Blank-Media Reviews

I would like to say that with this pack so far I have not experienced any problems, but I have previously experienced problems with maxell products on their older CD-Rs. Maxell isn't the greatest brand, but they do their job and serve their purpose. personally, I wouldn't buy maxell for an important job, for fear that it might screw up on me or not burn correctly. for a simple job for a friend (such as copying a cd or copying a file to a disc), look no further. these are great for semi-permanent files. for more trustworthy stuff, look elsewhere though. TDK, Memorex, Fuji, and Imation are good brands for burning media.

I have a Sony CD recorder and the thing is finicky. I tried Sony and Memorex brands and both ended up as expensive, colorful coasters. I never had a problem with Maxell, the reproduced sound is excellent and each and every disc finalizes with no problem. Playback on other machines is never an issue. I won't use anything else and I buy my blanks at Sam's Club, 50 discs including the slim jewel cases for $18.00.

I used to listen to RCA but these are so fun listening to that i gave it 5 stars.

I've tried all the other brands out there and these sound the best when I record from CD's. They sound clearer and closer to the original source than the other brands. "Is It Live or is it Memorex?" is still a legitimate question!

When I look for a Mini-Dv tape, my only choices are Sony or TDK as both are quality tapes. Then, my next choice is the price, which is more often TDK with its affordable price. When you even find a very special 5 pack price, never miss it !

Can be used multiple times without fail.

Overview
The Verbatim DigitalMovie DVD-R is a 1x to 4x speed DVD Recordable media with the unique look of a movie reel. Verbatim DigitalMovie discs are available in 3-packs with a choice of 4.7GB DVD-R or DVD+R media packaged in clear DVD Super Jewel Box cases. The discs can be used for backing up DVD video titles and transferring video tapes to optical media that won't degrade over time. The discs can also be used with compatible personal video recorders (PVRs) to standardize the look of their recorded videos in clear, DVD video-sized jewel boxes. With a capacity of 4.7GB, users can store 2 hours of high-quality video on a single disc, and at 4x speed, an entire 4.7GB DVD+R or -R disc can be recorded in about 15 minutes.

Price
Backed by a lifetime warranty, Verbatim DigitalMovie DVD-R media has a street price of about $11.99 per 3-pack.

Setup
The only difficulty I found in using the DVD-R's was getting the DVD-R out of the jewel case. If you try to pull it open from the top, and the plastic just bends (and you can see that it is clasped in the middle). When I tried placing my thumb on the middle of the right edge and pulling outward, my thumb would just slip off. The best way I found to open the case (after much experimentation) was to place the palm of my hand on the front of the cover, and while applying light pressure with my palm, using my fingers to left the right middle edge open. I've never seen another case open like this before, so without knowing this trick up front (no instructions on the box), some less patient consumers may find more drastic ways of freeing the DVD from the case. Once you know the trick, it's pretty easy.

Case aside, the DVD-R itself is just like any other DVD-R. Load it into your Mac's DVD burning drive (whether the Superdrive or a 3rd party drive), and run your DVD-burning software. Piece of cake.

In Use
Sporting the movie reel look, the main selling point of this DVD-R is definitely the presentation. However, it's important to note whether you are sacrificing quality for a nice look. In this case, not at all. The DVD-R records from 1x to 4x speeds, and in all my uses, it recorded flawlessly. The DVD-R discs are based on Mitsubishi Kagaku Media's Metal Azo recording dye technology, which, in simple words, means that the discs produce recordings with greater power margin and better sensitivity than earlier generation discs. The DigitalMovie DVD media also utilizes Ultra-Precise Molding technology, which means that you get very flat discs with stable high-speed rotation during reading and writing. Add to these facts that it comes with a lifetime warranty, and you have a solid and reliable DVD-R product.

Of course, the reason you'll want to buy these DVD-R's is because instead of a plain non-descript print on the top of the DVD-R, there is a movie reel image printed right on the disc, providing a very nostalgic and movie-like feel to the media. It's perfect for putting your home movies on, especially as gifts for family and friends. I used iMovie to put together a couple of movies of my nephew's first year, and burned them onto the DigitalMovie DVD-R using iDVD. They made great gifts! There was not a whole lot of room to write on the disk, so I had to abbreviate the title of the movie. If I wanted to make a list of all the contents in the movie, I could have created a printed slip, and placed it in the jewel case. Although the case may not be the easiest case to open, it is a very nice looking case, and the DVD carrier comes out so that you can insert a printed description of the contents behind it. You could also slide in a cover on the front as well (similar to a CD case, except instead of sliding left to right, the cover slides from top to bottom). The case is also sized similar to cases that commercial DVD's come in, so it will fit nicely into your DVD library.

