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What is an optical drive and a floppy drive. Optical drives for everyone What is an optical drive

A big step forward at one time was the appearance of drives on recordable and then rewritable optical media. They had significantly larger functionality compared to conventional CD drives at the time. True, their rapid spread in system units was hampered by the high price of similar models... With the passage of time, the technologies implemented in CD-RW drives have been constantly improving, and the cost of drives has been steadily decreasing. The latter process took place at a much faster pace compared to classic CD-ROM drives. The consequence of this was that the gap in price between the two types of drives at the moment has become about $ 30, which is no longer a serious obstacle to their purchase by the majority of users. The ability to burn and rewrite CDs on CD-RW models is well worth the money. It is for these reasons that more and more buyers immediately prefer to purchase CD-RW drives. At the same time, those users who have CD-ROM drives change them to models with the ability to write or install the latter additionally - for working in tandem. Looking through the price lists of computer companies, you can pay attention to the fact that in terms of the number of offers for the sale of CD-RW drives are beginning to outstrip classical models. This is the best evidence of the growing popularity of recorders. On the other hand, it should be noted that combined models that allow reading DVD and burning CDs are starting to compete with CD-RW drives. An increasing role in the market for optical storage media with the ability to record is also beginning to play and the constantly improving DVD drives in version –RW, + RW, etc. But their wider implementation is still hampered by the price factor. In our current review, we'll focus on the more familiar CD-RW drives - ten models from seven manufacturers.

BURN-Proof

One of the problems that owners of old CD-RW drives have faced and continue to encounter periodically is the Buffer Under Run error. As a result, CD-R discs are irretrievably damaged during the recording process. This is caused by the fact that the data from the buffer necessary for "burning" the disk begins to be "consumed" faster than it arrives there. As a result, the recording process stops at a certain point and cannot be resumed. In practice, this is due to the fact that the computer is not able to ensure the "delivery" of data to the drive buffer faster than they are used in work due to insufficient power of the computer in general or due to the fact that it uses some of its resources to solve any other parallel tasks. Likewise, the reason could be too high write speed of the drive itself. In all cases, the problem began to arise in the event of a violation of a certain balance between the capabilities of the drive and the computer during operation. The likelihood of such a situation hindered the wider promotion of CD-RW drives on the market, which naturally did not suit the developers. And the way out was found.
In 2000, Sanyo introduced the Burn-Proof (BufeR UndeRun ProoF) technology, which prevented disc damage in the event of an empty buffer. Its meaning is as follows. The drive controller constantly monitors the buffer status during the recording process and, if a situation arises when it can be empty, stops recording. The position at which recording was stopped is remembered. After the level of data in the buffer reaches the required level again, the write process resumes. The gap (empty area) in the place where the recording was stopped, in this case is minimized and amounts to several microns, which does not affect in any way later when reading information from a CD.
Sanyo's innovation has been supported by many optical disc drive manufacturers. They use Burn-Proof technology directly in their drives or its modified versions under their own names. But

Overburn

Remember how one man wanted to have seven hats made from one skin. Similar desires sometimes seize many users who are trying, by all means, to write on the carrier the amount of information exceeding its official capacity. Let's not be too critical - in some cases it is really a shame when 5-10 megabytes do not fit on the disk, because of which you will have to take another disc. A way out in such a situation can be the use of the Overburn mode, which in translation into Russian will sound something like "overburning" or "overburning". In general, something like that. It can help you exceed the manufacturer's capacity limit for your media. The fundamental possibility of this appears due to the fact that according to the Red Book specification for audio discs, the obligatory presence of a Lead out zone was provided for, which should be recognized by all drives on optical media. This section of 90 seconds of digital silence was supposed to inform the drive about the end of all recordings. The Lead out zone is not included in the declared disk size and under certain conditions can be used, allowing you to write an extra 13-15 MB of data. In fact, this value may be even higher, but this can only be determined in practice. The exact numbers will depend on the combination of drive, media and software used. All drives have different abilities to write to discs the amount of information more than that provided by the manufacturer due to their hardware capabilities and sometimes due to a specific firmware version. Likewise, media from different manufacturers, although nominally the same capacity, may actually have different "additional" capacity. In order to perform Overburn, you will also need software that allows this procedure. Quite good opportunities for this are provided by the popular in our country program Nero - Burning Rom by Ahead Software. To do this, in the Preference option, select the Expert Features tab, put the checkbox in front of the Overburn mode item and set the maximum recording length. Before trying to randomly "re-burn" discs, it's a good idea to check the media for this possibility using the CD Speed program that comes with Nero. Having decided to write the "excess megabytes" to the medium, you must be prepared for the fact that in certain situations you can spoil the "disc" or some of the files will not be read. In addition, it is necessary to remember that a disc that you have successfully "overburned" may not be readable on other drives.

