Rating: 
Summary: I will reject cheap media... in all it's forms.
Review: This drive works really well under the right conditions. It doesn't have anything near Plextor's "burn-proof" technology, though. A buffer underrun will yield you a coaster (although it's internal buffer is pretty impressive, it still goes down in flames if your system has too many programs open). The other thing is that this drive tends to vibrate more than a Shiatsu massage chair if you try to use cheap CD-Rs. I almost returned the thing because I though something was wrong internally... until I switched media brands! It will burn ultra-cheap discs at about 4X, if you buy a half-way decent brand, it will burn flawlessly at 8X... This isn't a bad drive, but next time... I'm going Plextor.
Rating: 
Summary: Spinning inferno
Review: This one could easily be called "The Devil Inside". :)) It is fast, very reliable and reads almost any CD you'll insert. If it won't read your disc, then it's surely so damaged nothing will read it again. One of my friends has a Mitsumi recorder and misburns approx. 10% of all discs. I haven't lost a single one in three months and have burned over 200 of them, therefore I think it is extremely reliable. It is quiet enough, comes with Nero software (which I find great) for burning and Ahead InCD for rewriting. The only painful thing is that Ricoh rewrites in UDF format, so if you are transferring data to another PC you'll have to install Ahead InCD there also. Nevertheless it is first class oven.
| 
