don't stack as well as the other type.

I noticed it when Verbatim went to the most recent style of DVD-R. They feel flimsier and look thinner than the "old style" Verbatims. I do not have a micrometer and I have not weighed a stack. Anyone who decides to weigh them needs to take them out of the cakebox to do so, as the weight of the containers might vary. As I mentioned above, they burn beautifully in my equipment, so it was not a complaint. In fact, the "new style" Verbatim DVD-R burn better than any other media I have tried in my Sylvania HDRV 200F, and they Burn great in my Philips and Magnavox DVDrs as well.

Cake boxes with wide bottom side center hubs stack well with most other types of spindles. I've found that it's the narrow bottom side center hub spindles or those with a wide area between bottom side outer rings that do not stack well.

Here’s a quick photo study that demonstrates bottom side center hub and outside ring variations that affect the “stacking ability” of various spindles.

The pencils point to two bottom side center hub designs that have much to do with “stacking ability.” The narrow bottom side center hub on the Maxell 50 disc cake box spindle (seen at the front center) does not stack well with spindles with wide bottom side center hubs such as the unknown brand 50 disc protruding base spindle (seen at the left). Contrast the narrow hub Maxell 50 disc cake box with the wide bottom side center hub on the Maxell 25 disc cake box spindle (seen at the front right).

The back row left stack shows a TDK 100 CD protruding base spindle atop a Memorex 25 disc well-type protruding base spindle. The back row right stack has a Maxell 25 disc cake box (containing TY discs) atop a TY 100 disc cake box.

Another design characteristic affecting "stacking ability" is the relation of the bottem side outermost inboard ring in relation to rim on the top section of another spindle.

The second photo demonstrates that these various spindles may be stacked effectively when arranged in a certain manner.

Anybody familiar with the British sitcom "Coupling"? Diga's "These spindles stack up" foto reminds me of the episode where Jeff Murdoch explains the "giggle loop"

I couldn't resist the latest SMS sale of TY 8x Premium Silver Themal Lacquer DVD-Rs for 25 cents a piece. Don't want to get snowed in or something and run out of blank media.....

Also toyed with trying the JVC Gold Archival blah-blah whatever 16x discs for use in my DVD duplicator, but they seemed overpriced. Until some reliable members of this forum give 'em glowing reviews, I'll wait.

Although they're more expensive, I like to use the white-top, printable discs in my DMR-E85 because the matte white coating seems to provide a little more "tooth" for the hub to grab onto. It does still burn shiny-top discs just fine, too, but I figure, why stress it? Plus, the written labelling on the white discs is easier to read.

It's been a couple of years ago now, but I bought a Memorex 25-pack -RWs from Walmart for about $15. Because I use RWs mainly as proofing media or transferring (PC and Pio550) and sometimes temporary storage of DIVX to watch on the DVD player, they've served me very well. There's maybe still half the spindle unused. It's a good deal.

Well I received my 2 "cake boxes" of Tys today. They weren't the same type of cake box that I had experienced years ago. In fact during shipping one of the spindles separated from the bottom and the thin shrink wrap broke lose and the bottom separated from the top. This allowed some small pieces of packing peanuts to get in the spindle
When I lifted the other cake box out of the peanuts the top also separated from the bottom almost causing me to drop the whole spindle in the peanuts
Now count me in the camp who doesn't like the cake boxes, I would never trust holding the cake box by grasping the top, it's just to flimsy of a locking mechanism. I guess if this is what current cake boxes are like I'd rather have the wider bottom spindles and just not be able to fit as many on a single layer shelf.
The discs look and work great though and I like my little 48 single size wallet I also bought

Jeff,

Here's a portion of one of my TCM message board posts from last week:

While I usually purchase my TY discs in the very sturdy original TY 600 disc shipping box I sometimes purchase TY discs in smaller quantities. Two cake boxes from SuperMediaStore arrived yesterday. One of those cake boxes had its upper portion compacted down over the base section making that spindle difficult to open. The small SMS shipping box hadn't evidenced any kind of shipping trauma. The compacted cake box wasn't actually damaged nor was there any damage to the discs themselves. I've also found a few cake box center shafts that have snapped after leaving the factory but that didn't damage the discs. My practice has been to place TY discs on non-TY spindles as soon as a cake box is opened. TY puts quality into the media, not the cake box.

