Are 16X DVD-R disks really backwards compatible to 8X burners?

Try a brand other than Memorex. They make really crappy media. CompUSA and many other retailers will stock the cheap discs, as many consumers are concerned more about price than quality.

Look for TDK, Maxell, Taiyo Yuden (not likely that you'll find TY in a regular store) or Verbatim. You may need to order these online, especially if you want the printable kind.

To answer your original question: 16X discs should be compatible with an 8X burner, but you'll obviously be limited to 8X burns.

I recently purchased, probably the same discs, for my iMac which has an 8x burner. After posting in here I was ready to try it out, and it worked fine. No problems.

As for what the other poster said, I have found memorex discs are some of the best.

I have found Memorex media to be poor (I've had discs become unreadable a few months later) and so I won't buy it anymore. I only bought it in the first place because it was a big name brand, and I assumed it would be good. This was before I knew about the various manufacturers of recordable media, and which ones were good and which ones were bad. There's a good listing of these here: http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm

For people who have to give burned media to clients, you'll see that Memorex is one of the brands that it's recommended to stay away from.

But if you've had good luck with Memorex, great. Use whatever you're comfortable with. I feel that my data is a little too important to take a chance with what discs that have historically been of questionable quality.

Your drive may need a firmware update for newer media. DVD writing is much different than CD-writing (where any disc is writeable no matter what speed). Check the Sony web site for potential updates.

Regards,

I've had success with Memorex , Sony, and imation cdrs. New to the DVD market. We'll see how memorex fairs there for me.

I'll check out the link. thanks.

Same problem here, EXCEPT I'm using Sony 1X-16X And yet, they won't work on the same Sony SuperDrive. Actually, no 16X DVD of any brand as yet worked.