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Everything you wanted to know about buying a CD-RW drive

Jun 24 '00 Write an essay on this topic.

Few areas in the PC hardware arena offer more options, and more potential confusion for the average purchaser than CD-RW drives. Think about that. That is really saying something. But if you understand a few important facts, you can make an informed decision and be happy with the CD-RW you buy. The intent of this review is to make making an informed decision a little easier. That having been said, here is what you need to consider.

Type of interface

This is one of the most important factors in choosing a CD-RW drive. There are various types of internal and external devices available. Internal devices may use an IDE or a SCSI connection. External devices may use the Universal Serial Bus (USB) or a parallel port. In a nutshell, you really need to determine if you need your CD-RW to be portable. Not only does a portable CD-RW cost more than the equivalent internal CD-RW, but my experience is that they will also perform data transfers slower than an internal drive. If you are in a situation where you can make the CD-RW a network accesible device instead of using a portable device, do so. If you are going with a portable CD-RW, USB is preferable over parallel if your computer(s) support it. If you are going with an internal drive, you really may want to consider a SCSI drive over an IDE. The advantage that SCSI has in low CPU utilization really shows off with CD-RWs. A lot of IDE CD-RW users find that they can not use their computer for other tasks when they are burning a CD. If they do use their PC for other tasks, they will often make "coasters", or worthless CDs. SCSI users do not experience the same problem. Therefore, if you have only one computer, SCSI is preferable. (Don't be scared by the cost of SCSI if you don't already have a controller card. Tekram makes a non-bootable SCSI device controller card that can be found for $16 on pricewatch.com )

Speed

After type of interface, speed is the most important consideration. When you see a CD-RW advertised, you will see 3 numbers with it. These represent CD playing speed, CD recording speed on CD-R disk, and CD-RW recording on CD-RW disk. ( Of course, the difference is that CD-RW disks can be reused. CDRW drives can use either CDR or CDRW disks ) Therefore, a drive like the new Plextor 32X12X10 reads CDs at 32X, writes CDRs at 12X, and writes CDRWs at 10X. (By the way, the new Plextor is one of the best drives on the market. The IDE drives were just released and the SCSI version will ship in September.). Speed follows the standard rule of computing, larger numbers are better. A 12X CDR recorder is capable of copying a disk in about 6 minutes, a 2X recorder would take 36 minutes for the same task. Buy the fastest drive your budget will allow.

Overburning

Leave it to me to bring this topic up. In spite of the sounds of it, it has nothing to do with overclocking. (The process of running a processor faster than spec speed. See my reviews on the Celeron, Pentium III, and Athlon ) Overburning is a technique used to back up data on disks that are copy protected using a common technique of writing more data than the disk is designed to hold. Some CD-R's and RW's support copying this data. (Plextor is good for overburning). Other notoriously don't support overburning(HP). If this is a concern for you, it could affect your purchase decision. In addition, you will want to make sure the drive you purchase supports 80 minute disks as well as the standard 74 minute variety.

Brand

OK, I admit, I am brand conscious when it comes to computers. I only buy name brands for most things. Names you can trust when buying a CDRW include Plextor, HP, Sony, Yamaha, and Mitsumi.

Summary

You really should consider getting an internal SCSI CDRW. It will offer the best performance, and you can use your computer for other things without making coasters. Get the fastest, name brand burner you can afford, buy an name brand, and you will be happy with your purchase.

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