OEM consumables (was Real-world ink longevity test)

[TJ]

Having worked in audio for a long time, the trustworthiness of media is somthing that has mattered to me. I used to trust Maxell and TDK implicitely: their recording tape was the best. Those days are gone. I do use software that reveals the disk manufacturer. It's not that rare. For example, the free program "Exact Audio Copy" will show you. I have Fuji disks made by four different companies, none of them Fuji. My Sony experience duplicates yours, except that the country was Taiwan; I forgot the manufacturer, and my cheap CD-alarm clock and my car stereo both give audible read errors with these disks, because _the disks are not round!_ Plonk Sony. I'm certain that TDK video cassettes have ruined my two best VCRs; I heard the friction in the shells in disbelief.

Ironically, the prices of cheap disks have gone up of late. I use them for short-term stuff, although I avoid the really cheap junk.

The only CDRs I'm using for anything that I want to keep these days are made by Taiyo Yuden, in Japan. I have some premium Maxells that are made by TY, but why pay the premium price when I can get the same disks under the manufacturer's imprint for a lot less in bulk? God only knows who Memorex is this month -- last I looked, they were located in Hong Kong, with legal HQ in the Cayman Islands, and their CEO was getting busted for fraud. Check it out. Many consumer brands are just empty marketing shells that are licensed out. RCA, GE (consumer electronics), Memorex, IBM, Timex, HP (paper, CDRs) lease out their trademarks to others in unrelated businesses; RCA merchandise at Radio Shack is just ordinary Radio Shack stuff. RCA (and that part of GE)is a trademark of Thomson, a French company manufacturing in China, and farming out their brand, too.

These name-brand media companies have changed into marketing shysters trading on their old image: they disgust me.

Richard

So what you're telling us is that when you purchase OEM name-brand paper
or recording media, you don't know who the manufacturer is, the quality
is inconsistant, and the OEM can change suppliers at any time, so you
don't know what you're getting. Is that about right?

Hmmm... Seems like I've heard that song before. Can't help but wonder if
they are so cavalier about THOSE things, why should I think it would be
any different with ink?

TJ

 

[Richard Steinfeld]

So what you're telling us is that when you purchase OEM name-brand paper
or recording media, you don't know who the manufacturer is, the quality
is inconsistant, and the OEM can change suppliers at any time, so you
don't know what you're getting. Is that about right?

Sort-of.
In the case of "Hewlett-Packard" paper at Staples (USA), it's made _and
distributed_ by Hammermill and this is not too difficult to find out.
With the recording media it's more difficult. The country of origin is
usually shown on the package. However, in the case of the TDK disks at
Costco and elsewhere, it's pretty difficult to read the chocolate-brown
"India" against the bright red background.

In some cases, such as with the Taiyo Yuden CDRs that I buy in bulk, I
think that I can trust the product from the original supplier a lot more
than I can from a marketer like Sony. These days, some Sony products
will be made by Sony, for example, while many Sony products are simply
products of a Chinese manufacturer, with Sony's name slapped on.

I can find Memorex and Maxell CDRs at Best Buy, but I sure can't find
Taiyo Yudens at any retail store; I've got to buy these in cake boxes of
100 on the Web. I should say, too, that TY is not the only trustworthy
blank digital disk maker, just one that I use. There are one or two web
sites where people discuss the quality of these things.

Hmmm... Seems like I've heard that song before. Can't help but wonder if
they are so cavalier about THOSE things, why should I think it would be
any different with ink?

About ink, I'd think that printer makers specify the parameters that the
supplier must meet, and the supplier does. Hell, at those 10,000% profit
margins, QC must be a pretty simple matter. I also would not be
surprised if maybe one printer manufacturer actually makes its own ink,
too, but also buys it when they can't meet their own demand.

After reading the Image Specialists web site, I see no reason why this
company would not be capable of supplying a printer manufacturer with
their precise quality and quantity requirements. And there are
undoubtedly other suppliers in the world who are just as good.

Printer ink and blank CDs are at the opposite ends of the retail
spectrum right now. The CDs are price-driven by intense competition, so
it's somewhat a race to the bottom. The ink market is still maintained
at dizzying price points through artificial gimmicks such as fear and
cartridge chipping. I think we're going to see changes. All it takes is
one marketer, such as Kodak, to shake up the old boys club. Or perhaps a
direct Oriental manufacturer.

Richard

Richard