Ditto. When they're available and the price is right, I go for the "tape wrap" packaging and transfer the discs to "good" 50-disc cake boxes leftover from the old days (I think they originally came with Maxell CD-Rs....)

I ordered 2 of the 100 ct. TY cake boxes from Supermediastore. When I came home one evening, the box was on my front porch, upside down with the bottom of the box busted wide open. Great packing job there SMS, and great handling job UPS. At least the discs seem to be OK. I agree that the current cake boxes are pretty lousy.

The cakeboxes that T-Y 8X Premium silver lacquer come in appear to be just dust covers for shelf storage (their silver CD's come in the same cakeboxes). I keep a stack on my desk with the cover unlatched for easy access. When empty, I toss it; I would never consider it suitable for long-term storage of burned media. I've never had problems with SMS packaging or the cakeboxes coming apart during shipping so maybe I've just been lucky.

Many years ago, when I was still buying T-Y 4X, the disk stack on the spindle was itself tape-wrapped which provided the utmost in security. Even if the cakebox top separated during shipping the disks could not spill out into the carton. It was pretty easy to find the end of the tape-wrap and pull it off the disks while still on the spindle -- kind of like unwinding toilet paper. It was actually kinda' fun; sort of a "starting a new 100 disk spindle" ritual.

The 20-30 count cakeboxes that Verbatim +DL come in are pretty sturdy. I keep all those.

This week at Office Max, 100 Verbs @$19.99.

Thanks man. I need some more of these. Any online or store coupons available?

I haven't checked, but I will, before I go buy some.

At the moment SuperMediaStore is selling the above-linked Taiyo Yuden 100 disc spindle for $24.99. They're also offering an entry level duplicator for $99.00, shipping included:

http://www.supermediastore.com/produ...icators-1-to-1

Notice that the duplicator "deal" applies to the first 100 purchasers. I just ordered one of these duplicators.

The Taiyo Yuden "deal" includes a "freebie," a 24 disc wallet. Yesterday I ordered three spindles with three wallets thrown in, a total of $74.97, shipping included.

What a deal!

A duplicator is great, especially at that price! Saves your DVDR's burner from the extra wear-n-tear caused by making extra copies of the same program. It should also give your more flexibility in choice of media; if you're making non-archival copies, you can use cheaper big-box-store 16x media, etc.

I finally took the plunge on these blank discs. I ordered 2 spindles on Friday and arrived at relatives house in CA Monday. Had to pay CA Tax but no biggie. Why have I not ordered from Supermedia before. Because their shipping to HI is ridiculous. What ever my order cost they charge that same amount to ship to HI. Of course that is 2nd day air. My cousin will ship to me USPS in a Priority Mail Flat rate box, which should cost about $10.40.

These will be used on my Panny E500H but for now it is down for the count. I think I burned over 3500 dvd-r's on it and it is shot. So it's in for repairs under extended warranty.

I missed this deal, so I went with the newer model at Amazon for $110.

I have a lot of DVD recordings from around 2001 on less-than-quality DVD-Rs (I was a little price wary when DVD-Rs were around $5 each), and am hoping the duplicator can copy these to TY media accurately.

I hope this duplicator can recognize 8X media and burn at that rate, rather than just using the highest speed of the burner at 20X blindly.

My CopyPal arrived yesterday at 6:30 p.m. By 8:15 p.m. I had copied nine DVDs. It's very fast, but I didn't think to time it. I used TY Premium Line 8x DVD-R blank discs.

Come to think of it I have an unused 100 disc spindle of 16x Sony Inkjet White DVD+R media so I might use that with the CopyPal.

