CDR-Zone.COM and BigPockets present the Bulkpaq 4x DVD-R Media review

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Posted on Monday 21st of June, 2004 at 10:27 by SirQUK
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In association with Big Pockets we present the BULKPAQ 4x DVD-R Media review.

Features
Packaging and presentation
DVD+RW information
Burning
Verification and error checking
Conclusion

Many thanks must to goto Big Pockets for sending us this media to review for our CDR-Zone readers. In this review we get to look at the 'BULKPAQ' 4x DVD-R media.

"BULKPAQ media offer a low cost Write once solution ideal for data backup and DVD Video/MP3 compilations. Many users of 4x recorders will find these discs to record data reliably at 4x on a wide range of Computer DVD recorders."

Features:

Pack Size: Pack of 25 -R format
Manufacturer: BULKPAQ
Lead In Info: PRINCO
Top Surface: Orange with Bulkpaq branding
Writing Surface: Purple
Max Write Speed: 4x
Max Storage Data: 4.7Gb
Max Storage Time: 120min Single Sided

Packaging and presentation:

Our test media arrived in a double DVD case ensuring no damage could be done to the discs, although they are normally sold in spindles of 25.

The top writing surface of the disc is Orange with the BULKPAQ logo displayed in white.

The recording surface is a very light Purple and carries a dye code of PRINCO according to VSO Inspector, DVDInfo, and our recording software.

DVD+RW information:

In these tests the software used for all the recording where CopyToDVD 3 and DVD Decrypter 3.2.2.0.

VSO softwares new Media information utility - VSO Inspector was used for gathering our information about the inserted media, DVDInfoPro and CDCheck were used to check the recorded DVD for errors, and the hardware used for this review where the NEC 2510A, Pioneer AA07 XLB and the Plextor 708 DVD+/-RW drives.

As the above screenshot from VSO Inspector shows, the Media Code/Manufacturer ID of 'PRINCO', which is the id code used by PRINCO. PRINCO make low cost, affordable media dyes and can often be found on DVD-R that are very affordably priced. Infact Bulkpaq orange are amongst the best selling DVD-R ever released.

DVDInfoPro comfirming the media code:

Available burning speeds in both our Pioneer and NEC drives showed 4x recording available.

Capacity of the disc was 4.38 GB and compatiability problems should not be present with both PC and newer standalone DVD Players.

Burning:

The standard CDR-ZOne.COM recording tests where used to test the DVD-R Media at various recording speeds, these being CopyToDVD from VSO-software was used to burn a Video DVD and Data DVD from my Hard drive with the NEC 2510A DVD+/-RW drive. DVDDecrypter was used to burn an ISO image of the same Video DVD on the Pioneer A107 XLB DVD+/-RW drive.The entire process should take between 14 and 15 minutes to complete at 4x.

The above picture shows CopyToDVD burning the media at 4x on the NEC ND 2510Aa DVD+/-RW drive.

The above picture shows DVDDecrypter burning an ISO image at 4x on the Pioneer A107 XLB DVD+/-RW drive.

Verification and error checking:

VSO Inspector was used to check the recorded DVD for any bad sectors that might be present. As the screnshot below shows, no bad sectors where found during the scan:

To check for any errors on the recorded DVD, DVDInfoPro's "CD\DVD error test" utility and CDCheck Media error check function were used to Verify the recorded Media. The tests show that no read errors were reported.

DVDInfoPro reporting no errors on checking recorded media:

CDCheck reporting no errors on checking recorded media:

A second test was carried out to verify the DVD-R file structure. Both DVDinfoPro and CDChecks "Compare" utilities compared the files on the DVD+RW to the original source files on the Hard Disk.

DVDInfoPro reported no errors with its compare utility:

CDCheck reported no errors with its compare utility:

As shown in the images above you can see the files on the DVD+RW are identical to to the source files on the Hard Disk.

To check the playback, the same playing tests has used on our Verbatim Movie Reel review where carried out.. Both the software DVD Players played the DVD without error with our test DVD VIdeo on both the Bush standalone, and on our Cyberhome 512, which was inline with other DVD-R media we had used on it. The media also recorded without any problems on our Sony GX3 standalone home DVD recorder with no glitches noted during playback of the recorded media.

Conclusion:

The BULKPAQ 4x DVD-R media burnt perfectly at 4x using both CopyToDVD and DVDDecrypter, recording either data DVD or Video ISO images on either our Pioneer A107 XLB or NEC ND2510A DVD+/-RW, and also had no problem recording at 4x on our Plextor 708 DVD+/-RW drives. No Errors where found on the BULKPAQ Media used during these tests.

The writing surface is Orange in colour and very distinctive to this Bulkpaq range of media, with the Bulkpaq logo and plenty of lines available for writing the contents of the disc on. The BULKPAQ media more importantly, also passed the verification tests we used in this review, meaning no errors where found and we had a reliable backup of our important data files. We would recommend this media for data backup needs.Our tests with DVD Video showed no skip problems on every test and so it seems there is no incompatability issues with both modern and older standalone players and recorders.

Tested on: