What DVD media should I use with my LiteOn DVD burner? Since this question gets asked a lot, I thought that I'd post a guide here...

• Plus or dash? LiteOn drives seem to prefer "plus" media somewhat. While it can burn "dash", it seems from user experiences that "dash" results are a bit more mixed and are not as good as results with "plus" media. In markets where "plus" and "dash" prices are comparable, getting "plus" media would be advisable. And with bitsetting, "plus" media can be even more compatible than "dash" media.
• Cheap media? LiteOn drives do not perform well with "cheap" ("junk") media. Media types such as Princo, AML, AN3-, Longten, Infosmart, Lead Data, etc., are generally considered to be junk media and should be avoided. In the long run, they are actually pretty "expensive" because even if they do burn well, these media types tend to be so poorly manufactured that their dyes have been known to degrade just months after being burned. Many generic-branded media types (e.g., HQ, GQ, Sonic, Matrix, etc.) fall into this category. If you want low-cost media, there are much better alternatives like Prodisc and RiTEK. Mainstream media generally works fine with LiteOn drives.
• Also see: The CD Freaks media forum and the DVD media tests subforum are good places to look for media-related questions. If you're not familiar with media codes, you might want to look here.

Taiyo Yuden
TY media is the best of the best and works perfectly with LiteOn drives, esp. their +R media. They may be a bit pricey, but as of August 2004, they could be had for as little as USD $0.80 each if you look in the right place. Their 4x +R media can be burned at 8x without problems. Their -R does not seem to perform as well as their +R in LiteOn drives, but they still perform fairly well. This media type is often sold directly under the TY name. The brands that are usually TY are Plextor and That's. TY is sometimes sold under other brands such as Samsung or Fuji, but this is often not the case.

Ricoh
Although Ricoh media is manufactured by RiTEK, they use Ricoh's dye and technology and are subject to better quality control. The 4x Ricoh media is often a very popular media for LiteOn drives and can usually be oversped to 8x without problems. Brands that use Ricoh media include RiDATA (you could very well get a RiTEK disc instead of a Ricoh disc if you go with the RiDATA brand), Fujifilm, TDK, Memorex (Memorex uses both Ricoh and CMC media, so you might get a CMC batch), Maxell, Imation (Imation uses both Ricoh and CMC media, so you might get a CMC batch), and Sony (though not all Sony-branded discs are Ricoh). As you can see from this list, Ricoh is one of the most common media types in the mainstream market. Ricoh media could be had for as little as USD $0.50 if purchased under the RiDATA brand (with the risk that you might get a RiTEK batch instead of a Ricoh batch) and can be had for around USD $0.80 if purchased under a brand name like Fujifilm.

RiTEK
RiTEK media is acceptable. The biggest problem with RiTEK media is that it is highly variable. While one RiTEK batch might burn perfectly at 8x with extremely low error rates, the next batch might always coaster at 8x. RiTEK's 4x and 8x "plus" media can generally be burned at 8x, though results may vary, and strategy switches are sometimes necessary. RiTEK's popular 4x "dash" media (the RITEKG04) might be oversped to 8x (though not always) (sometimes, requiring the help of a strategy switch to do so). RiTEK's first generation 8x media (the RITEKG05) does not work well with LiteOn drives unless a strategy switch is used (though with a good strategy switch, the G05 actually performs quite well, most of the time). RiTEK media is generally considered to be average, and with its recent decrease in quality control, RiTEK media seems to be becoming increasingly variable in quality, and are increasingly in need of strategy switches to work properly. However, when they do work properly, RiTEK media is fairly good. RiTEK media is generally sold under the various RiTEK brands such as RiDATA and Traxdata.

CMC Magnetics
Like RiTEK, CMC media is also highly variable, especially their 4x media. With the help of strategy switches, CMC "plus" media can be made to work well at 8x on LiteOn drives. Brands that use CMC include Memorex, Imation, K-Hypermedia, HP, and Verbatim.

Prodisc
Despite a poor reputation in the past, Prodisc seems to be faring better. At least in North America (it is rumored that they sell lower-quality media to other markets, though this is unconfirmed), their 4x and 8x "plus" media perform superbly at 8x on LiteOn drives (though requiring the help of the recommended strategy switches built into OmniPatcher). Their "dash" media also seems to be fairly good in quality, especially after the use of strategy switches. Prodisc "dash" media can sometimes be found under the Fujifilm brand. Prodisc prices are generally very low, and are thus an excellent choice for people looking for media that is low-cost but still performs well.

Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi (better known through its subsidiary, Verbatim) media is generally overpriced and many of them have problems at the outer edges (this affects not just LiteOn drives, but other drives as well). Furthermore, much of their production is outsourced to CMC (made in Taiwan or made in China) and Moser Baer India (made in India). Very few pieces of Mitsubishi media are actually made by Mitsubishi (those made in Singapore are Mitsubishi-made). Because this media type is generally overpriced and overrated, I would not recommend it, but it is still overall good media, which is why it's listed here.

Mainstream Brands
Mainstream media, such as Memorex, Verbatim, Imation, Fujifilm, Maxell, and HP will all work fairly well with LiteOn drives, if you get the "plus" discs because, as you can see, the mainstream brands all use one of these "good" media types listed above. If you're on a tight budget, unbranded Prodiscs and RiDATA/RiTEK are good options. Just stay away from the shady junk media types/brands like Princo, "Great Quality", Matrix, Sonic, Datawrite Yellow/Reds and you will be fine.