Bulkpaq's comments on our review of Orange 8x Printable

Bulkpaq's comments on our review of Orange 8x Printable
Recently we reviewed Bulkpaq Orange 8x Printable DVD-R media. The test results were negative, which has raised the attention of the distributor behind the Bulkpaq brand. This is their response to our test results.
Statement from Bulkpaq

Thanks for CD-RW.ORG for highlighting these imperfect results. At Bulkpaq, we work closely with our Far Eastern manufacturing partners and our network of distributors to ensure that we offer our customers the best combination of price and quality for our media.

Of course, no manufacturer is able to guarantee results 100 percent of the time and sometimes a bad batch does slip through the quality control process. This is further supported by the fact, that all of the large Tier 1 manufacturers accept that Grade A products certify only up to 98 percent. As this is the case, we accept - and expect - to get the occasional complaint.

Our position regarding quality is very clear. If an end-user suffers from any bad disc (due to manufacturing defects) that carries the Bulkpaq brand, then they should quite rightly expect a refund / replacement from the vendor that sold it to them. At Bulkpaq, we value customer feedback and recognise it as essential to our brand success which is why we closely work with our distributors ensuring that any potential problems are dealt with quickly and promptly.

The particular CMC manufactured Bulkpaq printable 8X disc that showed unfavourable results is no longer being manufactured and has not been since late 2004. Within the next few weeks, we expect all our European vendors to be distributing a new product.

The Recordable media marketplace is becoming increasingly crowded and we even have heard reports that there are counterfeiters who are trying to capitalise on the fame of Bulkpaq by rebadging cheap DVD with the brand. To ensure that our customers get only the genuine Bulkpaq product and not a lesser quality "fake", please buy from our network of official authorised Bulkpaq vendors throughout Europe.

Buying from an official vendor offers added protection as only genuine Bulkpaq products carries our guarantee.
Source: Bulkpaq

Written by: Lasse Penttinen @ 27 Apr 2005 9:06
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  • 22 comments
  • pieman

    Ironic really bearing in mind 'perfect' bulkpaqs' are of the same quality as fakes

    27.4.2005 11:17 #1

  • dlc2000

    well they never denied that CMC is the reason their product is not up snuff so to speak . CMC = crap making company

    27.4.2005 11:37 #2

  • domie

    "there are counterfeiters who are trying to capitalise on the fame of Bulkpaq"

    hahaha talk about shooting yourself in the foot then, they might as well call themselves "the really useless company"

    27.4.2005 13:02 #3

  • A_Klingon

    KODAK, 100-unit spindle-pak, DVD-R. Made in India, price = .50c each.

    Result = 100% success rate. Perfect burns, NO coasters out of 100.

    SONY, 50-unit spindle-pak, DVD+R. Made in Taiwan, price = .50c each.

    Result = 100% success rate so far (23 discs). NO coasters.

    MSONIC, 50-unit spindle-pak, DVD-R. Made in Taiwan, price = .50c each.

    Result = 100% success rate first spindle-pak. Second spindle-pak at 15+ discs so far, 100% success rate. NO coasters.

    Of course, maybe I've just been lucky, or have a really good burner or something.

    Anyway, can/does Bulkpaq top or equal this? No offense to Bulkpaq, but I never heard of their brand-name prior to cd-rw.org's review.

    I'm glad I'm not currently in the DVD-media-manufacturing business. Far too slim a profit margin, and far too much competition.

    27.4.2005 16:22 #4

  • cd-rw.org

    Bulkpaq is one of the best selling brands in Europe. It is agressively priced, way below the premium brands. The manufacturer varies. Somehave been very good (for example, I tried their Prodisc-made discs), but some have been worse, like the ones in the review.

    The fact that you have burned a number of discs succesfully doesn't yet justify to say that they are good. I have had number of discs that burn Ok, but playback in a more media sensitive device has failed. Extensive playback testing is needed to make conclusions. Error rate scans give some idea of the disc too.

