There's still questions I can't find answers to.

I heard here that Office depot brand is good so I got some today...DVD-R 16x
They were on sale for $20 for 100. They are also made in Taiwan.

Are Office Depot's still good even if made in Taiwan? (edit: was answered below)
Are their 16x's good? I've only heard that their 8x's were good.

And, by good, some people just mean "low coaster rate". But what about playing in other players. And since I'll be archiving, I need a disk that will last long.
Can the DVD recorder quality have something to do with quality burns?
What's the easiest(and free) way to check the code of the disk?
Can DVD's be returned after opening?

Office Depot doesn't manufacturer any dvd blanks. They OEM them from other companies, put their name on them, and you really don't know whose they are until you buy them and check the manufacturer ID on the disc header. From reports on several site (CDFreaks, others), they are suspect at best.

What's the verdict on Phillips discs? 100 on right now for $24.99

Just like Office Depot, they don't make their own media for -R and +R. It's usually CMC MAG media, which has mixed results. It seems to depend on what burner you're using.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=108144

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=137633

I won't use them.

Is a DVD burner required to check the ID?

I was just looking online at Ritec & Taiyo Yudens, seeing they are around 34 cents each online....which brings me to yet another Media question: Why do people on this site search B&M stores hoping to find good media, then checking the ID, if they can get Ritec at a good price?

Now that I have Taiyo Yuden's (8x TYG02, from Supermediastore.com) , is there a way I can be sure they are real TY. It doesn't say where they're made. The Paper Cover is correct. The Media Code can be faked.

And what exactly is meant by fake Taiyo's? Does is mean they are labeled as Taiyo's, or that it has Taiyo's codes: TYG02, or what?

ya the only way to check a blank discs ID is to use a DVD burner.
if you download dvd dycrypter (free software) and insert a blank dvd into your drive, DVD dycrypter will display the ID code of any blank. NO need to write to the disc. its handy software for checking media codes quickly and efectivly

Tayo's are probably one of the best brand around. However, there have been known fakes that show up on the market. what is meant by a fake, is the disc is packaged and says TAYO, however the actual media on the discs themselves are of a cheaper brand. so again, the ONLY real 100% for sure way to find out of its a fake is to check it out on your burner.

if your seriously considering purchasing blanks for archiving, then spend the extra few bucks and buy quality media. im partial to Verbatim's and Maxell's myself. 99.5% NON-coaster rate for me using that media.

If your looking for playback compatibility. stick with the DVD (-) minus R discs. R- seem to have a higher playback rate in standalone players compared to +R's

Strangely, I've never had a spindle from Maxell that didn't provide at least a couple of coasters, and I've had one spindle from them that was 2/3 coasters.

what is meant by a fake, is the disc is packaged and says TAYO....the ONLY real 100% for sure way to find out of its a fake is to check it out on your burner.
I bought quality media packaging.:lol: But I don't know about the disks.
Are the ID and media code different things? I hear that one or both can be faked? What do I check to be 100% sure?

SETH:

traders that have done thousands of burns develop their own prefrence. Burning media "IS" almost an exact science. I've read several infromative boards regarding media writing. Alot of experts do claim that alot comes down to hardware combined with media. Your burning hardware may work excellent with one brand, while my burner is tempermental with the same brand that you have success with, and vice versa.

What's soooooooooooo decieving about media is the brand name on them. There are only a few factories in the entire world that can create and press media. Sony, Philips, Fuji etc..... do "NOT" create their own media. A factory outlet brand the media for them and simply puts their name and labels on them. Alot of people may jump to the conclusion that Sony has an excellent name in electronics, so that must mean their blank media is superior then a less known name. Not always the case.

Fakes

Luckily, it does not happen often, but it does happen often enough to be a major annoyance to media buyers everywhere. Most fake media comes from Hong Kong, as a general rule. Fake media tends to float around Europe and Asia more than it does the USA. Fake media is normally sold in flea markets, on eBay and online. Major brand name media sold in stores is probably never going to be fake.

TYG02 = This was faked by Hong Kong OEM in 2004-2005. Some OPTODISC media was also reported to carry this code. The fakes are rumored to be for "improved 8x media detection" but low quality media is low quality, regardless of the media ID.

MXLRG01 = This was faked by Hong Kong OEM in 2002-2003.

SONY = This was faked in 2003. Unknown HK manufacturer. "SONY" is not a valid media ID.