UDF

Very often in life there are situations when, even with a writing drive, transferring information to CDs using special programs is not the best solution... It is much easier if the user could transfer the data he needs from a computer to optical media in a drive, treating them like ordinary floppy disks. Probably, guided by approximately such considerations, the OSTA (Optical Storage Technology Association) organization at one time showed concern for neighbors and proposed in 1995 the UDF (Universal Disk Format) specification, which in turn became an integral part of the ECMA 197 standard. became the maximization of data exchange, minimization of cost and usability. The shadow side of this technical solution is the loss of about one-sixth of the volume of the carrier under file system.

Mount rainier

The Mount Rainier specification was proposed by the group of the same name, which includes such well-known manufacturers as Compag, Microsoft, Philips and Sony. Its name new standard takes its name from Mount Rainier in Oregon, at the foot of which is the headquarters of Microsoft. Another designation for this format is the abbreviation CD-MRW (CD Mount Rainier Rewrite). This new open standard is another step forward from UDF. He must have better support on the part of the operating system and have increased compatibility and performance on the part of CD-RW drives. All users will be able to work with files in the usual drag and drop mode. Actuators that pass the 100% test of the new standard receive the "EASYwrite" logo. Microsoft plans to provide full support for this technology in the next version of its operating system, codenamed "Longhorn".

The main advantages of Mount Rainier are as follows:

Formatting in the background. In order to transfer information to CD-RW using the UDF packet write method, you must first format the disc. According to the Mount Rainier standard, writing to media can begin before formatting is complete, which will continue to occur in the background.

CD-RWs can be removed from the drive at any time, even during formatting. The process will continue automatically the next time the disc is loaded into the drive.

Unlike continuous packet writing methods that transfer data in blocks of 64KB, Mount Rainier is based on operation in blocks of 2KB. This significantly increases the efficiency of disk space utilization and reduces the time it takes to copy files.

Unlike UDF, which supports software defect administration, Mount Rainier specifies that this is done in hardware and is left to the recorder. The result is freeing up system memory and processing power for other tasks.

ATIP (Absolute Time in Pre-Groove)

Everything optical CD-R and CD-RW media on sale have a special area on the surface in the non-working area (pre-written section) where some service information recorded by the manufacturer is stored. this area contains information about the manufacturer, batch number and some characteristics of the disc. The latter may include information about the type of disc (for example, audio only), dye type, disc capacity, supported write speeds, absolute Lead-in time, the last address where information can be written, manufacturer's recommendations for optimal laser power, etc. P. In addition, a special spiral track ensures correct positioning of the recording head and provides the recording drive with timing information.
In practice, not only media from the same batch may have slightly different properties from each other, but even the characteristics of the working surface of the disk in different areas may vary somewhat. For this reason, many modern drives are not limited only to reading information from ATIP for high-quality recording, but use a number of special technologies... This is also quite reasonable from the point of view that some of the information in ATIP may not always correspond to reality. This is due to the fact that some manufacturers of "blanks" purchase matrices for their production in other companies, and the information posted on the discs sold in the future will refer only to the master disc of the company that made it.