I would think that a duplicator should have the ability to configure the burn to the specification of the media and the burner.

My CopyPal has a burner with SuperWritemaster and SpeedPlus+ logos so I assume the burner is made by Samsung. There are no brand-specific logos on the DVD ROM drive. The case has warranty-voiding tamper tape so I'm not going to open it.

The last supermediastore.com sale of Taiyo Yuden 8x Value Line discs again mentioned "while supplies last." Those TY 8x Value Line discs sold out early. TY 8x Value Line discs haven't been offered by supermediastore.com since that time.

Since that time the only TY Value Line discs that supermediastore.com has offered are of the 16x varieties with JVC/Taiyo Yuden packaging:

http://www.supermediastore.com/produ...YUDEN&offset=0

Supermediastore.com continues to offer the TY 8x Premium Line DVD-R media with Taiyo Yuden packaging:

http://www.supermediastore.com/produ...media-100-pack

I found a decent source of DVD media, somewhat by accident. It's not media that I'd use normally, but in a pinch it's very good. The actual manufacturer of the media is Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (with an Media ID of MCC004). The source? The Aldi discount supermarket chain, which as you may or may not know, is a German-based company - Albrecht Discount. Their Tevion brand DVD+ and DVD- are manufactured by Mitsubishi, and the prices for non-bulk packaging is excellent.

I really put my CopyPal to the test this weekend. I think I made nearly a hundred duplicates. Many of these (well, maybe ten or so) were Verbatim +R DL disks. It worked flawlessly. One of the disks had a "blemish" on the data side. I thought for sure it would fail because of a bad source disk, but it copied fine, and the copy played back fine. A really great find for the money, so THANKS for bringing it to my attention!

Mine is configured with the same drives as yours.

Got my 2 cake box of Ty's from my relative late last weekend. They shipped them in a flat rate USPS box. Not sure what condition it arrived to them when they received it from Supermedia. But when I got it both had the shrink wrap broken lose and the bottoms separated from the tops. As well as one of them had the spindle broken from the black base. They had each cake box wrap with bubble wrap. But I think they could of done a better job of packing them. There was to much room in the flat rate box for them to move around. I immediately transfer them to some non ty 100 spindles. Have not been able to test these yet since I have not gotten back my E500H dvd recorder yet.

Well, I will probably be returning my CopyPal DVD Duplicator. For whatever reason, it insists on burning everything at a 16-20X speed, even if I feed it 1X, 4X, or 8X TY media. And, it is not reliably copying my older DVDs.

I am going for the upgraded model (the one with the LCD control), which gives you the option to select the burn speed.

As for SuperMediaStore's packaging, my first order with them came with loose DVDs and broken cake boxes. In subsequent orders, I placed a message in the memo field asking that they pack very carefully. Since then, they have been very good at packaging, having the cake boxes wrapped in bubble wrap and packed tightly with peanuts so that there is no movement in shipping.

The CopyPal's fast burning and your report points toward use of 16x media with that machine.

I have on-hand one unused spindle of 100 Sony 16x discs and I ordered two 16x spindles of 100 TY/JVC Value Line discs for use only with the CopyPal. At the moment these Value Line discs are attractively priced, 200 for $40, including shipping:

http://www.supermediastore.com/produ...lue-line-200pk

When copying discs with my computer I would sometimes encounter the "difficulty reading from source disc" error. Since then I've usually checked to make sure that fingerprints or other soiling has been removed before copying a disc.

My circa 2005/2006 computer has been slowing down with a number of operations, especially DVD burning--even though the DVD burner (LG) was new just a few months ago.

I've started to discuss getting a new computer with my Chief Financial Officer (wife).

A couple of days ago I went computer shopping with a buddy who wanted my advice. We looked at several models and agreed that one model was the best buy for his needs. Then he called his Chief Financial Officer (wife) and reported that (DigaDo) approved of the computer he found. She gave her approval and he purchased the computer. Now I want the same model/deal he got. So far, "DigaDo" hasn't made much progress in the new computer discussions.