Summary
Verbatim's DigitalMovie DVD-R discs are stylish DVD-R's that are imprinted with a cool movie reel look, sport state of the art technology in terms of product design and reliability, include a tall clear DVD case, and come with a lifetime warranty. These DVD-R's work great with iDVD, are perfect for your home movies, and make really nice gifts. The jewel case is difficult to open unless you know the trick of opening it. These DVD-R's would be great for mailing as well, so it would be nice to have the option to purchase them on a spool without the cases. For anyone burning home movies, you're going to love these DVD-R's!

Pros
- State of the art DVD-R technology
- Cool movie reel design
- Tall jewel case fits your DVD library
- Lifetime warranty

Cons
- Case can be difficult to open
- Limited writing space on label
- No option to purchase on a spool

Overall Rating
4 1/2 out of 5 Mice

I originally bought three packs of these because they were on sale at Best Buy for 4.99 per 3 pk--a little less than 1/3 of the cost listed here. I've checked BestBuy's site and they have them for 9.99. Don't know if I got lucky on the price or what.

I needed the -R format because my, ah, lower end set-top DVD players (as opposed to my most excellent Pioneer 106D burner!) won't read +Rs with any reliability. Only one +R movie was actually viewable on them whilst both PowerDVD and WinDVD and Media Player read them just fine; so I knew it was the players' problems, not the disks; my mother's high end set top can read +Rs no problem.

It reads my DVD-RWs just fine (a good way to see if you've burned it right without risking creating another coaster; you can always just erase and start over!) The two players I have are both APEX's. Good players, light of features, of course, but that's why they are "lower end." The electronics are basically the same, it's the bells and whistles that cost.

So, I bought these Verbatim -Rs because they were much cheaper than anything else on the shelves and, besides, they look cool.

I've legally backed up four DVDs now and have had ZERO problems with these disks. I highly recommend them, espcially if you have a piece of hardware that's got issues with DVD+Rs.

Five star all the way.

I have used the memorex 4x dvd-rs for close to a year now. I have had successful burns with every one of the two hundred I have purchased from Amazon.com. I have used a pioneer 105 to burn my movies and they all come out great. No pixelation or freezing at the edge(end of the movie) of the disc that you get with inferior quality discs. I have used these discs on three sony players and they work flawlessly. They also have no probs running on two different computers.

Note: I also have a sony DRU 500AX (I purchased this before I purchased the pioneer 105), like the reviewer below and I have had nothing but problems with the sony dru 500AX which is VERY VERY Picky with media. Let it be known that the Sony dru 500 is a biased towards PLUS media (As sony adopted the plus format)and will come up with problems when trying to burn with MINUS dvd media. If you have a plus writer stick to Plus media for less problems, or just avoid getting a sony drive in the future.

I no longer use the sony writer except to write data. I use the pioneer to burn all my movies and they ALL work!

I guess I'm plugging Pioneer drives too!

Don't believe the bad review. This is decent stuff. I have gone through 2 spindles of 50 and have not had any problems whatsoever. One word for the dude who is using the 104 to burn dvds. UPGRADE!

I use an aging but good Pioneer 105 to burn the Memorex 4x media and have had flawless results. They burn at 4x as rated on the pioneer 105 and have yet to use them on the sony dru 500, so I can't say whether they are rated 4x on the sony.

No pixelation, no freezing, no problems. A good disc at a good price. I have played them on two sony standalones (one ancient and one fairly new) and they play without a hitch.

If you are having problems with this media then I suggest you get into the 21st century and upgrade your dvd burner and or get better burning software.

dvd shrink + Record Now Max = flawless dvds

Love these DVDs! Recording has never been easier! I've used around 30 of them, and not one coaster yet. That's a much better result than my CD recording which always results in a coaster here and there...

I use a QPS Que (that I must say is a piece of junk) and have found that when I burn audio on Memorex products they will not play in any of my CD players except the DVD in my Mac. I never had any problem with Fuji's so I'm switching back, if I can find them.

I've worked with both Memorex CDR and CDRW. I use a HP CD-Writer Plus and have burned both audio, data, and even mixed the two. I have had no problems what-so-ever. But... the Memorex CDRW media I've used worked great also. A month later I'm trying to read from the RW and ALL of them are unreadable. I've tried them in other computers and still the same results. So if you're after CDR go Memorex... CDRW keep on looking.

