Datasafe Premium vs Datawrite Optima Blue

DATASAFE DATAWRITE Datasafe vs Datawrite Overview My next comparison is between two of the premium grades of media from Datasafe & Datawrite Both of these only use top dye manufacturers such as CMC, PRODISC and Ritek so you know when you look at the back of this disc you can expect quality & I was not disappointed. This new 16 speed media continues with this tradition. At the moment [Oct 15] 16 speed discs are very new on the market so make sure you go to your drive manufacturers website and download the latest firmware to take advantage of the new high speed discs. Under The Microscope The drives I am using in this test are the most common ones most of you are using. If you are not sure about your drive try and buy a sample disc pack from one of the online retailers or ask your local shop if they can sell them individually just to be sure. A recording has been made on each of the drives with Nero CD/DVD Speed burn ISO mode and a burn speed graph is obtained and then tested with the DVDInfoPro Testing software who's files dvd-recordable is proud to host. If you click on the image of the relevant drive below the graphs will come up in a popup window. TESTLAB DRIVES Conclusion The burn quality of both these medias is good with the Datasafe media excelling in all areas over the Datawrite Optima Blue only to be let down by the NEC drive's incompatibility with this media (I will be keeping an eye out for firmware upgrades and retesting) The Optima Blue is let down with the burn quality of only 78% with the PI errors showing a quality score of a mere 61%. This seams to be the trend with most of the current Ritek media according to various comments in several forums around the world. I feel that if Ritek do not pull their finger out and sort out the Q.C. we may have a repeat of THIS REVIEW I reported some 18 months ago. Up until that time I had always held Ritek very high on my list but they are now starting to slide down again. Saying this the media is still good but could be a lot better from a manufacturer such as Ritek The Datasafe ratings are all above 90% which can only be described as Superb. I do not hesitate to recommend either of these disc but the Datasafe has to be a winner in burn quality & value for money. Rating DATASAFE Premium DATAWRITE Optima Blue Compatibility: Burn Quality: Value For Money @ 26p Overall: 92% 95% 97% 95% Compatibility: Burn Quality: Value For Money @ 26p Overall: 100% 78% 90% 89%

Added:  October 14th 2005
Reviewer:  Flash
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