Testing technique

Recorders differ from read-only models by the presence of a large number of additional opportunities... For this reason, their testing is based on a group of tests used for "reading" drives, plus additional tests to determine their "writing" properties.
CD Winbench 99 ver. 1.1.1 of the company was used to determine the CD-ROM WinMark 99 index, which reflects the performance of hard drives and a number of more specific tests that determine the speed of reading data from the surface of the media with plotting, access time and processor load factor. In order to better reveal the ability of the drives to work with various types of media, copies of the branded stamped CD were made on CD-R and CD-RW disks and all tests were duplicated with their help.
The Nero CD Speed software was used to conduct the vast majority of tests. With its help, a complete set of basic tests was carried out with four types of media. Their roles were: a standard stamped disc supplied as an attachment to a computer magazine, a CD-R disc with data recorded using the CD Speed program itself, a CD-RW disc with an Mpeg4 movie recorded on it, and a licensed audio disc. In addition, a number of specialized tests were carried out. First, the ability of the drive to operate in Overburn mode was determined. For this purpose, emulation of recording on CD-R media Memorex 8X and TDK 48X was carried out. Secondly, the Advanced DAE Quality Test was carried out using an audio disc specially prepared using the CD Speed program. It allows you to evaluate how well the drive is able to "extract" audio tracks. Thirdly, a CD Quality Test was carried out for the ability of drives to work with media with mechanical damage to the working surface. For this, a specially prepared scratched disc was used. Fourthly, we carried out a test for writing (Transfer Rate) in emulation mode on a blank CDR media.
The CD-ROM Drive Analyzer utility version 2.32 was used to capture the transfer schedule from the surface of discs (stamped, CD-R, CD-RW).
CD DAE was used to determine the speed and quality of extracting audio tracks from an audio disc.
Using the CloneCD utility, we determined the time required to create an image from an audio disc on the hard drive and the time required to copy it to a CD-RW medium.
Sandra 2003 Professional was used to determine the performance index when working with two stamped CDs. One comes as an attachment to the magazine and the second with a film in Mpeg4 format.
Nero Burning Rom version 5.5.10.0 was used to time the required drive to burn Mpeg4 movies to CD-R and CD-RW media.
Finally, the Nero InCD utility version 3.5.9.1 was used to study the operation of drives with media in packet writing mode. We measured the time required to format CD-RW discs according to UDF and Mount Rainier standards, as well as the speed of transferring data to these media from a hard drive.
In addition to the test programs, two information utilities were used - Nero Info Tool version 1.0.3.2 to determine the hardware capabilities of drives and CD-R Diagnostic version 1.7.2, which displays information about the media recorded by the manufacturer.
The list of the aforementioned tests does not claim to be complete coverage, nor to be the ultimate truth. You can only take into account those that inspire you more confidence. All drives have been tested as received (AS IS). This means that the firmware of the drives was not changed, and the Plextor models worked in the “default” speed mode specified by the manufacturer.

Test platform configuration:

Motherboard - Elitegroup K7S5A
Processor - Athlon 700 MHz
System memory - 128 MB SDRAM
Graphics adapter - ATI Radeon 8500 64 MB
Hard Drive - IBM DTLA 3070 30 GB UDMA / 5

All drives were connected to the second IDE channel and worked with UDMA system settings as Master. The operating system was Windows XP with Service Pack 1 installed.
To test the Plextor PX-W4824TU external drive with USB 2.0 interface, we used motherboard EpoX EP-8K9A and 128 MB DDR SDRAM. All other elements of the system remained the same.
The absence of data in the tables with the final results indicates that this test was not performed or failed for any reason.

Monitored drives

Technical data table. Part 1

Model	Read / write and overwrite modes	Read / overwrite / write speed X	Interface	Buffer size MB
NEC NR-9200A	n / a	40/12/40	ATAPI (E-IDE)	2
SONY CRX175E	n / a	40/24/10	ATAPI (E-IDE)	2
Mitsumi CR-48XETE	n / a	48/12/48	ATAPI (E-IDE)	2
TEAC CD-W548E	CAV and CLV / P-CAV and CLV	48/16/48	ATAPI (E-IDE)	2
Yamaha CRW-F1	CAV	44/24/44	ATAPI (E-IDE)	8
Plextor PX-W4824TA	CAV and CLV / CAV, P-CAV and CLV	48/24/48	ATAPI (E-IDE)	4
Plextor PX-W4824TU	CAV and CLV / CAV, P-CAV and CLV	48/24/48	USB 2.0	4
Plextor PX-W4012TA	CAV / Z-CLV and CLV	40/12/40	ATAPI (E-IDE)	4
ASUS CRW-5224A	CAV / CAV and P-CAV	52/24/52	ATAPI (E-IDE)	2
ASUS CRW-4816A	CAV / P-CAV and CLV	48/16/48	ATAPI (E-IDE)	2