    Please do not bash CMC if you can't back it up. They have improved a lot since CD-R days. Their premium quality dye is rather good. And note -- CMC also supplies media for Verbatim (with Azo dye and MCC MID), TDK... and so on.

    27.4.2005 22:10 #5

  • A_Klingon

    Quote: The fact that you have burned a number of discs successfully doesn't yet justify to say that they are good.I have to disagree with this quite strongly, Lasse.

    The fact that I have burned this many discs successfully tells me that I must have very good discs indeed. The proof is in the doing regardless of what the charts or numbers say. To be more complete, I should have mentioned that all of my successfully-burned discs also play back flawlessly in my two dvd players, but unless otherwise stated, you can safely assume that if they burned well, they also play back equally well. (If I had burned these discs successfully but they gave functional or visible problems on playback, to me they would still be "coasters".)

    I think it's fair to assume that most users of blank dvd media use them for video playback. Perhaps creating Data discs (binary file storage) would be a more stringent test, but in either case, the dvd's built-in error correction system makes up for many minor flaws.

    Right now the name "Bulkpaq" confuses me. Are they a manufacturer or a distributer, or something else?

    A lengthy visit to their website seems to indicate that they are a (brand-name) seller only. At least that's the impression I get.

    Part of their self-identity goes like this: "We are leaders in the European optical storage media, computer peripherals and accessories fields." This doesn't tell me very much.

    Are they selling _products_ or are they selling a _Brand Name_? Nowhere on their site do I see mentioned that they themselves manufacture anything. If they DO, they really should point this out asap.

    Do they own or maintain any of their own manufacturing facilities, or are they merely "product brokers" who contract out their brand name to any third party who offer a good price-deal and can meet some arbitrarily-made set of quality-control standards?

    (Just some honest questions). I have nothing against the company itself.

    28.4.2005 00:24 #6

  • cd-rw.org

    Klingon,

    And I disagree with you :).

    A good disc to me stands for extremely low error-rate, while giving good playback compatibility. DVD players can be very forgiving. Error rates can be sky high, and they just play happily.

    Put the disc to an older (or lower quality) DVD-ROM drive. Use the disc in earlier generation Xbox or PS2.

    I also have a huge bunch of RITEK made discs, which I was totally happy about. They play Ok in my devices. But when I scanned them for errors, I discovered that they could be a whole lot better too. I started comparing their performance in PS2 vs. top notch Verbatim media -- there was a difference.

    They weren't so good after all. They were decent, ok and quite usable. But not good, or great. That's why I buy premium media for critical tasks, and cheaper media for secondary purposes.

    28.4.2005 01:20 #7

  • cd-rw.org

    Oh yeah, Bulkpaq is a brand name with no manufacturing. There are much less manufacturers than there are brands. Therefore they are similar to Memorex, for an example.

    http://CD-RW.ORG
    Serving The Burners
    Burning The Servers

    28.4.2005 01:23 #8

  • dlc2000

    my burner manufacture doesnt list any CMC made media or even suggests the use of it . they list what they call quality media .http://sony.storagesupport.com/dvdrw/710mediainfo_gb_all040820.html

    i dont see bulkpaq backing them up either with their statement - the particular CMC manufactured bulkpaq printable 8x disc that showed unfavourable results is no longer being manufactured and has not been since late 2004 . within the next few weeks , we expect all our european vendors to be distributing a new product . why didnt they stick with CMC ?

    this site lists CMC as landfill material . its old info but still useful .http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm

    this is one of my bad experiences with CMC made media , http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/4/114809

    and the hundreds of posts with people having trouble with CMC memorex is enough for me to steer clear of CMC made media . thanks for the heads up on verbatim though , now i know to watch out for CMC in that product now .

    even the people that tested these CMC made bulkpaq media had problems with it . i guess i dont see too much proof that CMC makes quality media . all i see is problems . is it just me ? im not bashing CMC , im showing my opinion .

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    28.4.2005 05:38 #9

  • A_Klingon

    Yep, your description of what a good (superior) disc should be, is a very good one, Lasse, and goes a lot further than my "good" disc.

