WARM: Comstar 100pk 8x DVD-R spindle...$27

[mattsson]

FS has 100 pack Comstar DVD-R on sale for $26.99.

I've never used comstar so don't know how reliable they may be.

YMMV.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10067535&catid=12500&logon=&langid=EN

[Jeff146]

Maybe the Dolphin can give us some insight on these media?

[rohit_enigma]

They probably recently started making media, I can't find anyone about these disks online.

[The Hobo]

Sort of cold, you could have PM'ed some Maxells (more reliable) for 29$ not so long ago

[bodobodo]

My local FS (downtown Montreal) has stocked Comstar discs for about a week now but only have the +. I can normally spot the origin of discs if they are made by a well known manufacturer (Ritek, Prodisc, CMC, ...) by looking at the disc markings but these ones seemed very generic. I believe they were labelled as being made in Taiwan but it's anybody's guess what types of discs are inside. Considering how inexpensive mainstream brand name media is and that some of them can have their media code quite accurately guessed by the way the discs look (Fuji, Maxell) or the packaging it might be better to go for one of them instead when they are on sale. The price won't be much higher. Granted Ritek, CMC, and Prodisc don't compare to TY or MIJ Maxells but those are difficult to find at FS or BB these days.

[willy]

Looks new to me ...

~ C$6.75 / 25 discs ...

http://www.futureshop.ca/multimedia/products/large/10067535.jpg

[mattsson]

Sort of cold, you could have PM'ed some Maxells (more reliable) for 29$ not so long ago

ah. and me caught without my time machine. boy is my face red.

25 years ago I could buy a bottle of coke for $0.10. an old Maxell deal is no good to anyone looking to buy dvd media today.

[akito925]

Sort of cold, you could have PM'ed some Maxells (more reliable) for 29$ not so long ago

both medias aren't so great.. I know for a fact that maxells are all ritecks.. just got noticed..
Maxells DVD-R's that are MIT you will either get Ritecks OR CMC Media. bu maxells are a better brand to buy then the comstars, much cheaper too..

comstar never heard of that brand.. probally another oem from somewhere that doesn't burn that great..

don't waste your money buying comstar media.. no returns once you open it. some fs will let you return media.. but some won't let you once opened!

anyone have media code scans of the comstars? just curious what factory they came from...

[The Hobo]

ah. and me caught without my time machine. boy is my face red.

It happens to the best of us

[flame02]

ah. and me caught without my time machine. boy is my face red.

25 years ago I could buy a bottle of coke for $0.10. an old Maxell deal is no good to anyone looking to buy dvd media today.

LOL :lol:

[DaVillen]

both medias aren't so great.. I know for a fact that maxells are all ritecks..

comstar never heard of that brand.. probally another oem from somewhere that doesn't burn that great..

don't waste your money buying comstar media.. no returns once you open it.


Your wrong on the maxells being riteks. I just bought a 100 -R spindle and they where cmc.

And i've returned opened media to futureshop in the past and got my money back.

[bodobodo]

Go figure. Future Shop's new flyer has these "on sale" now at $34.99 on page 21 of the new flyer. Leave it to FS to put it on sale at a higher price.

[bodobodo]

Your wrong on the maxells being riteks. I just bought a 100 -R spindle and they where cmc.

And i've returned opened media to futureshop in the past and got my money back.

To clarify he was wrong about ALL Maxells being Riteks. MIT Maxell 8x discs have been Riteks until Maxell recently started using CMC media in their DVD-R spindles. Depending on store stock you could currently get either Ritek or CMC media in Maxell DVD-R 8x spindles marked Made in Taiwain. I haven't yet seen any Maxell 8x DVD+R spindles carrying CMC media, however.

[shawbros88]

OK guys, I took the challenge on the Comstar DVD+R:

Disc ID: MCC-003-00
Supported Write Speeds: 4x, 6x, 8x, 12x

Hope the scans will be OK...

[[buck]]

OK guys, I took the challenge on the Comstar DVD+R:

Disc ID: MCC-003-00
Supported Write Speeds: 4x, 6x, 8x, 12x

Hope the scans will be OK...

Nice! It's probably a CMC or Prodisc made Verbatim reject, which will probably be okay, but it's also possible that it's a fake made by infosmart in Hong Kong. Show us a scan. :)

[Pr0metheus]

OK guys, I took the challenge on the Comstar DVD+R:

Disc ID: MCC-003-00
Supported Write Speeds: 4x, 6x, 8x, 12x

Hope the scans will be OK...
Yeah right?! Steal if they are real... We want some scans! :)

[bodobodo]

Just a heads up that the Comstar DVD+R discs that I saw in store didn't show any of the hub markings/numbers typical of CMC or Prodisc manufactured Verbatim discs so they may just be using this MID without having anything to do with Verbatim. Another possibility is that the contents of their spindles varies from batch to batch and what you bought is different than what I saw. Here's a post from another forum documenting what to look for in Verbatim media from either CMC or Prodisc.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=128909

[BestOffer]

i believe comstar is an oem brand...since like the external hdds, they use many brands...so we would all see oem-like prices in the future at both FS and BB...

