Newbie Q about Verbatim DL media country of origin

[Charlie Zero]

Hi, when purchasing Verbatim DVD+R DL media, is the country of manufacturing origin significant to the quality of the discs (i.e. their reliability when burning, tendency to throw errors, etc.)? I am in the United States and have purchased Verbatim DL discs from Newegg previously. I burned the whole pack without errors and can verify that this is indeed a quality brand.

 

However, some packs are manufactured in Singapore, while others were made in United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.). I have heard from other review/purchasing sources (such as Amazon buyers), that U.A.E. discs are NOT reliable, and whenever possible, you should try to get the Singapore discs.

 

As it doesn't specify in the DL media buying guide on this forum that origin country is crucial in buying choices, I am wondering if that is the case or if Verbatim is just a quality brand in general, regardless of the location of their factory. If it isn't significant, that would be great, because there is an Office Max store within driving distance of where I live, and they have Verbatim discs in stock, so I wouldn't have to wait for shipping; however, they are U.A.E., and I don't want to waste a shopping trip if the discs are less reliable or not reliable at all.

 

Also, what is the difference between "regular" Verbatim DVD+R DL and their "Data Life Plus" series? I'm assuming the latter are of better quality for archival purposes? Or is it just advertising? What does "AZO" stand for (I see this on some of their labels)? Is there a difference in what discs to buy for burning software titles (like games and operating systems) vs. movies, or is this configured simply by settings in the burning software?

 

I am also curious to know if they relocated the factory (shut down the old one and moved their manufacturing operations), or if they just opened a new one in a second country.

 

If the location of manufacturing is significant, do you think this could be added to the buying guide?