Who Makes the Best IDE CD-RW

I am going to buy a CD-RW and was woundering who makes the best and most reliable CD-RW. I need it to be on an IDE Bus but other than that money is not and object. Can you please help

Plextor PlexWriter 8/4/32A

http://www.plextor.com/8432cdrw.htm

Two of my top picks are the Plexwriter 8/4/32 (retail) and the HP 9100i. You can't go wrong with either one.

Don't forget the Ricoh MP7040A 4x4x20, MP7060A 6x4x24, and the soon to be released MP7080A 8x4x32 CD-RW drive http://discussions.hardwarecentral.com/smile.gif Ricoh makes awesome IDE and SCSI CD-RW drives!

I was using a TDK VeloCD = rebadged Plextor 8x4x32 and that drive was horrible! It made nothing but coaster after coaster. I took it back I'm now using a QPS which is another rebadged Plextor 8x4x32 drive. This drive is working much better and it hasn't made a single coaster yet at 8x. The only difference between this QPS/Plextor and the TDK/Plextor is that the QPS/Plextor only has a 2MB buffer vs the 4MB buffer on the TDK/Plextor, but the QPS drive also benchmarks higher then the TDK ever did with CDspeed99. So I would stay away from that TDK/Plextor drive! Ricoh is my number one choice, then any Plextor except for that TDK piece of junk, and last but not least Yamaha CD-RW drives. HP makes pretty good drives now, but they still don't support over-burning or 80M CD-R's.

Sincerely,

Best4x4

I love my Ricoh 7040A. It works flawlessly 99% of the time! It did make a coaster the other day when I tried to make a music cd using Disc at Once, but that could be because I am using cheap media. (HiVal $39.99 for 50 with free shipping!)

Anyway, Ricohs are excellent drives and My Philips 2X2X6 (can't remember the model) was great too.

Payne

Try the new Acer with 8MB Buffer.

I'm testing 4 for 2 months. Oh joy! I love these new toys in my office. Thank you Acer!

Michael

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"The Most Important Things in Life are not Things"

I've been thinking of getting one of those Acer CDRW's with the 8 meg buffer. They seem to be pretty rare here in Canada. In fact, I haven't found one here yet! Could you tell me what software comes with it? Adaptec? And I assume you like it so far?

Thanks

Ricoh delivery on the MP7060A in the last months has been absolutely
horrible. I've been waiting around for 2 months since last year,
and they haven't gotten any in stock. Now they say you won't see
anything until March. if you want a drive NOW, go with someone else.

Diva

Hi!!

I am using a Ricoh drive now, no problems so far.

I am just wondering if some recording of audio CDs at 6x/8x will not be able to be played on some CD-players in car, is it??

My friend once said that recording too fast a speed will cause problems playing it on players other than the CD-ROM. Is it true??

Well, if money ever becomes an object and you need a low cost CD-RW that works damn good.. I've never had any problems with this Digital Research Technology 4x4x24 CDRW

It's true 4x4x24, not max.. I've seen it actually go above 24x when ripping mp3's. It takes under a minute to rip a 4 minute song!

It's only given me 1/30 bad burns but I suspect that it was my fault because that 1 bad burn was when I was playing a lot on the computer while it was burning and I think I took up too much RAM (This was when I was on my P200 w/ 48 megs of EDO ram)

The drive, I believe is still around $150 at buy.com , where I bought it from. Ignore the bad review I gave it (under the name Jp7) because that was the night I got it and I really didn't know what I was doing with the settings and all hell broke loose.

In fact, Digital Research emailed me the next day asking if they could help me in any way being satisfied. They must've read the bad review.

I'm guessing Digital Research is new in the business so if you're on a budget, give em a chance =) I love my cdrw even though i never use the rewritable feature... what's the point of buying a 2 dollar disc over a 98 cent disc.. I don't need to erase what's on it!

Zen

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Email Jp7@Crosswinds.Net
URL http://www.crosswinds.net/~jp7

"There is no pain you are receding, The distance ship smokes on the horizon. You are only coming through in waves, Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying........... I have become Comfortably Numb."

I've got this Acer 8432 CDRW. The one with the *MB buffer. Very nice. Hasen't caused a glitch yet. Burns very fast and I can actually do some things on my machine at the same time.

Hey guys I think you are all correct in your choices as they are probably all good drives. But I suggest that you also look at the software package that come with it. My Creative Labs drive works wonderfuly but the nero and prassi software is not what I call user frendly at all. After spending $70 for the Adaptec software I am very happy with it. What I am trying to say is a couple of extra dollars spent on a drive with a good software package is a better buy in the long run

Well, my HP 9100i is on backorder, can't wait to see what it can do!

Nero and Prassi are kickass!! Adaptec Easy CD Creator 3.5c or 4.0 don't offer near as many options as Nero 4.0.8.3 does for serious burning. For the average beginner Adaptec's Easy CD Creator 3.5c or 4.0 is probably the best bet, but for people that are into serious burning I'd highly recommend Nero 4.0.8.3 or CDRWin http://discussions.hardwarecentral.com/smile.gif

My top 10 CD-RW drive recommendations:

1. Ricoh
2. Plextor
3. Yamaha
4. Smart & Friendly
5. Acer (8MB buffer is very handy)
6. Mitsumi
7. Teac
8. Sony
9. HP
10. Creative Labs

CD-R Software:

1. Nero
2. CDRWin
3. Cequadrat WinOnCD
4. Adaptec Easy CD Creator 3.5c or 4.0

Sincerely,

Best4x4

Best 4x4 May be right, but that was my point. For someone just starting to burn, Nero is of little use when there is no manual provided. I even contacted Ahead software (maker of Nero)and tried to buy a manual,and they would not even reply. Adaptec is so easy even first timers can use it without the manual.(at least Adaptec gives you one