Who makes the best CD-RW drives?

[Trey]

I've heard that HP does. True?

[Qvark]

Plextor makes some of the best CDRW around. Period.

[Richard_Cranium72]

HP makes good CD Burners, as far as I know they are reliable.

Plextor with the "burn proof" technology is prefered by lots of members as this adds some piece of mind while doing a sometimes tedious task.

http://www.us.buy.com/retail/computers/product.asp?sku=10252769&loc=447

Sony has a OK reputation too

http://www.us.buy.com/retail/computers/product.asp?sku=10262140&loc=447


HP -> http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10257860&loc=2065


If you're gonna burn on the fly, you'll have to get a good CD-ROM to provide high speed DAE(digital audio extration)


http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10259344&loc=2062

gluck

DrVette

[Roy]

Plextor and Yamaha.

Plextor's (http://www.plextor.com/english/index.html) Buffer UnderRuN Proof lets you "do other things" by turning off the laser when data flow is interrupted.

Yamaha (http://www.yamaha.com/cgi-win/webcgi.exe/DsplyModel/?gHDR00007CRW2100EZ) uses an 8MB buffer versus others' 2MB to minimize errors/coasters.

I've seen posts here suggesting that some HPs have a problem with 700MB/80min discs.

I'm giving serious thought to the Plextor 16/10/40A. It's pricey, but no more coasters.

[Richard_Cranium72]

Roy has a good memory.

The post about HP's having a prob with 700mb discs was Mine.

It was a cut and paste from HP's site.

An article by HP which in my view was just another "Lawyer" driven statement to say...
"It AIN'T OUR FAULT" http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

I've run the 80min in a HP 8220e, a HP 8250i and a Hi-Val 8x4x24 with NO problems except the ones that I caused by ignorance. Well almost no problems, None with the media anyway.. Or the HP http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

Don't get in a hurry if you can wait, I've seen some great deals on burners here.

I got my external HP 8220e for $179 or so delivered and then have a $50 rebate coming from HP..

DrVette

[NDC]

Plextor, Yamaha, and Ricoh have been my favorite!

[U-96]

My HP 4x4x32x CDRW died when the tray jammed and burned out the motor. Nothing gets you to the mains switch faster than that burning copper and carbon smell!

However, it was (until that point) reliable and burned very few coasters - perhaps 2 out of 50 CDs I burned before it died, and those were some of my first attampts until I worked out what you can and can't do http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

Now I replaced it with a Phillips CDRW804 8x4x32x which is working very well, but haven't had a chance to break it in much.

I have also heard good things about Plextor if burning means a lot to how you work...

U-96

[stevenvee]

I have burned over 200 CD's since I got my Plextor 12/10/32. I runs at the speeds it advertises, lets you run other programs or surf while burning and has not produced 1 coaster. The Plextor software for duping and creating audio cd's is easy and flawless. I do not use Easy Creator Or Nero any longer. I highly recommend Plextor.

Check out sysopt's review: http://sysopt.earthweb.com/reviews/plexwriter/index.html

[This message has been edited by stevenvee (edited 02-12-2001).]

[phecky]

The TDK VeloCD 12/10/32 is the same drive as the Plextor but IMHO has much better software bundle- Nero instead of Adaptec. They are offering $50 rebate right now so it's going to cost you around $200.

[sharder8]

My Yamaha 8x4x24 has burned great for me since I switched to Nero! http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif Can't comment much on the others.

Harder

[[EFS]HarryPotter]

just got the 12x/10x/32x TDK with burn proof-works great!

get this cd-rw!

check this out...249.99 at best buy with $50 mail in rebate and on top of that you get a $20 gift certificate so that is like

$180 for a TDK 12x/10x/32x

this baby hasnt messed up once and for making cds in 5 mins all i have to say is

how come it took me this long to buy this baby!!

[Roy]

It looks like Plextor is trying to dump the 12/10/32 model to promote the 16/10/40.

The 12/10/32 Retail Box (rebate applicable) is about $200 on PriceWatch (http://www.pricewatch) and the 16/10/40 is about $240.

[edwelly]

I use an Omega Zip CD-RW 12x4x32 burn proof. Not really for sure what burn proof means but i think it's great. I also have an external HP 8200 that i am not very fond of. It doesn't like cheaper CD-R's. The Zip CD-RW has been a great produst especailly for $200.00. Hope this help...

[socalgal]

I tend to agree with phecky - MaximumPC compared CDRWs a couple issues back and the software bundle is what brought the TDK rating over Plextor's.

I bought the Plexi 12/10/32S (before that review came out & also I didn't install the soft - already use Nero) and the Plexi SCSI does indeed kick-@$$! http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif I can multi-task and burn fast without a hiccup, and not a coaster yet! http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif The burnproof technology is great.

[NDD]

Sure, all the talks are about those new shiny CDRW's, but do you REALLY need burning discs that fast ?
I use now TEAC CDW512E 12/10/32 IDE at home, but since there are still plenty of old CD-ROM drives out there which are not able to read correctly discs burned at x8, I do x4 and writing x10 to CDRW when I need to transfer something to work or friends ...
At work I have Plextor PX-W1210TS 12/10/32 SCSI, no remarks http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif
Had HP 8100 before, usual troubles for non-BURN PROOF drives ...

Best Regards ...

[struggles]

I use a plextor 12x. The other night I decided to see just how good " burn proof" really is. I opened 14 applications and surfed the net while burning at full 12x, no problem! Now I see they have a 16x! I thought I had the latest *****.

HP is way too expensive for what it is.

[This message has been edited by struggles (edited 02-13-2001).]

[jaytv]

Ok guys. Here is what I have found out in my frantic research/testing on this subject.

The Plextor and TDK 12x10x32 drives are both Sanyo Burn-Proof Drives. The difference is packaging and software bundle. The nod here IMHO would go to TDK because of its Nero software, although Adaptec (Roxio) Easy CD has its fans. Nero supports overburning with these drives. Easy CD doesn't. Both drives are capable of raw mode copying (great for game and other backups).(Wink Wink)

HP's drives have a great reputation and they are great drives. So are Sony's. Both are usually at the same speed rating, the same drive, down to firmware cross compatibility on most models.(Sony manufactures them both) HP also has great software. The problem with both are this: HP and Sony are premium names and very expensive. The other crippling blow IMHO is that Sony owns a record company, thus its drives will never support MP3 encoding/ripping out of the box. That can be easily remedied with a software purchase or if you own a SB Live with Playcenter 2.1.

Yamaha makes a great 16X10X40 drive, but it seems not quite ready for prime time with the testing I have done here and reviews I have read. The same seems to hold true for all 16X I have seen till now. This problem may be a firmware revision away from being solved, or may be 16X-wide. Time will tell.

To sum up:All 12X drives I have seen or tested that have Burn-Proof (even OEM's like LiteON) are fast and incredibly reliable. (not one coaster) As I write this, I am copying my weekly backup and surfing the web and playing WinAMP and leaving Outlook 2000 on in the background to check email every 2 mins! Yep, Burn-Proof is awesome. Also look for fast DAE (digital audio extraction) and Raw mode capable drives. And wait for the 16X to mature.