Oh, Verbatim, how could you?!

[dbminter]

I ordered some Verbatim CD-R's. When I got them, I put in one in my optical drives to check the Manufacturer ID. It was CMC Magnetics Corporation! First, years ago, Optodisc betrayed me by switching to CMC for their useless DVD-R's and now Verbatim has dipped into the poisoned pool of CMC media.

[LIGHTNING UK!]

I think they've use that for a while haven't they? I stopped being a generic Verbatim CD fan boy ages ago because they weren't all up to scratch - I switched to using the TY dye CD's exclusively.

 

When buying them, you just have to make sure you get the Taiyo Yuden ones - my current Verbatim TY's are known/sold as 'Pastel Disc'.

[dbminter]

Yeah, I decided to make my next order Taiyo Yudens.

 

 

This was my first time trying Verbatim CD-R's. I just thought since they used good quality dyes on their DataLife Plus DVD-R's, that they'd be a good go for my CD-R needs, too.

 

 

Well, Verbatim CD-R's are now on my shit list.

[LIGHTNING UK!]

You only need to shit list the non TY Verbatims

 

Like I say, their 'Pastel Disc' ones are fine and use the TY dyes - just as some of their DVD's use TY dyes and others use MCC/MKM etc. (the 'value' range even use CMC I believe!)

[dbminter]

Well, I'm adding Verbtaim CD-R's to my don't buy list. I shouldn't have to jump through hoops just to get a decent product. It's not like I purposefully purchased Memorex.

 

 

I don't know about these Pastel Disc ones. Do they even sell them here in the US? I did a search on Amazon.com for Verbatim CD-R and pastel and there were no pastel hits in the returned results.

 

 

I've already gone ahead and ordered some Taiyo Yuden CD-R's. Is there an MID for those I should look for or one to avoid?

[LIGHTNING UK!]

You don't really get MID's on CD's, the brand/dye gets determined (looked up in a table) by the ATIP leadout address - which is in the XXmYYsZZf format (m being minutes, s being seconds and f being frames).

 

What were your Verbs marketed as? I've read that the Super Azo (datalifeplus ? ) ones are meant to be pretty decent.

[dbminter]

I was confused by the line that says Manufacturer. I just inferred it was an MID like was present on DVD recordable media. But, what do I know, especially about CD's?

[scuzzy]

What were your Verbs marketed as? I've read that the Super Azo (datalifeplus ? ) ones are meant to be pretty decent.

Yes, as far as I can tell, the Verbs marked "Azo" are good (they use a Mitsubishi Chemical Corp [Verbatim's corporate parent] dye), but the ones marked "Extra Protection" are the shit CMC Magnetics ones - presumably they're actually rebadged CMC-manufactured discs.

 

I like the ones sold as "Azo Crystal", but they've become hard to find in the UK (SVP don't seem to have them any more). Verbatim also produces "Azo Lightscribe" and "Azo Printable" CDRs which still seem to be carried most places, but I don't really want the printableness. I guess I'll be switching to Taiyo Yudens at the next purchase.

 

I actually met a Verbatim UK CDR Division Product Manager on their stand at an IT exhibition earlier this year, and asked him about the CMC ones - pointing out the terrible mistake I feel Verbatim are making with this move, losing much of their previously valuable credibility with their core audience - and he said that Verbatim felt it needed a CDR at that price/quality point so as to exploit that kind of market niche.

 

Bah. They should make the packaging look very very different if they have any sense.

 

[Also see my post in April this year]

[dbminter]

I couldn't find any CD-R's from Verbatim that were marked Datalife Plus like the DVD recordable media I had purchased.

 

 

As for losing credibility, companies don't really care. The bottom line is the dollar/pound. If they can successfully sell a cheaper cost product at a profitable price, they'll do it in a heartbeat. As for me, I will only purchase Verbatim DVD-R and DVD+R DL as long as its Datalife Plus with MID's of MKM or MCC. Should Verbatim change manufacturers with those, then, all Verbatim media will go on my shit list. I did the same to Optodisc when they switched to CMC and I'll do it at the drop of a hat for Verbatim, too, if they do that.

[spinningwheel]