TDKG02 = This was faked by PRINCO in 2001-2002. They wanted to "improve 2x writing" on the 1x write strategy media, as well as insure drives would see the media (not all firmware at the time had PRINCO as a valid media code).

RITEKG03,RITEKG04 = This was supposedly faked in 2004. However, it is the opinion of this author that it was just a lame cover story by RITEK for providing subpar quality media, as even the "legit" media performed poorly at the time.

Branding Guide

Although this will change on a regular basis, the following brands are known to use the following media makers for their outsourced discs. 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. Because of recent trends, the BOLDFACE represents known media at the time of this publish. Others are either past media codes, or codes available to the manufacturer. The (-R) and (+R) has also been added if only one is using that code.

Accu = LEADDATA
Americal = RITEKG01, PRINCO, LEADDATA
Apple = MXL, MCC(-R)
Arita = RITEKG03, RICOHJPN
BenQ = DAXON, FUJIFILM
Bulkpaq = PRINCO, PRODISC, ISO001(+R)
CompUSA = PRINCO(-R), AML, OPTODISC, LD
Datawrite = PRINCO, PRODISC, AN31, RITEKG03
DupEZ = PIODATA, LEADDATA
ESA = CMC
Esbuy = RITEK, LEADDATA, other budget IDs
Fuji = TY(-R), MKM(-RW), MCC, RICOHJPN(+R), PRODISC(-R), FUJIFILM, RITEK
GQ = PIODATA, PRINCO, RITEKG03, RITEKG02, LEADDATA, LD
HP = CMC, RICOHJPN, MCC
Imation = MCC02, RITEKG03, CMC
Intenso = MCC01
KHypermedia = CMC, TTG01
Kodak = Various budget IDs
LiquidVideo = OPTODISC
Matrix = MATRIX, LONGTEN, YIJHAN, MUST
Maxell = MXL, RITEK(-R/Taiwan), RICOHJPN, TYG01
Memorex = MCC003, RITEKG05, RITEKR03, CMCMAG, RICOHJPN,
Memorex (more) = PRODISCS0x, INFODISC, MBI, MCC01
Meritline = Various budget IDs
Mirror = AN31, ONIDTECH, PRINCO
Optodisc = OPTODISC
Philips = CMC
Pioneer = PVC
Princo = PRINCO, Fake TDK
Prodisc = PRODISCS0x, PRODISCF0x, MCC01, MCC02
Ridata, Ritek = RITEKG0x, RITEKM0x, RITEKR0x, RITEKW, RICOHJPN
Samsung = TYG01, BEALL, RITEK
Sonic, Shop4tech = LONGTEN, MATRIX, MUST, YIJHAN, various budget IDs
Sony = SONYD0x, YUDEN, RICOHJPN, MCC
Supermedia, Linkyo = Various budget IDs
TDK = TY, YUDEN, TTG0x, TTH0x, RITEK, RICOH, MXL, CMC(+R), MCC, TDK
Teon = MCC003(+R), CMC(-R)
Verbatim = MCC02, MCC, MKM(DL), CMC, YUDEN, RICOHJPN, RITEKG03

i read this statement so many times

---well ____ brand works in my machine------

no one cares

what folks care about, is will ____ brand be compatable with most machines that are out there

when i first started, two years ago, i used discs that were on sale and --worked for me-- i had my share of issues when they wouldnt play in the next dudes machine

after all, we are traders-- providers for others

i sent one fella a 20 disc proven set, and he emailed me that not one disc would function, he then said, let me send these back, and ill send you some of my blanks, and please try and rerun them, well i figured he wasnt a thief, since he wanted the same set redone, not another, so i agreed to try them on his discs

i reran them, and he said they worked fine, and he loved the set, i have moved probably 30 sets to him in the last 18 months

what was different, well he sent me taiyo yuden 8x discs to use, from that day on, i have narrowed my use of discs to taiyo yuden and ritek,

interesting how my compatability issues dropped 99% from that day on

i cant tell you how many advanced collectors have told me , i used cheapo discs for _____ set and now they dont work anymore, they lost rare and valuable items due to useing cheapo crap blanks--that at the time, worked for them

use whatever you choose to, just dont send me any of them, or cry here when you have troubles later on, chepo discs will cost you far more, than the sticker price

FYI

I have a HP dvd640 lightscribe burner that seems to accept anything and everything (knock on wood) so anyone planning on purchasing a burner soon can take that for what it's worth. By the way, I rarely use the lightscribe feature as the discs (despite what was promised by HP) are much more expensive.