On the statement "These CD-Rs only work with computer components." I have a Harman Kardon CDR 2 and these CD-Rs work and sound beautiful. I'm not sure why you said they only work with computers. Unless, you are referring to the computer CD-Rs, in which case-say so! These CD-Rs are music, not the computer variant, if there is one (not sure on that one). Anyway- kinda weird, but I can assure you that these CD-Rs work wonderfully in my Harman Kardon, and they sound great. I have heard that there have been troubles with the Philips brand of burners, but I attribute that to operator error (i.e. buying the wrong discs). Please shop carefully.

One customer has experienced trouble with these MDs, but I can't imagine it's the media. I've used 80 of these discs already and haven't experienced ONE bad or problematic disk. The price point is great. I don't know how long the other manufacturers are going to get away with charging more before people wake up and realize that, unlike blank video and audio tape formulations, which do vary considerably, digital recording should essentially be the same quality. (Are the Memorex discs constructed to last a shorter time? Is the binder worse? Only time will tell.) I haven't found a better price and have found these discs perfectly reliable. And I actually prefer the storage cases coming with five but holding six MDs to individual packs. Who wants to do all that labeling?

These disks DO NOT come with individual hard cases, but I never use them. They come with 4 storage cases (5 md's/ case). But, I use my portable MD player all the time, and the hard cases take up a lot of space. Plus, I have a minidisc wallet, which, like cd wallets, only has room for the discs themselves. This is the cheapest price i have seen for md's because they don't come with individual cases, which I don't think are necessary anyway. Md's are basically indestructable as it is.

After buying my MiniDisc player, I bought these little discs because they were cute and on clearance. They have yet to let me down. I can make CDs and listen to them in my MiniDisc player, my computers and my DVD player.

My first film scanner was the HPS20. It "did okay", and that's the best I'll give it. Basically, if your'e at all serious about film scanning, you MUST go to something better, and yes, that means spending a bit more money. I went up to the far, far superior Nikon Coolscan 2000, and might try the 4000 soon, and my results were out of this world better. In todays market, I'd look at doubling my investment and get maybe the Nikon Coolscan IV or find a used Coolscan 2000 or something. The major problems with the HP are color correction on chromes, low dynamic range, it gathers dust like a maids broom, and the shadows are definitely noisy. For the once in a while amateur who just wants to move a few slides or negs to digital and absolutely doesn't expect to get "into" digital darkroom work, then it's probably a steal for the money. But be warned, if you even think there is a slight chance you might move onward to more digital darkroom work, skip this entirely and get something real the first time out, and you'll save the money over the long haul. Recommended with definite restrictions.

This is, without a doubt, one of the coolest, most-used computer gizmos I've ever owned. HP has a great reputation for making quality products, and the PhotoSmart scanner doesn't disappoint.

I love shooting photos with my digital camera, but there are just some situations where "old fashioned" is better (unusual lighting situations, manual adjustments, special effects filters). Most inexpensive scanners either lack the ability to scan negatives/slides, and/or the resolution to make them look good once reprinted. This scanner does both, and more, and does them extremely well.

Setup was, as with most HP products, quick, easy, and painless. The scanning software included is probably more than adequate for most users, but hard-core amateurs and pros will want to use a higher-end image manipulation package to acquire and tweak photos.

When you combine the ease of use and resolution with a reasonably-good photo printer, you just can't beat the results (and the price!).

I am not rich and I paid a lot of money for this product.

Thankfully, it was worth every penny and I have been using it happily for over 3 years.

There are better scanners out there, but for the dollar, this is a fabulous machine: thus, the five star rating.

That said, please note that this unit ***DOES*** in fact work with Windows XP. At one point I thought it did not work either, but it does. HP released an XP driver/software for it.

At 70 MB, it's a hell of a download, but worth it for those of us that have moved into the 21st century.

You can download it from the HP website.

- Go to HP.com.
- Select 'Home & Home Office.'
- Type 'S20' into the Search field.
- The HP Photosmart S20 and a photo will appear.
- Select 'Download drivers & software' from this screen.
- Select 'Microsoft Windows XP.'
- Select 'PhotoSmart Scanner (SCSI) and S20/S20xi Photo Scanner (USB) Software.'
- Click 'Download now' to being downloading ps804en.exe.
- Follow instructions (or common sense) to install the software.
- A Windows-based message will appear during installation that recommends stopping installation because the HP Photosmart software has not passed Windows Logo testing.
- Despite your usually better judgement, ignore this and click 'Continue Anyway.'

I was terrified to do this, but I called and e-mailed HP directly and was told in both instances that HP had tested and verified compatibility of the HP Photosmart software with Windows XP.

