Cd Burners
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday October 4, 2001
External CD writers are cheaper, faster, more reliable and easier to use than ever. And with blank media a give-away at under two dollars for 650 megabytes of storage, it's time to burn, baby, burn.
TDK VeloCD $999
www.tdk.com.au
On board
40X read, 16X write, 10X rewrite. IEEE 1394 FireWire connect, 2Mb buffer, tray load, external power supply, headphone socket, volume control. BurnProof protection, Mac
and PC compatible. 1.5kg.
Test burn: 8min 24sec (560Mb)
Pros
Like the Starship Enterprise, this thing is huge, has loads of flashing lights, needs vast reserves of power and runs at warp speed. But weighing in at 1.5 kilograms, it's heavier than some notebooks. Offsetting this is the groovy blue light burn meter, and a huge bundle of software including TDK's own Audio MixMaster, Toast, Nero, InCD, MusicMatch and Adobe ActiveShare. Brilliant. But so it should be for just under a grand.
Cons
Weight. Size. This thing needs wheels. Once it's in place, it will stay put. Given the size of the casing, an external power supply is silly. There's also a tendency for the tray to pop out after each write, even if the session hasn't been finalised. The full manual
is only on CD. And it's pricey.
Overall
If you need speed, this is a stunner. Includes a good software bundle for both PC
and Mac and is easy-peasy to install. But you pay mucho bucks for the extras and that speed.
rating: ++++1/2
AOpen CRS-446U $795
www.servex.com.au
On board
6X read, 4X write, 4X rewrite. USB1.1 connect, 1Mb buffer, flip clamshell load, external power supply, headphone socket, volume control. OPC underrun protection, Mac and
PC compatible. 230g.
Test burn: 17min 30sec (560Mb)
Pros
AOpen has managed to squeeze a packet-capable CD rewriter into a case smaller than a portable CD player. The USB connection means simple plug and play, and the unit can double as an audio CD player. Software is tops, with Norton Ghost, Easy CD, Direct CD, Gamut 2000 MP3 ripper, player and archiver, drivers for Win 98 and 2000 (but not Mac). The lid and case are solid and the silver finish will match any notebook.
Cons
The install process is tricky - if you have more than one CD drive, fiddling is required to locate the drive. No external CD play controls, and the manual is really basic. Performance burning our test suite wasn't that fast, but no errors were recorded.
Overall
The ultimate in portability. It does suffer from slightly iffy software installation, and you sacrifice speed for the light weight and small size, but it still offers excellent functionality
rating: +++++
Acer Mini 6424MU $499
www.acercm.com.au
On board
24X read, 6X write, 4X rewrite. USB1.1 connect, 2Mb buffer, flip clamshell load, external power supply, headphone socket, volume control, play control. Seamless Link underrun control, PC compatible. 550g. Test burn: 16min 6sec (560Mb)
Pros
It was fast for a 6X drive on our test suite, has good external controls for playing CD audio, a very solid build and is faster than most with a realistically rated 24X play-back speed. And the Mini CDRW 6424MU's funky light show has definite cool appeal.
It comes with decent software, (Adaptec CD Creator and Easy CD) and it's almost small enough to be called a portable. Plus you can swap connectors between USB, PC Card and FireWire.
Cons
It gets too hot, has a clunky power supply, a weird sideways-acting lid that catches your hand and comes with a disgustingly basic manual. And the skinflints don't supply any
CD blanks, either. Apart from that, it's bloody good value.
Overall
A solid performer that stands up when judged simply as a CD-RW. When you consider it
is portable and can plug into any of three types of connector it becomes even more attractive.
rating: +++++
Iomega Predator $549
www.iomega.com.au
On board
6X read, 4X write, 4X rewrite. USB1.1 connect, 2Mb buffer, flip clamshell load, external power supply, audio connector, headphone socket, volume control. Mac and PC compatible. 590g. Test burn: 31min 6sec (560Mb)
Pros
You wouldn't want to mess with this on a dark night - it's all low sleek silver and translucent blue, and it has a whirring spinning bit in the middle. The installation procedure and manual are the best around, it is very quiet and the USB connection works well on Mac or PC. Quality software, including Easy CD and Creator, MusicMatch, ActiveShare, QuickSync 2 and MGI PhotoSuite. You can also buy an optional FireWire connector.
Cons
Apart from its cool looks, the Predator is a bit ordinary. Write speed was poor for a 4X unit on our test suite and nothing will work - even the CD player - unless it is connected to the host computer. And it isn't really portable: the power supply is too clunky.
Overall
If it was just a bit quicker, lighter, cheaper, smaller or had direct USB power supply it would be the goods, though it's still a contender thanks to ease of use, cool design and good software.
rating: +++++
Check it out
Packet writing
Thanks to packet writing technology, you can now use a CD-R disk just like any floppy. Burn, read, erase, burn again and read again. The only snag is that erasing only gets rid of the file location information - the data stays there, unreadable, but still taking up space. So lots of erased files will make your CD noticeably smaller in capacity. But at as little as $1 for 650Mb, who cares? And with USB and FireWire connections becoming more common, installation is a snap and speeds are fast.
Buffer underrun
Most CD-R and CD-RW drives use a buffer memory to store data temporarily. This lets the flow of data to the disc-burning laser stay at a steady rate. If the data flow varies, the likelihood of flaws in the writing process (and an unreadable disc) is high. So the bigger the buffer, the better. But if the host computer's CPU is called on to do something else taxing, then even the buffer memory can't stop large data flow fluctuations. This is where firmware such as Burn-Proof, Seamless Link, SafeBurn and Buffer Underrun Protection is important. These systems introduce temporary storage delays to maintain a steady flow of data to the laser.
Firing blanks
Some of the higher-speed burners demand special high-speed writable and rewritable disks to work properly. If you go for a speed demon drive, make sure it works with your favourite blanks or you could end up even poorer than you think you are.
© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald
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