Fast Burns
Written: Apr 23 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Speed, Quality
Cons: Big, Expensive
The Bottom Line: I would recommend the Sony Spressa CRX 160 because it is fast, easy to use, and will last for a long time.
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| bdb55's Full Review: Sony Spressa CRX 1600L-A2 |
I bought the Sony Spressa CRX 160 about two weeks ago, and I have really enjoyed it. I don't know why Epinions has it listed for PC use, because it works fine with my iMac.
I primarily use the drive to burn music CDs. I wanted to use itunes, a free download from Apple, because it is really easy to use. I visited http://www.apple.com/itunes/compatibility/
which lists compatible drives for itunes. I brought the list to Circuit City and asked a very helpful salesman for his recommendation. He recommended the Sony because it is a fast drive, uses firewire, and because Sony has a good reputation for quality. I wanted a firewire drive because I have about 5 devices that need a usb port, and two open firewire drives.
I plugged in the drive, installed itunes, and was ready to go. The only problem with using itunes is that you can't burn CD-RWs. To burn a CD-RW I have to launch the software that was included with the drive, Dicsribe, and disable itunes. Discribe isn't very user friendly, but it works.
This drive is listed at 12x X 8x X 32x (write, re-write, read) and is supposed to burn a CD in six minutes. Literally, this is true. You have to download your music from the internet, or upload it from a CD. Either way it takes about 1-3 minutes per song. Then, when you are ready to burn, the computer "prepares tracks" for 8 minutes. Then it takes 6 minutes to physically burn the CD. Realistically, you can burn a CD (If you don't already have any of the music) in an hour.
This drive is on the expensive side, and is also quite big. But I think it is worth paying the extra money because the drive will likely last longer than its cheaper competitors. I don't mind having a big drive, I never move it.
I have only burned one “coaster” (bad CD) with this drive. I was trying to copy an entire CD from the drive in my iMac to a CD-R disk. Where I went wrong is that my iMac’s drive speed is 8x and I was trying to burn the CD at 12x. My iMac’s drive couldn’t keep up. The drive ran out of information to burn; even the large 4MB buffer couldn’t make it work. I reduced the burn speed to 8x and it worked fine.
Because CDs can be bought in bulk for $.25 each, a CD-RW drive is a great way to create mixes and back up data. I would recommend the Sony Spressa CRX 160 because it is easy to set up, and is relatively fast. itunes is a really great program that I would recommend for Mac users. The software that comes with the drive isn't nearly as user friendly, but is OK for occasional use.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
bdb55
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Location: Portland, Oregon
Reviews written: 41
Trusted by: 23 members
About Me:
I love reading, photography, movies, music, ceramics, computers, hi-tech gadgets, and writing epinions!
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