Is Better Actually BETTER??

[Silverdrgn19]

When I first got my burner I wanted to test the waters, so I bought a pack of cheap Princo (white tops). I haven't had a problem yet with my games. But now that I have the hang of things, I wanted to buy the best media, which seems to be Verbatim. I've been reading these threads for a while, and it seems that everyone swears by these DVD-Rs. I got a back of Verbatim (DatalifePlus) DVD-R 4.7 GB, and I have yet to make a burn that works. I've tried a couple of games, but my PS2 goes directly to the Browser screen (and I can also hear the disc spinning quickly like a constant skipping within the drive). I've tried re-burning these games on the Princos I had left, and they played perfect.

I don't mind paying more...I only use verbatim CDRs for Rips or smaller games. But the DVD-Rs just don't seem to read in my PS2. This doesn't make sense to me, since, if anything.....I should have problem reading the cheaper media...Not the more expensive.

[GothInTheBox]

Personally.. i have had nothing but the best of luck with cheap-o 'staples' media.. not a single bad disk.. however i tend to get a few bad disks with the expensive media.

[ben999_]

staples makes dvd-r? seems like it would be a huge waste of money for them to produce them, unless they just slapped their label on bulk discs. But anyway, Verbatim DVD-R's have always worked 100% perfect for me. I tried Princos once and only like 25% or less worked. What burner do you have?

[Dew-It]

I think it depends on the ps2 you have as well. I have a version 5 ps2 and Meritline and Princo's don't work for me. Can't even get the Mertline to read in my ps2. Maxell's and Apple DVD-r's, Pioneer all work good. I read I believe it was here that the version 7 ps2 can read just about any dvd-r media? Everyone looks for something cheaper. What works in one ps2 might not work in someone else's machine. CD-R media seems to be the one that no one has much trouble with.

[Silverdrgn19]

I have the very first ps2 that came out...and my burner is the new Sony that burns both DVD-R and +R.
I have no problem with the princo...the disks run smoothly in the drive...no hisses, or weird noises. I wouldn't care about buying the best DVD-R, but it seems that using cheap media kills the laser.
I've read old articles in this forum, and one stands out. It gave a detailed outline of why using poor media kills your laser. Basically, when your laser has to move back and forth to find the grooves of the burn, it's over-using your laser, thereby slowly wearing it down. Apparently, cheap media has a poor dye surface which doesn't bring out the grooves as well.
The way I see it, it shouldn't matter what media you use...as long as your ps2 doesn't seem to be stressing.
The only problem I've ever had with my Princo is with Devil May Cry 2, which occasionally freezed during the movies. Regardless, I would rather use blank DVD-R that's going to wear down my laser as less as possible.
But I don't want to waste more money on DVD-R that won't work.