Datawrite DVD-R 16x Printable promises a high speed performance with the high quality Mitsubishi Azo dye. Thanks to E-net Distribution we had the chance to test this media.

In this test we burned a number of discs using the Pioneer DVR-110D (v1.17), Plextor PX-716UF(1.08) and LiteON SOHW-1653S(CS0P). Your results may vary depending on your recorder and firmware version. For error rate analysis we used Nero CD-DVD Speed software and the LiteON drive. This test method is not scientifically valid or 100% accurate, but usually gives a good idea of the quality. The discs were also tested in various playback devices.

This is the latest and most advanced range of optical media from Datawrite. It has been codenamed "Titanium" due to the impenetrable, rock solid Mitsubishi dye that it utilises, found only on Tier 1 brands. The introduction of the highly successful Titanium dvd-r 8x in 2004 has set an immense precedent in the market. In fact, everything about the Titanium range resonates excellence! From the tough titanium sandblast finish to the high-grade polycarbonate plastic used, the Titanium range is guaranteed to be less than 0.00001% defective.

The Product

Our sample came in a 25pcs spindle pack. The discs are carrying a Mitsubishi Chemicals media identifier (MID).

Performance using LiteON SOHW-1653S

LiteON was the first drive to test and we got decent, while not excellent results. The 1653 was only able to record the discs at the speed of 12x. The PI remains at reasonable levels, while it has a bump in the early parts and rises towards the end. PIF remains low from start to finnish.

Performance using Plextor PX-716UF

Initially our results with all drives were Ok - the discs were not performing as well as Verbatim (the premium brand of Mitsubishi media), but results were decent. The more we burned, the worse things got. As you can see here, Plextor started stalling early in the acceleration and recorded the rest at 6x speed. The result is Ok, until at the end where the disc totally fails. This was a very typical curve for many of the discs we burned.

Performance using Pioneer DVR-110D

This example again demonstrates one of the better results with this media - however the error rates are spiking at the end of the disc. The high bump early in the curve was very typical for the tested media.

Conclusions

At first the Datawrite Printable DVD-R 16x first seemed like a decent quality Mitsubishi printable media. It has the Mitsubishi Azo dye, which is proven to be very compatible and typically offers great performance no matter what the intended use is.

However, the quality variations of this batch are way too large. The best ones were decent, while the worst ones failed totally. From this batch about 30...40% of the discs gave bad results, while the rest were decent.

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