Traxdata is one of the world’s leading brands in the data storage industry and is seen as the industry pioneer in the field of optical storage media. Traxdata is being distributed in Europe, Africa and the Middle East by Conrexx Technology B.V. We had a chance to test Traxdata 16X DVD-R.

The Test Method

In this test we burned a number of discs using the Pioneer DVR-110 and BenQ DW1640 with the latest firmware. This is just a preview for this disc (only two recorders used). Your results may vary depending on your recorder. We will add more results later. For error rate analysis we used nero CD/DVD Speed software and the BenQ DW1640 drive. This test method is not scientifically valid or 100% accurate, but usually gives a good idea of the quality.

The Company Hype

From Traxdata homepage:
The highlight of the new range is the innovative Traxdata DVD-R 16X media which dramatically shortens burn time. Traxdata's DVD-R 16X discs can be recorded at speeds of up to 21MB per second which means a 4.7GB Recordable DVD can now be recorded in just 6 minutes.

The Product

Our Traxdata 16X DVD-R discs were in the Jewel Cases. The disc itself has a silver top coating. Good looking disc. The discs carry a RITEKF1 Manufaturer ID. Traxdata has a "A Grade" Ritek dye.

Performance using Pioneer DVR-110D (12X)

Pioneer seems to have something wrong in the firmware. Just look at the picture. There is definitely connection between writing speed and writing quality. When the writing speed is 6X results are quite poor, but results will get much better when writing speed is switching to 8X and even better when switching to 12X speed. The 16X speed is not supported with this firmware. Overal these results are good.

Performance using Pioneer DVR-110D (8X)

We try to lower the writing speed to 8X to see if it would help. Well like you can see in the picture, same effect. With 6X speed there is much higher PI Error rate than with 8X speed. Well, overal these results are again good.

Performance using BenQ DW1640 (16X)

It seems that PIF values are rising in the end of the disc quite high, nothing serious though. Quite decent results still.

Performance using BenQ DW1640 (8X)

When the writing speed is 8X, PIF values are rising in the end of the disc a little bit. Very good results though.

Conclusions

It seems that Pioneer will need to do better job in tweaking their firmwares and write strategies to get best performance with these discs, all though results are not that bad. BenQ show that this media can perform decent at it's certified maximum speed of 16x. It's not as good as TY, but it should give you your moneys worth. We will test more of these discs in the future. This media is also included to our DVD Lifetime Expectancy Tests, which should begin soon.

This is our initial test result. We welcome you to use our comment feature in order to give your feedback about this media. We will still continue using and testing this media and update this review if needed.

You can discuss Traxdata and DVDR media in general at our DVDR Media Forum