I'm just entering the DVD-R world, but I have a few observations and tidbits of wisdom... I'm hoping people can either agree with me, or set me straight. I've had no problems with the ripping, converting, or encoding aspects of DVD backup, but the media seems to be giving me problems. In scanning the boards I've found that the only thing people seem to agree on is that Grade A media is a must. I haven't been able to classify the Verbatim media I picked up at Best Buy, but I'd be shocked if it's anywhere near Grade A. So far, every movie I've burned has skipped or desynced during high-bitrate areas of playback. So far... my theory is that even when a standalone DVD player does read a DVD-R disc, the cheaper media is more difficult to read, and therefore has a lower maximum bandwidth. These DVD-R's would probably be fine for burning at lower bitrates, but would have problems at higher bitrates, or in duplicating commercial DVD's. So far, Pioneer and Univeral DVD-R media have come up as being the highest quality available, with the prices of Universal media also being quite reasonable. I just placed an order for some Universal DVD-r's, and I'd be interested to see posts from anyone that has experimented with these and other brands.
I initially made the mistake of buying B grade media and was able to get 1 out of 3 to burn successfully. I since bought a 15 pack of Verbatim's from Best Buy, and have burnt 11 discs without any writing or reading problems. So, my experience with Verbatim is great. I am using a Panasonic LF-D311 DVD-R and a Sony 9000ES DVD/SACD player.