My Hewlett-Packard PhotoSmart S20 scanner now works like a charm on my Windows XP.

Hooray for HP.

I thought I had great respect for memorex, but after this I do not. I would say this spindle that I picked up on a whim becuase of price is about 50/50. Half burn and the other coaster. This is on a Plextor which never coastered until now. I dunno probably the last time I buy media online from a big store. Anymore I choose to go to media specialty stores, they sell good media and they give you a good price. Don't know what happened to quality control but it went downhill for memorex. Spend less on commercials and get yourself decent products.

The odd thing about CD-R's is that certain manufacturers work in come players, but not in others. When a tech friend first mentioned that to me, I didn't believe it. So here's how it works. I have a regular Kenwood CD player (this does not apply to newer players who are CD-R-RW capable) My Kenwood will accept Memorex CD-R discs without any glitches. Sony's on the other hand don't work.
My brother also has a Kenwood CD in his car, and oddly enough the Memorex don't work in his car, but the Sony's do. So even within the same manufacturer, not even the same discs work. So if you have an older player, that is designed to play regular CD's find your manufacturer that works with your player, and load up on them. For me the Memorex works great.

Another interesting thing is that my older CDRW drive had a max speed of 6X. Unless I set it to record at only 2X, it would have skips. The new technology is great. I bought a Lite On CDRW which is a 52x32x52x, and it records a full speed without a single skip. So buying discs that run at 52x is a dream. I record a whole album in such a little bit of time, I can't believe it.
I never have a skip or any kind of problem with these Memorex discs, and the price here at Amazon is great. So I highly recommend them.

I use Memorex & Sony CD-Rs to create MPEG1 CD-R of various TV one-hour shows/series/episodes. I now have complete set of several TV shows - so if it's several years before they go to DVD, at least I'll have a digital copy. The MPEG1s can be played on any computer that has Windows Media Play version 6 or higher. The MPEGs WILL NOT PLAY on standalone DVD players (yet/pre 2002 models).

I like the iomega zip drive for storing things and saving space
on my hard drive. But i don't have a power cord anymore. Where can i purchase a cord from.

The Zip100 is a minimum necessity for today's larger and larger file formats - MPEG, MP3, and multiple images files can easily run up to 100MB. I've used the Zip since its inception when it knocked old Syquest 88MB drives out of business about 5 years ago. The size and convenience is why there is really only one choice for removable media with easy and immediate read-write capability.

There are definite pluses and minuses. Some will say get a CD-R(W) drive - but burning a CD is definitely not as immediate as a Zip. The parallel port is a major bummer because of the thru-speed. But those of you who are not major speed demons won't be disappointed compared to a floppy. The Zip drive allows daisy chaining so you can connect/output to other peripherals.

Iomega cut cost on the power on/off (it's always on when plugged in). But really the overall design is very good - you can place it flat or vertical. Even though the thick parallel cord may tend to twist the main unit.

There are a plethora of other Iomega choices. And I would really ask yourself if you are planning on USB or SCSI - each are noticeably faster. On the plus side, the 100MB format is so common in print shops, university labs, and copy places that you can't go wrong. Plus the price of each disk is recognizably less than the 250MB. Seriously think about your file formats. If you plan to do a lot video - you'll need to go with a Jaz. And you can get these refurbished for about the same cost and hold 1Gig. The only barrier to entry is the SCSI necessity and the extra cost of disks. Overall, the Zip100 has been a major workhorse for me - back and forth between work and home/Mac and PC MS98/NT. It has performed flawlessly.

I have enjoyed the convenience of my zip drive- My university's graphics computers have zip drives, the local Kinkos have zip drives in their computers, my parents even have a zip drive now. Its a nice, accepted standard, and for the price the disks read fast and work well- unlike 3.5 floppies, no zip disk has ever corrupted data for me. Zip disks are made of sturdy plastic which you can safely keep in your (shirt) pocket without damage.

The strongest competetitor to the zip disk standard is the 120 MB super-drive, which is a drive that is backwards-compatible with 1.6 MB (traditional)3.5 floppies, so you can totally replace your old floppy drive and still have it when you need it. A couple years ago it was expected that this drive would blow Iomega zip out of the picture, but super-floppies haven't really caught on.

In terms of exchanging data between computers in the same house, it is suprisingly simple to run an ethernet network instead- and there are other advantage besides transfering files- such as printer sharing and web sharing.

-Note. I think the zip 100 is more functional for the price than the 250 zip. -(For backing up really large files, the best thing these days is a cd writer or re-writer.)