[[buck]]

Just a heads up that the Comstar DVD+R discs that I saw in store didn't show any of the hub markings/numbers typical of CMC or Prodisc manufactured Verbatim discs so they may just be using this MID without having anything to do with Verbatim. Another possibility is that the contents of their spindles varies from batch to batch and what you bought is different than what I saw. Here's a post from another forum documenting what to look for in Verbatim media from either CMC or Prodisc.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=128909

I'm guessing they use lots of OEMs like Dynex and other dirt cheap brands, simply because faked MCC is quite rare.

I'm waiting for a scan to make a final judgement. :)

[mahjongmaniac]

']I'm guessing they use lots of OEMs like Dynex and other dirt cheap brands, simply because faked MCC is quite rare.

I'm waiting for a scan to make a final judgement. :)

yes... a scan would be very much appreciated for those who bought a pk... :)

[monorail]

Is it just me or not. It says $34.99 when click on this link. I will passby the store and check them out.
Thanks

[akito925]

Yeah right?! Steal if they are real... We want some scans! :)
send dd a sample he will tell us all all about the scans.. unles cdrwin has scans...??

[bodobodo]

Just a heads up that the Comstar DVD+R discs that I saw in store didn't show any of the hub markings/numbers typical of CMC or Prodisc manufactured Verbatim discs so they may just be using this MID without having anything to do with Verbatim. Another possibility is that the contents of their spindles varies from batch to batch and what you bought is different than what I saw. Here's a post from another forum documenting what to look for in Verbatim media from either CMC or Prodisc.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=128909

I wanted to post a followup to my original posting. I stopped by FS again tonight and took a much closer look at the +R discs to see whether there is anything about the look of the discs that is consistent with being Verbatim discs. It was hard to see easily through the packaging but upon closer inspection there are hub markings which are a near match for some of my genuine Verbatim discs. The small variation in the code I would assume is simply due to being a different batch. This along with the earlier report of a MCC003 media code does seem to suggest that these are somehow related to Verbatim media. Whether they are simply overstock or discs that didn't meet Verbatim's quality control is anybody's guess but as others have said quality scans from anyone who has bought a spindle would be very much appreciated.

[GTI]

we want scans :cheesygri

[mahjongmaniac]

Is it just me or not. It says $34.99 when click on this link. I will passby the store and check them out.
Thanks

u can 4get about goin instore to check 'em out... its $35 alright... advertised on national wkly flyer... :)

$27 price was the day BEFORE it went on sale.... so yeah, FS jacked up the price! :twisted:

[bodobodo]

In the downtown Montreal FS store tonight these were back down to $24.99/100. The price on the shelf indicated that this price was in effect until November 24th. I picked up a spindle of the + at that price. I'm not sure if I will keep them yet but if I do I will post some scan results here.

[robieG]

Your wrong on the maxells being riteks. I just bought a 100 -R spindle and they where cmc.

And i've returned opened media to futureshop in the past and got my money back.

i got cmc too

[bodobodo]

Update:

I decided to open the spindle that I bought tonight to do some burn tests. Well there's some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that I won't be doing any burn tests.

The good news (in terms of helping us make a decision on their quality) is that from what I saw I didn't see any point of doing burn tests. A random sampling of burning surfaces that I looked at appeared bad in one way or another. Many discs had quite large scratches. Others had visible splotches and blemishes that seem to go all the way across the diameter of the disc. Others have quite noticeable spotting on them. While these discs must in some way be related to Verbatim discs they look to be at least a step (or more) below Verbatim in terms of quality control. I'm not planning to burn any of these and return them to FS later this week. Perhaps it's just a really bad batch but it's probably not worth the chance.

[GTI]

Sounds like the bulk 200 mitsumi's from last year. they'd package up the defective ones and sell them. can't waste a single disc mentality.

Update:

I decided to open the spindle that I bought tonight to do some burn tests. Well there's some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that I won't be doing any burn tests.

The good news (in terms of helping us make a decision on their quality) is that from what I saw I didn't see any point of doing burn tests. A random sampling of burning surfaces that I looked at appeared bad in one way or another. Many discs had quite large scratches. Others had visible splotches and blemishes that seem to go all the way across the diameter of the disc. Others have quite noticeable spotting on them. While these discs must in some way be related to Verbatim discs they look to be at least a step (or more) below Verbatim in terms of quality control. I'm not planning to burn any of these and return them to FS later this week. Perhaps it's just a really bad batch but it's probably not worth the chance.