Review: Top 10 CD-RW drives

From...

By PCWorld Staff

(IDG) -- This month's reshuffled chart entries reflect the double whammy of falling prices and the arrival of five new CD-RW drives -- including drives with 16X CD-R write speeds from Plextor and TDK. The latter, TDK's $250 16/10/40 VeloCD ReWriter, debuts at number two; but thanks to a $100 price cut, the Creative Labs CD-RW Blaster 12-10-32 jumps seven notches to edge past it and capture first place.

Top 10 CD-RW drives

1. Creative Labs CD-RW Blaster 12-10-32 MK4215: Creative's CD-RW Blaster is a solid, all-around 12X/10X/32X drive -- and it's a bargain compared with similar offerings.

IDG.net INFOCENTER PCWorld.com home Free daily newsletters PCWorld.com: Week in Reviews TechInformer Features Top 15 notebook PCs An inside tour of the Pentium 4 Surviving a disk crash: A checklist Visit an IDG site Choose a site: IDG.net CIO Computerworld Darwin Dummies.com GamePro.com The Industry Standard ITWorld.com InfoWorld.com JavaWorld LinuxWorld Macworld Online Network World Fusion PC World Publish.com UnixInsider IDG.net search

2. TDK 16/10/40 VeloCD ReWriter: Great documentation and an installation video make this excellent performer a great buy for beginners.

3. Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32A: One of the best drives for audiophiles, and great for anyone who burns lots of CD-R discs or frequently backs up files to CD-RW.

4. LG Electronics CED-8120B: This quiet, sturdy drive features excellent overall performance and value, and should deftly handle most any task thrown at it.

5. Acer CRW1832A: Those looking for good performance at an attractive price will be pleased with this purchase. Just make sure you have a good grasp of how to install an internal CD-RW drive.

6. Hewlett-Packard CD-Writer Plus 9510i: The 9510i certainly provides ample hand-holding, making it a great choice for beginners to CD writing. However, more-experienced users will find the MyCD software limiting in the long run.

7. Plextor PlexWriter 16/10/40A: One of the best all-around performers on the market, the 16/10/40A is fast and reliable in every respect; audiophiles will appreciate Plextor's AudioFS drivers and lightning-fast audio extraction.

8. Pacific Digital PDC 8832ei: This model is a strong performer for its speed class, but for a little more you can buy a faster drive.

9. TDK 12/10/32 VeloCD ReWriter: The TDK 12/10/32 is a fast drive that's only slowed down by its software bundle for recording CD-R and CD-RW discs.

10. Sony Spressa Professional CRX140E/CH2: If you want a quick 8X/4X/32X drive, the Spressa Professional CRX140E/CH2 is a solid bet.

Hewlett-Packard pushes CD-RW
April 26, 2001
Sony unveils portable CD-RW device
April 3, 2001
Aiming at the superparamagnetic limit
March 14, 2001
Review: Best CD-RW drives on the market
March 7, 2001
Review: Sony CD burner for music lovers
March 6, 2001
Top 5 CD-rewritable drives
September 29, 2000
Ricoh, Yamaha debut high-speed CD-RW drives
February 29, 2000

Top 10 digital cameras
(PCWorld.com)
Top 15 notebook PCs
(PCWorld.com)
Top 10 value PCs
(PCWorld.com)
Breakthrough combo drive burns DVDs more affordably
(PCWorld.com)
Addonics unveils slim CD recorder/player
(PCWorld.com)
Portable personal CD burner for music, data
(PCWorld.com)
A CD burner for music lovers
(PCWorld.com)
Recordable DVD: Great idea, but which format?
(PCWorld.com)

Creative Technology Ltd.
TDK Electronics Corp.
Plextor Corp.

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.