Technical data table. Part 2

Model	Access time ms	Support for Mt. Rainier	Headphone output	Cost $
NEC NR-9200A	n / a	No	No	60
SONY CRX175E	n / a	No	Yes	51
Mitsumi CR-48XETE	n / a	No	Yes	60
TEAC CD-W548E	100 average	Yes	Yes	80
Yamaha CRW-F1	130 average	Yes	Yes	117
Plextor PX-W4824TA	65 average	Yes	Yes	120
Plextor PX-W4824TU	65 average	Yes	Yes	220
Plextor PX-W4012TA	120 average.	No	Yes	120
ASUS CRW-5224A	100 typical	Yes	Yes	83
ASUS CRW-4816A	100 typical	Yes	Yes	70

ASUS CRW-4816A

ASUSTeK has recently begun to pay great attention to outward appearance their products. This can be clearly seen in the drive design. Everything that can be squeezed out of his image so that he becomes one of the faces of the company has been done. The name of the manufacturer and the speed characteristics of the model are written on the tray. It is also stamped with two thin horizontal grooves that improve the aesthetic perception of the drive. The maximum possible functionality of the drive is easy to see from the front panel. There, in addition to the obligatory tray pull button, there is also a second one designed to move between tracks. Both keys are made in the form of graceful thin rectangles. There are also two LEDs for operating modes. Rounding out the picture is a headphone jack and a volume control. The rear of the drive has a standard look with a little addition. In addition to the interface, power, digital and analog audio connectors, as well as a block of pins for setting the operating mode, there is another set of six pins in the left corner, intended for factory testing. The body has four stamped grooves to increase its rigidity.
The drive can read and write discs at up to 48X, and rewrite at up to 16X. The buffer size is standard and is equal to 2 MB. A number of proprietary technologies are implemented in the drive. FlextraSpeed is designed to provide high quality recordings in situations where the discs being used require variable speed. The drive uses this technology to automatically adjust the speed based on the media being recorded. The results of its application are the maximum use of the capabilities of the drive, the minimization of CPU usage and the improvement of acoustic performance with the extension of the life cycle of the electric motor.
FlextraLink technology is essentially a variation of the BURN-Proof software. It is also designed to prevent media corruption caused by buffer underruns. During recording, the state of the buffer is continuously monitored, and if the amount of data in it starts to make up approximately 1% of the total volume, the process stops and the place of stopping is remembered. When the buffer is full, recording resumes from the last position. FlextraLink uses minimal amount system resources and the computer remains usable with other applications.
Another of the proprietary innovations implemented in the drive is DDSS II (Double Dynamic Suspension System). This is the second generation anti-vibration system designed to stabilize the drive's readhead in both horizontal and vertical directions, making positioning and focusing more accurate. The DDSS II technology also results in reduced vibration noise and improved disc reading and playback. The system is based on the use of a dynamic mass design.
In addition to the above technologies, the AI Auto Speed Adjustment system implemented in the drive can be noted. With its help, automatic setting reading speed in accordance with the quality of certified media in different formats.
Finally, it should be noted and support for the Mount Rainier standard.
The complete set of the model includes an operation manual, a manual quick installation, IDE cable (UDMA / 33), audio cable, set of mounting screws, wire extractor, CD with Nero software, and two blank discs (CD-R and CD-RW). Everything you need to start a full-fledged work on the drive after purchase.

ASUS CRW-5224A

The fastest model in the ASUS recorder family. The drive design is completely identical to the previous drive. Nice and original front panel. The wide functionality of the model will appeal to fans of listening to audio CDs through headphones. Fortunately, in addition to the corresponding connector for connecting them with a volume control, there is also a button for switching from track to track. Two indicator lights make it easy to monitor the operating modes. The ASUS inscription on the tray indicating the speed modes will always let your friends and acquaintances understand without words what kind of drive is installed in your computer. On the rear side of the case are the usual interfaces for connecting power and IDE cables, digital and analog audio connectors, a block of pins for selecting the operating mode and six additional pins used for factory testing. The body has four stamped grooves to increase its rigidity.
The drive is capable of reading and writing at 52X high speed and rewriting at up to 24X. The buffer size is 2 MB. There is no difference in technological equipment between this drive and the previous generation CRW-4816A model. The drive features the same proprietary innovations. FlextraSpeed automatically selects the optimum recording speed. FlextraLink technology protects against the potential for buffer underruns. The second generation DDSS system reduces vibration and enhances positioning and focusing accuracy. AI Auto Speed Adjustment Technology allows the drive to automatically select the optimum reading speed. Mount Rainier technology will allow you to work with media just like regular floppy disks.
The model is supplied with an instruction manual, a quick installation guide, an IDE cable (UDMA / 33), an audio cable, a set of mounting screws, a wire extractor, a CD with Nero software, and two blank discs (CD-R and CD-RW ).

