Top 5 CD-rewritable drives

From...

by Jon L. Jacobi

(IDG) -- This month we tested two new 12X/10X/32X drives -- the first ones to match the speed rating of the Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32A, which holds the top spot on the chart for the third consecutive month. Both Ricoh's $279 MediaMaster MP7120A and Teac's $299 CDW512E proved excellent performers, but only the Ricoh model made the Top 5.

The new kids on the block did succeed in raising the performance bar. Ricoh's MP7120A shattered the record for writing our 430MB image file, performing that task in a mere 4 minutes, 43 seconds -- 13 seconds faster than the previous record-holder, the Plextor PlexWriter 12/4/32A. Meanwhile, Teac's drive set a record of its own by packet-writing 100MB to CD-Rewritable in 1 minute, 27 seconds -- shaving 1 second off the MP7120A's time and 5 seconds off the PlexWriter 12/10/32A's time.

Neither the MP7120A nor the CDW512E could hold a candle to the PlexWriter 12/10/32A when it came to digital audio extraction. Both took more than a minute and a half longer to extract our 250MB test audio file.

The MP7120A uses Ricoh's JustLink technology. Similar to Sanyo Electric's Burn-Proof -- which is found in the PlexWriter 12/10/32A -- JustLink promises to eliminate bad discs due to buffer underruns. JustLink allows writing to suspend when a buffer underrun occurs, and then permits writing to continue when the drive's cache has been filled again. We didn't have a chance to bang JustLink around to see how well it works, but we did kick Burn-Proof's tires thoroughly this month, and it works as advertised. We're happy to report that nothing we've tried so far, including playing audio and video files during the burn process, has resulted in a single CD-Recordable write failure due to a buffer underrun.

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This month's other contender for the Top 5 is a more modest 10X/4X/32X model from Acer. The Acer CRW 1032A was a bit slower at writing to CD-R than the other 10X drives we've tested, but it was right on target writing to CD-RW and was a good all-around reader. At only $199, it's an appealing drive for budget users who want CD-R speed faster than 8X. However, you'll be better served with a less expensive drive that gives you better CD-RW speed, such as the $179 8X/8X/24X Pacific Digital 8824ei.

On the software front

Adaptec's Easy CD Creator mastering software has also found a competitor. The challenger is Prassi's PrimoCD, which is not marketed in the United States; it's available here as Veritas's MyCD Pro, CD Stomper's Click 'n Burn, and Sony's CD Extreme. Whatever its moniker, the program is fast, can record to two drives at once, and is rock-solid during our tests. Its major weakness is a sparse HTML help file that is difficult to navigate. However, the program is intuitive enough for most users to figure out on their own, and its start-up wizard provides hand-holding for beginners until they can learn the ropes. Stay tuned to PCWorld.com for a roundup of mastering and packet-writing software.

To DMA or not to DMA...

For users writing to CD-R at high speeds, knowing the Direct Memory Access setting is an important detail that's not always obvious. For example: Ricoh doesn't specify in the MP7120A's documentation that DMA should be turned on and that the drive won't write data on the fly at 12X with DMA disabled.

DMA allows an IDE drive to read data from main memory without involving the CPU. Typically this means you can reduce CPU usage from, say, 50 percent to 5 percent while writing at 12X. Buffer underruns due to Windows housekeeping or reading data from another drive are far less likely when the CPU has more spare cycles to perform those chores. The bottom line: Unless your drive's documentation specifies that DMA should be off, turn it on. (Open the Control Panel, double-click System, click the Device Manager tab, and then open the CD-ROM tree. Click on the name of your drive, click the Properties button, and then click the Settings tab.)

A change of heart

In the past, CD-R discs were less expensive than CD-RW discs, and drives wrote to CD-R much more quickly than they could to CD-RW, prompting many people to stick with CD-R for most uses. But now that CD-RW speeds have reached 10X, it's time to change your media habits -- we have. Sure, CD-RW media is a little more expensive than CD-R, but it's reusable and will save you money in the long run -- and it's kinder to the environment. We can't tell you how many CD-R discs containing out-of-date data we've had to recycle. Because writing to a CD-RW disc at 10X takes only marginally longer than writing to a CD-R at 12X--7 minutes versus 6 minutes for a full disc -- using CD-RW for everything but CD audio makes sense.

Why not CD audio? Many commercial CD audio players won't read CD-RW discs. Likewise, many PC music-recording software packages don't support CD-RW (whether it does depends on the driver the software uses).

Top 5 CD-RW drives

1. Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32A: If you burn a lot of CD-R discs, frequently back up files to CD-RW, or extract music from audio CDs, this is your drive.



2. Sony Spressa Professional CRX140E/CH2: If you want a quick drive with top-flight support, the Spressa Professional CRX140E/CH2 is a solid bet.



3. Plextor PlexWriter 8/4/32A: This model should hit the sweet spot for people who want quick 8X CD-R recording at a low price.



4. Ricoh MediaMaster MP7120A: This is a fast, all-purpose 12X/10X/32X drive, but it lacks the PlexWriter 12/10/32A's digital audio extraction speed.



5. Pacific Digital 8824ei: This drive is a great value for those who write often to CD-RW.

Beyond the top 5...

• Acer CRW 1032A: Budget users looking for something faster than 8X CD-R should give this drive a look.



• Teac CDW512E: This is a fast 12X/10X/32X drive whose high performance is offset by comparatively limited tech support.

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