    When I play my discs back on either of my set tops, for all I know they could be....

    * Virtually Perfect (or)
    * Riddled with Errors

    ... but in both cases the video playback performance could easily be identical, and I would be equally happy with them. To me they would be perfectly "good". (And probably to many others as well). I guess it's possible that many of today's forgiving players hide the truth that any given disc may not really be as good as it could (or should) be, but certainly good 'enough' that you wouldn't notice a difference. :-)

    SO! Bulkpaq, then, is merely a marketing concern. (Hmmmmm....) I don't know how much responsibility they take on for their name brand or to what extent they enforce (insist) that their personal standards are adhered to, or how much money, time and effort they are willing to expend in promoting their Name. What do they contribute to the product(s) themselves?

    Their website very aggressively touts "their" super-superior products. But I've seen all of this sort of thing before on _any_ like-minded site. Frankly, the rhetoric gets a bit tedious after a while.

    They have marketing muscle, but they have no products.

    It seems to me that an independent disc manufacturer could make a lot more sorely-needed cash in the already razor-thin profit-margin climate of today's disc producers, if they didn't have to pay someone a royalty for using a brand name.

    Heck, I bet AfterDawn could do just as good a job as Bulkpaq in this regard! (I'm quite serious).

    Why not have "AfterDawn Optical Media" at really good prices? Further, I think that you good folks right there at cd-rw.org would be perfectly capable of establishing a minimally-acceptable set of quality-control standards! I (believe) that both of you have been around longer than Bulkpaq anyway.

    (Just a thought).

    28.4.2005 06:52 #10

  • cd-rw.org

    Here is an example of a good CMC. A cheap reprinted disc.
    TUFFDISC 4x, burned using PX-716UF: http://img103.echo.cx/my.php?image=tuffdisc4x4xplextor716uf5ex.png

    28.4.2005 08:20 #11

  • CrashUK

    I used Bulkpaq Orange 4x

    I started off with one pack of 25 dvdr I got on ok with them not to bad.. so I order 50 more.. this is where it when download hill.. could only get 3 gig of data on the discs also lose data too. and could only do them at 2x speed..

    Bulkpaq are just a name you could be geting any disc.. they cheap and evil..

    I only use Datawrite Titanium 8x speed I will get the newer 16x speed when they out..

    theys a lot of very poor dvdr out they.. So I only buy the best..

    28.4.2005 14:55 #12

  • CrashUK

    TUFFDISC 4x you used it not a real CMC disc..

    28.4.2005 14:56 #13

  • domie

    I think if eevrybody used Nero to burn dvds with and then selected their "data verification" option, they would be horrified at how many times the recrding engines tell you the burn is successful yet the verification fails.....most burn programs donīt have that option, they tell you it burned successfully (and it did) but NOT reproducing the data as it was originally recorded....that is the problem.

    28.4.2005 17:17 #14

  • cd-rw.org

    @CrashUK,

    It has a CMC serial number carved on the inner rim of the disc.

    @Domie,

    Verification is nice, but a bit deceiving. Usually DVD-R drives are the BEST READERS available. Verification in a older/lower quality DVD-ROM can be much more sensitive to media readability. It's a good idea to use Kprobe/Nero CD Speed/DVDInfoPro once in a while -- at least when buying a new batch of media.

    @Everyone

    And the recorder device has a huge impact on quality. I have recently been comparing LiteON 1653S and Plextor 716UF. Plextor is able to record excellent quality on a larger variety of discs, while LiteON is only able to get perfect results with premium media.

    http://CD-RW.ORG
    Serving The Burners
    Burning The Servers

    28.4.2005 22:58 #15

  • pieman

    so what do cmc supply to verbatim then...the cases?As stated...cmc far too variable in quality to be taken seriously.

    29.4.2005 12:51 #16

  • cd-rw.org

    CMC manufacures genuine Verbatim media, using Azo dyen MCC media identifier, and Verbatims quality specs & standards.

