Features:
- CD-RW drive and DVD drive integrated in a single unit
- 24x CD read speed, 6x CD write speed, 4x CD rewrite speed, 4x DVD read speed
- IDE interface for PCs
- 2 MB memory buffer assures smooth playback even with low-quality media
- Comprehensive software package included
Description:
Most PCs ship with DVD-ROM drives these days, and some even come with CD-RW (rewritable) drives for recording data to CD media, but only the most expensive systems have one of each. Now Ricoh has done something unheard of by combining both DVD-ROM and a CD-RW drive into a single unit and offering it in kit form at a reasonable price. The specifications for Ricoh's MP9060A are impressive. It reads DVDs at 4x speed and CD-ROMs at 24x speed. It also writes data to CD-R media at up to 6x speed and to CD-RW media at up to 4x speed. Some separate DVD drives and CD recorders are faster, but none combine the multimedia and backup abilities the MP9060A boasts. The drive comes with nearly everything you need to get started, with the surprising omission of an EIDE cable to attach it to the motherboard. Ricoh must have assumed customers would use the MP9060A as a replacement for an existing drive, in which case you could use the old cable. But if you plan to use the MP9060A in a system you're building, you'll have to supply the requisite cable. In a slave configuration (the way we tested it), the MP9060A can attach to the second port on the EIDE cable already attached to the master drive, so this shouldn't be a problem. The drive includes an audio cable in addition to mounting screws, a software CD, a blank CD-R disc, and a blank CD-RW disc. We had to move a jumper to set the drive up as a slave device on our system, and that simple step was as tough as the hardware installation. The drive installed as soon as Windows detected it, and it was operational within 10 minutes of taking it out of the box. The only thing holding this drive back from its full potential is the bundled software. The MP9060A comes with a hobbled "lite" version of Adaptec's Easy CD Creator, which failed to copy nearly every CD we tested. We used some better software that already was installed on our system and discovered the MP9060A is an excellent and accurate CD recorder if the software is up to snuff. The included Adaptec DirectCD software, used to make a CD-RW disc act like an external hard drive, worked well. Setting up the DVD playback software is more cumbersome that it should be, due mainly to poor documentation. We couldn't even play DVD movies until we established a regional code for the drive, which involves scrounging for a password and serial number that isn't even mentioned in the setup documentation. After going through all that, we still received a regional coding violation when we loaded a DVD. The Cinemaster software finally let us permanently enable the proper coding, but the process was intrusive, to say the least. Once we jumped through the requisite hoops, we were left with a great DVD-ROM drive that also happened to be able to record on CD-R and CD-RW discs. While recording to DVD media is beyond the capabilities of this drive, it still makes for a reliable backup device that is also fairly speedy for a CD-RW drive. The Cinemaster software isn't the best we've ever encountered, but when combined with the accurate abilities of the MP9060A, it was able to play a horribly mangled DVD disc that most other DVD drives can't even detect. If you decide to buy the MP9060A, it's likely you'll soon pine for a more robust software suite and perhaps a hardware DVD decoder, so you may want to factor that into your final price. Otherwise, the MP9060A is a sturdy, quiet drive that packs more than enough functionality and build quality to justify its price tag. --T. Byrl Baker Pros:
- DVD and CD-RW capabilities in a single device
- Generous 2 MB buffer
- Extremely quiet operation
- Good build quality
- Front-mounted headphone jack and volume control
Cons:
- Software bundle is weak
- DVD playback would benefit from a hardware controller card
- Software setup is clumsy
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