Ridata 8x 4.7 GB DVD+R Spindle (100 Discs)

by Ridata

Product Details

• Item Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0001YFX7U
• Item model number: DRD+478-RDCB50
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 2, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Ridata DVD+R media is known for excellent performance and stable, reliable data writing. This spindle features 100 DVD+R write-once discs that are compatible with 8x speed recordings. Designed for personal or professional use, Ridata's DVD+R discs utilize a high-performance phase change material which is ideal for mass storage and long archival life. Each disc holds up to 4.7 GB of data--which can store up to 120 minutes of high-quality video, or your collection of high-resolution photos or digital audio files.

What is DVD+R/RW?
DVD+R/RW is an erasable format based on CD-RW technology that became available in late 2001. It is supported by Philips, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha, and others, though it is not supported by the DVD Forum. DVD+RW drives read DVD-ROMs and CDs, and usually read DVD-Rs and DVD-RWs, but do not read or write DVD-RAM discs. DVD+RW drives also write CD-Rs and CD-RWs. The DVD+RW format uses phase-change media with a high-frequency wobbled groove that allows it to eliminate linking sectors. This, plus the option of no defect management, allows DVD+RW discs to be written in a way that is compatible with many existing DVD readers. DVD+R/RW discs hold 4.7 gigabytes (GB) per side and are readable in many existing DVD-Video players and DVD-ROM drives.

About the Company
Ritek, the maker of Ridata media, is the world's largest optical media manufacturer. The name may be new to you, but if you've purchased blank media in the past, you've likely already used a Ritek product. For years, Ritek has been redefining the optical storage market around the world, and its name is synonymous with innovation, quality and unparalleled consistency. The new Ridata brand brings you top quality at an amazing value.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor quality discs from a poorly run company!, October 27, 2005

By 

Brad Hutchinson (Katy, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ridata 8x 4.7 GB DVD+R Spindle (100 Discs) (Electronics)

I have bought and used Ridata blank DVD's both + and - R many times in the past without problems until recently. As I was looking around for the lowest price I couldn't help but notice how many negative reviews had been given to the discs lately due to coasters from poor manufacturing and wondered if I should try the brand again. The price was right and my past experience was good with this brand so I ordered the discs. When they came in I decided to look through the entire 100 spindle disc by disc to see if any defects were present like many other reviewers were mentioning. Out of my 100 discs 13 of them had defects that were noticeable by looking at the dye on the writing surface. Some had chips missing where you could see through to the label side, some just had freaky looking smudges on the discs, and some were scratched badly. So I got the number for Ritek/Ridata from the customer service of the website I ordered the discs from since the phone number on the Ritek website does not work, and called them about the problem. They told me that they would replace the bad discs if I was willing to send them all using UPS insured shipping (they accept no other method ie: USPS, Fed Ex, etc which would be cheaper), which of course would cost more in shipping than the cost of 13 discs. The employee told me that I should keep them and when I order more to stack them up until I had enough to make it worth sending in. This tells me that Ridata knows they are making poor quality discs and they expect you to get bad ones in every spindle. They could at least stand by their product enough to send out free replacements instead of making YOU pay to ship them back, this is very poor customer service.

The second problem I encountered with these discs is that they will not honor their mail in rebates. My spindle of 100 had a $10 mail in rebate that I filled out and sent in with all the required information the day that I received them. Two months later they send me a letter indicating that they will not honor my rebate request due my not sending in a receipt, purchase date, purchase location, and an invalid postmark date. This is complete BS and all of this was included in my envelope I even took pictures of each one of these things being put inside, and shows what a ripoff this company is. I don't even know what an invalid postmark date is supposed to mean since I sent the rebate form in well within the required time frame. I know that definitely in the future I will never buy discs from Ritek/Ridata again no matter how cheap they seem because they are producing low quality discs and will not honor rebates or replacements. I have never bought a spindle of DVDR's or CDR's by any other company before that had any manufacturing errors per spindle, and I believe that a 13% error rate is unacceptable.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Used To Be Great, But Not Anymore..., January 16, 2005

By 

Brian D. "Brian" (Kentucky) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ridata 8x 4.7 GB DVD+R Spindle (100 Discs) (Electronics)

I am on my third spindle of these Ridata DVD+R's. The first two spindles were fantastic and I had ZERO coasters. I ordered the third spindle a few weeks ago and I have thrown away 95% of the discs that I have burned. The burns completed without error, but skipped and pixelated around 3/4 thru the disc.

I haven't changed my software or made any other changes to my computer that would have caused this, and I am running the latest available firmware on my burner. I bought a couple of Maxell DVD+R's to rule out a bad burner and they burned and played fine.

After doing some research online, I learned that Ridata is farming out their production to other companies and that the quality has dropped dramatically. I will not be buying any more of this brand of DVD's and I would no longer recommend them to anyone, either.

I now have 75 blanks that I can't use or return, because I have already removed the bar code and sent it in for the $10.00 rebate. Oh, well... live and learn.

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Total waste of money plus complete data loss, August 22, 2005

By 

Estudioso (TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ridata 8x 4.7 GB DVD+R Spindle (100 Discs) (Electronics)

If you want your data to last, avoid anything Ritek like the plague. Both the G04 and G05 Ritek (of all brands, Ridata, Ridisk, etc.) are crap. I have a lot of Ritek G05s that have at least DOUBLE the PIE and/or PIF errors after just 2 weeks after the initial burn. Check out CDFreaks and you'll see the entire Ritek line suffers from some sort of serious data degradation like this--at best, your data burned to the DVD will become unreadable in one year.

Sure, the DVDs might arrive in pristine condition (no scratching to the dye, no dye spotting [indicating poor merchant storage, due to excessive heat or direct sunlight]), but the data stored on them eventually becomes unreadable (meaning it can't be read on a DVD burner nor by a DVD standalone player). Why else do I steer people away from these? Personal experience: I have already reburned 50% of my 100 Ritek Ridata 8x DVD-R (mid Ritek G05), which showed anywhere from 2x-7x the original error rates in anywhere from just 2 weeks to 2 months after the initial burn. I personally burned these with both a Pioneer DVR-108 and Plextor 716a, and it is NOT a burner nor firmware issue; it is a POOR MEDIA issue. Also notice there is NO WARRANTY for Riteks to be replaced when they fail! That is the biggest nail in the coffin against it, because if a Ritek fails, you've lost your data AND your money--with no recourse!!! This means I've lost $45, plus all the extra time to rescan DVDs going bad and reburning the worst ones.

If you want peace of mind, the only tested reliable brands to buy are either Taiyo Yuden (mids: yuden000t02-00; tyg02, tyg03) or Verbatim (MCC003, MCC004), which have held up over time and consistently have the lowest error rates. You might also do ok with mid MBIP (Moser Baer India), which seem to burn with low error rates initially (when tested on BenQ1640, Plextor 716a and Liteons), but their longevity on data preservation has not yet been determined.

Moral of the story? Do some reading on good media choices at [...]and DO NOT BUY ANYTHING RITEK!!! You'll only end up losing that money PLUS you'll have to re-burn everything and SPEND MORE MONEY on good, proven media. Avoid Ritek like the plague it is, if you want to preserve your burned data for years to come.