Features:
- Internal EIDE/ATAPI CD-RW drive for PC
- Writing methods: disc at once, session at once, track at once, multi-session and packet writing
- 2 MB of data buffer memory
- Compatible with Windows 98, 2000 Professional, or NT 4.0 with Service Pack 5.0
- 120-millisecond access time
Description:
The bottom line on recordable CD drives is simple: the faster the better. CenDyne's 8x8x32 CD-RW drive delivers excellent performance for a surprisingly low price, making it a perfect entry-level CD-RW drive or upgrade for an old, slower drive. You won't get a lot of hand holding during installation, but for anyone already comfortable installing an internal EIDE drive, this unit's price/performance ratio is hard to beat. The EIDE comes with everything you need for installation right out of the box, including an IDE ribbon cable, a cable for connecting the drive to your sound card, and mounting screws. However, although the limited documentation explains the basics of installing a CD-RW drive, it doesn't offer detailed illustrations or troubleshooting. Again, if this is your first time cracking open your PC's case and installing a drive, we recommend you get help from a more experienced friend. Similar to Roxio's (formerly Adaptec) Easy CD Creator, the included Nero 5 CD-recording software combines a simple, wizard-based interface with some advanced features like Video CD creation as well the ability to create a CD-RW for restoring your hard drive's contents. The software's help files and the support Web site offer very good directions for using the software as well as hints and tips for successful CD burning. Also included is the InCD UDF packet-writing software, which works just like the popular DirectCD software, essentially turning the CD recorder into a huge floppy disk drive. After formatting a CD-RW disc, you can copy files to it like any disc drive. The 8x rewritable speed makes this a painless and transparent process--no more waiting around for files to copy or backups to finish. The drive performed extremely well in both our read and write tests. It took only 7 minutes to burn a 50-minute audio CD at 8x speed, and the CD played flawlessly on standard CD players. Packet writing on CD-RW discs was equally fast. Anyone who's had to wait for a 2x or even 4x drive to finish writing will appreciate just how useful the extra speed of an 8x drive is. Thanks to its 2 MB data buffer memory, we didn't encounter any buffer underruns (bad burns) or other recording errors. The CenDyne 8x8x32 EIDE CD-RW drive's low price and great performance make it an excellent choice for the tech-savvy user, either as a first burner or as an upgrade for a slower drive. --Ken Feinstein Pros: - Excellent performance
- Low price
- Solid software bundle
Cons: - Cursory installation instructions
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