Mitsumi CR-48XETE

The design of this drive can be called not very expressive, which is generally typical of Mitsumi drives. On the front panel, in addition to the standard tray pull button, there is a headphone jack with a volume control and an operating mode indicator. There are no brand names or model names. The rear side of the drive has a familiar look. There are power and IDE interfaces, digital and analog audio connectors, a block with pins and a jumper to set the operating mode. In addition, there is a block of six more pins intended for factory testing. Unlike other models, it is located on the right, next to the power interface.
Mitsumi's drive can read / write at up to 48X and rewrite at up to 12X. The buffer size is two megabytes. Unfortunately, there is no information on this particular model on the manufacturer's website.
The OEM version does not include anything with the drive.

NEC NR-9200A

The NEC drive with the NR-9200A index turned out to be quite difficult, or rather impossible to say, to find on the corporate WEB-site. It is possible that this model intended only for supply to OEM partners and not for retail sales. Nevertheless, it is sold in our country, and we will try to tell everything we have learned about it.
The drive design is very austere. It can be seen that no attempts were made to somehow diversify it. The only thing that may interest a number of users in this aspect is the black color of the front panel. This kind of performance is not so common. At the same time, there are enough a large number of cases in colors other than white. And then a little problem arises. In dark cases, standard recorders with white bezels do not look very nice. The way out of the situation can be models similar in color to the NEC NR-9200A. True, the drive we are considering can alienate some potential buyers with its minimal functionality. The front panel only has a drawer pull button. The headphone output, so beloved by many users, is absent. The operating mode indicator on the panel is one. The rear side of the drive presents us with a completely familiar picture. There are power, interface connectors, digital and analog audio connectors, as well as a block of pins designed to set the operating mode.
The drive is capable of reading and writing (CDR) discs at up to 40X and rewriting CD-RWs at up to 12X. The buffer size is 2 MB.
The complete set of the drive is zero, except for its element in a plastic bag. This is not unusual. The model has an OEM design and, accordingly, nothing comes with it.

Plextor PX-W4012TA

Plextor has long been deservedly considered one of the leading developers of optical drives. Three of her models were included in this review.
The design of the drive makes it immediately recognizable as a Plextor product. On the end of the tray, the PleXWriter 40/12 / 40TA inscription is applied in blue letters, which also allows you to evaluate its technical capabilities. In order to somehow revive the look of the front panel white it has a narrow horizontal groove. The latter houses the tray pull button, headphone jack, volume control and led indicator... The back side of the drive is made entirely according to the standard scheme. It has power, interface, digital and analog audio connectors, as well as a block with a jumper for setting the operating mode. On the latter, using an additional jumper, you can disable the default Ultra DMA mode and switch the drive to Multiword DMA.
The drive allows reading and writing (CD-R) discs at 40X and rewriting CD-RW discs in 12X mode. The buffer size is 4 MB. In order to ensure high-quality operation of the drive, it uses Plextor proprietary technologies. BURN-Proof provides protection against buffer underrun errors during write. When the level of data in it decreases to 10%, the process stops and resumes when the amount of data increases.
The PoweRec-II (Plextor Optimized Writing Error Reduction Control) innovation is a further development of the proprietary PoweRec technology. Its main difference from its predecessor is the use of a special "smart" algorithm that checks the quality of the media at every stage of the recording process. This continuously maintains the optimum recording speed combined with the highest quality. A feedback mechanism implemented through the firmware allows you to track the results of the recording process so that they always meet quality standards. PoweRec-II technology is actually a kind of symbiosis of several innovations. It is based on a combination of PoweRec, OPC, Z-CLV recording methods, as well as the Buffer Underrun Proof system. In practice, the use of PoweRec technology is as follows. When recording starts, the drive uses OPC to determine the optimum power in the first section of the Z-CLV. At the end of the first phase, the drive uses Buffer Underrun Proof technology to stop recording. Then PoweRec-II checks the data recorded at the end of the zone for the quality of the recording. If the recording quality is sufficient to increase the speed, then it increases until the next zone starts recording. In a similar way, recording takes place in the future. With each step, the speed increases until it reaches the optimal speed. After each step, the drive tests the media to make sure it supports faster write speeds.
VariRec (Variable Recordung) technology is designed to maximize audio recording quality. It allows you to manually change the laser power. This makes it possible to optimally adjust the recording level for the audio player, on which the disc will then be listened to. VariRec is used in Track-at-Once (TAO) and Disk-at-Once (DAO) modes. CD_DA discs on CD-R media are written in this case at 4X speed, although in many cases the nominal speed could be higher. Thus, the payment for the use of VariRec technology is a longer time for the audio recording process.
The complete set of the model immediately provides all the minimum necessary for the work of its buyer. In addition to the drive, the box contains an operating manual, mounting screws, an audio cable, an interface cable (UDMA 33), an additional jumper, a wire extractor, and two CDs. One of them contains the Nero and InCD programs, and the second contains a set of proprietary Plex Tools software. In order to immediately start working, the drive comes with five CD-R and one CD-RW disc. As you can see from the above, everything is thought out to the smallest detail.

