I think the fact that the OP didn't even consider the brand of media worth mentioning is a sign of the fact that most people consider all media to pretty much be equal in quality. Now I'll agree that Fuji, Memorex, Maxell, even Imation and Philips are all pretty crappy in their consumer retail offerings, but they each have their own quirks that make them worth recognizing in a post. Imation for instance, you might get Optodisc in... and their 16x DVD+Rs are VERY good in a lot of drives. Fuji on the other hand is pretty much universally craptastic. Even their TY media has a higher then normal failure rate. Philips media you know is always going to be "Philips Certified" meaning it will have better then average drive support most of the time (except with their DVD+RDL media, where they screwed up big time!). Memorex and Maxell are always crap shoots these days. They don't buy the lowest quality crap available, since they always keep it to the big OEM manufacturers, but you could get Prodisc, CMC or Ritek generally speaking, and the inconsistancy is a pain in the butt.
Current DVD Burner Suggestion? Stick with Pioneer
Current suggested recordable media?
CD-Rs = Maxell CD-R Pro, Verbatim Datalife+, Falcon Media Pro
DVD
Current suggested recordable media?
CD-Rs = Maxell CD-R Pro, Verbatim Datalife+, Falcon Media Pro
DVD