    1.5.2005 07:36 #17

  • pieman

    Fair enough!!Think ill stick to tys then!!

    Ritek is Dead.Long live Taiyo Yuden!!

    2.5.2005 16:13 #18

  • creaky

    'Newbies pls see this - cheapy media is BAD.....' -
    http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/193298

    21.5.2005 09:17 #19

  • creaky

    The previous comment i posted was prompted by my awful experiences with Bulkpaq Orange 8x (TYG02 media code - yeah right!) -

    "When i started this DVD burning lark, i picked Bulkpaq 8x disks, i thought they'd be good - they even had media code of TYG02 - allegedly Taiyo Tuiden discs - wow i thought. I burnt many many 100s (in Nero) without a single problem. I then watched literally 100s of these without problem. Then i lent some to a colleague who said some of them skipped. I then found some to skip for me - so i had a bad batch or 4. Much investigation later, it turns out these are fakes of TY discs. So now i stick to well-known brandname discs.

    My collection is now riddled with many 100s of potentially unwatchable and uncopyable dross. Not a happy bunny every time i pick up a movie to watch and it's on a Bulkpaq disk !"

    21.5.2005 09:28 #20

  • creaky

    My Bulkpaq 8x Orange experiences from a previous post -

    i started out in the DVD game using Bulkpaq 8x disks. I burnt a fair few at 8x as i had a brand new burner that was apparently capable, then i started having skipping/freezing films. At this point i should mention i had virtually no discs that Nero error'd out on during the burn. (if a disc error'd it went straight in the wood burner). Anyway, i then started researching, the old firmware route, slowed it down to 4x. Still had freezing; bought new go-faster pc etc, still going at 4x on the Bulkpaq's. Stupidly i didn't suspect them as a) i had loads of tubs to use up and b) they had media code TYG02 which i foolishly thought made them good. Finally the penny dropped and i switched media a few times. Tried few other things as well like different PCs, replaced burner under warranty with the Sony in my sig below etc etc.. Anyway i digress, many 100s of Verbatim's later i'm still doing 4x out of paranoia and because i have many 100s of potentially crap films on those bulkpaq's that i probably won't watch for a v long time. ARGH..

    Anyway i think i touched on it but the burns all completed 100%, no matter what media used in my little tale.. So.. (in my case) i sometimes do a crc check on the odd disc for a laugh if it skips on playback, and no prizes for guessing, errors are seen on the crc scan (still talking about crappy media at this point). So frustratingly all my burns have burnt 100% as far as Nero was concerned but the crappy media sometimes in fact lets me down.
    This reply is long winded and not coming out right so i'll edit it later, but.....
    what i'm trying to say (in my humble experience) is that burning of movies with 100% completion status is NOT sufficient to trust the movie will playback correctly on the dozen or so players that i have access to. Dropping the speed to 4x, but more importantly by using decent media (for me) has 100% success rate. ie burning many 100s of discs successfully is NOT sufficient to prove no coasters.

    recent update -
    i've now started gingerly burning at 8x on my trusty Verbatim's now that i've got an extra 512MB of RAM. Have crc-checked a few discs and checked the old PI/PIF errors via KProbe which someone recommended recently. Good results so far, and i was moved to start my own thread re crap media, a BulkPaq disc being the star actor with the most appalling media scan probably anyone has seen for a while.

    Creaky B

    ECS EZ Buddie case (v small & sexy), Athlon XP 2800+, 1GB PC2700
    Ambient - 27C, CPU Idle - 59C, CPU working - 68C : not too bad for case with limited airflow.
    WinXP SP2, Sony DRU-700A & LG-4480B, 120GB Seagate ATA100 8MB Buffer.
    DVD Shrink & DVD Decrypter, Nero, Verbatim DataLifePlus -R 8x.
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    22.5.2005 22:20 #21

  • apiao

    Spam removed; This spammer is obviously rubbish at spamming, to dig up posts that are many years old..

    18.10.2007 00:24 #22

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