Datawrite MACH 4 is a new addition to the already wide variety of Datawrite products. In the product portfolio it seems to be positioned to the budget category, offering attractive pricing. Thanks to E-net Distribution we had a chance to test and review this new media.

The company hype

The Datawrite MACH 4 is so fresh, that it is not mentioned on the Datawrite website as we are writing this review. Therefore we quote one of their retailers Digital Promotions UK:

Datawrite take DVD to the edge once again with their new Mach 4 disc! A whole new dye has been chosen for this disc and those experts amongst you into the different dyes will recognise it as one chosen by top disc brands. Same experts will recognise the Datawrite classic Red looks.

Our test batch came in 50pcs spindles. The label graphics are a bit different than in the other Datawrite products. The discs have a INFODISC-R20 media identifier (MID). The INFODISC is often mistaken to be an identifier code for media made by Infosmart. However this is not the case and Infodisc is a different manufacturer.

The test method

For testing we burned the discs using a Plextor PX-716UF, Pioneer 110D, LiteON SOHW-1653S, BenQ DW1640 and a HP 840i. All of the drives had the most recent firmware available at the time. After recording the discs were scanned using the LiteON or BenQ drive and the Nero CD/DVD Speed software. This test method is not scientifically valid or 100% accurate, but usually gives a good indication of the quality.

Performance using Plextor PX-716UF

With the Plextor we got quite usable results with this media. The results are not premium and we have seen much better from Datawrite, but not really bad either. The PIE graph is raised from the early parts of the disc and not completely linear. Towards the end the error levels go down to a quite good level. Also the PIF spikes slightly at the early parts but nothing too serious. The average error rates are quite good for PIE and PIF and the peak values are not alarming.

Performance using Pioneer 110D

Pioneer 110D's firmware does not seem to be optimized for this media, as only 4x recording speed is available. Results are decent for the most part, similart to Plextor, but the PIE curve starts rising at the end. The PIF rates remain quite low however.

Performance using LiteON SOHW-1653S

Our old workhorse the LiteON 1653, which has a huge mileage on it, gave us very good result in this test. The average amount of PIE and PIF are quite good, and the maximum values seem a whole lot better than with the Pioneer or Plextor. A nice result for a budget media - graphs should be more linear though.

Performance using BenQ DW1640

BenQ perform quite well with this media. But sometimes we got a little bit worse PIF values too. So the writing quality varies. PIE levels are good. This disc was scanned with BenQ writer which uses 8ECC scanning interval (Max PIF should be < 16). Liteon uses 1ECC scanning interval (Max PIF should be < 4).

Performance using HP 840i

The graphs had the same shape as with LiteOn 1653, not a big surprise because the HP writer is made by Liteon. Sometimes we got good results, like the graph below shows, but sometimes there were higher PIF values too. It may be that HP 840i would need a better firmware for this media. As above this disc was scanned with BenQ writer which uses 8ECC scanning interval (Max PIF should be < 16).

Conclusions

When considering budget media it is not important whether the test results are premium or not. After all you are not paying the premium price either. Typically the case is that one has a recorder and a playback device, and one wishes to record discs economically while knowing that the copy will work. So the consistency of quality is what matters - good or bad, but it must be steady.

Datawrite MACH 4 is the first Infodisc made media that we have worked with. It would seem to have the potential to be a decent budged grade disc. At best the results can even be considered quite good. Before buying, it is an idea to check out that your drive's firmware is tuned for Infodisc media. If the price is good, then MACH 4 could be a decent buy when running on a low budget.

You can discuss Datawrite and DVD media in general at our DVD Recordable Media Forum.