What Brand Are My DVDs?

[jenstewart]

I received a stack of DVD+Rs from a trader awhile back, and he didn't know the brand name. He said that he got them from a store in his town, not on-line.

Anyway, is there a way to tell what the brand is of this disc by the number on the disc?

Please help this technical idiot.

Thanks.

[Neuroslicer]

Go to www.dvdinfopro.com, and download DVDInfoPro, it's freeware. You'll be able to detect the manufacturer ID using this program, which is independent of the actual brand name. To learn more about distinguishing one manufacturer ID from another, which is good and which is crap, I'll refer you to www.nomorecoasters.com.

In a nutshell, dvds IDs to look for:
Taiyo Yuden
MCC
Prodisc
Ritek


Manufacturers to avoid:
Princo
Onidtech
MUST
Optodisc
Longten
CMC

The above list is not meant to be exclusive, so go to the website and read all about it.

Neuro

[jenstewart]

Neuro,

I downloaded the program, but could you tell me which button(s) to use to identify the disc?

The discs have NOT been used, but are blanks, if that matters. I can't even burn one because my burner's broken, and my recorder only uses DVD-Rs.

Since my burner's out of commission, I have been lending my copies to traders, along with blanks, but I don't like sending these to a trader if they're just trash.

Thanks so much for your help.

[Neuroslicer]

The second icon from the left along the top is the "media" icon; click that. Make sure the correct disc drive is indicated down along the bottom of the window, left side.

Actually I'm not sure if this program can or cannot read the dvd manufacturer ID if you're just using a DVD-ROM drive. I only have burners, so for me it's not an issue. Try it and see.

[lordsmurf]

You must use a burner to read an ID, and it can be either burned or not.

[jenstewart]

Well... I don't have a burner. I guess I'll delete the program.

Thanks for trying to help me, though.