Plextor PX-W4824TA

This model practically does not differ in its appearance from the previous one. Absolutely identical design. The difference in drives installed in the system unit can be seen only by the inscription on the end part of the tray - PleXWriter 48/24 / 48A. On the horizontal groove of the front of the case, there is a tray extension button, a headphone jack, an audio recording level control and an operating mode indicator. On the back there is a standard set of connectors: power, interface, digital audio, analog audio, and a block for configuring the drive. In the latter, you can turn off the UDMA mode using an additional jumper and switch the drive to Multiworld DMA.
The model is one of the fastest in the Plextor product line. The drive can read and write (CDR) discs at up to 48X (CD-RW reads up to 40X), and rewrite CDRWs at 24X. The buffer size is 4 MB. The drive incorporates many of Plextor's proprietary designs to maximize performance and stability. BURN-Proof prevents disc damage during recording.
PoweRec-II (Plextor Optimized Writing Error Reduction Control) innovation ensures high quality recording. This is achieved due to the fact that the drive automatically identifies the media inserted into it and selects the best recording mode for it. The list of media previously tested by Plextor with optimal recording modes is stored in the firmware and is updated when it is updated. In practice, it happens like this. When a "blank" disk is inserted into the drive, information is read from ATIP. Further, the manufacturer, model and special properties of the media are identified. The received information is compared with the catalog of media stored in the "firmware". The media parameters are determined. PoweRec selects the recording strategy - laser power and recording speed, in accordance with the preset optimal modes for this disk... The drive then performs an OPC (Optimum Power Control) procedure in order to most accurately adjust the laser power. To do this, the drive writes 15 blocks in a dedicated spare area of the disc using a fixed range of power levels (15 values). Then the recorded data is analyzed and the reflectivity of the "burned out" elements of the record (pits) in each of the blocks is checked. Too much reflectivity means that the power is too low, and too little reflectivity means too much power. By doing so, the drive tries to accommodate individual differences between discs defined as "compatible media". PoweRec then continuously monitors the quality of the recording in real time, working together with running system OPC, which is designed to take into account possible changes in the quality of the working layer of the disk.
SpeedRead technology allows the user to independently turn on the data reading mode at the highest speed. The default read speed is 40X, but 48X mode can be used for stamped discs and CD-Rs. In order to turn on the SpeedRead mode manually, you must hold down the tray eject button for more than three seconds. The indicator light will blink green three times and the tray will slide out of the chassis. The SpeedRead mode can also be manually turned off. To do this, simply pull out the tray again or turn off the power to the drive. Another way to enable high-speed mode is software. The proprietary utilities PlexTools are used for this. If the SpeedRead mode is turned on for the categories of discs for this not intended, then the reading will still occur at a speed not exceeding 40X. These default speed limits are made in order to avoid damage to the drive in case of using substandard media. An interesting feature of this model is the ability to perform Self-Test Diagnostics. True, for this procedure, you will have to remove the drive from system unit or at least provide yourself with access to its back with connectors. After that, you need to disconnect the cables, close the pins with two jumpers in the Cable Select and Slave positions at the same time. After that, you need to reconnect the power cable and, while pressing the Eject key, turn on the computer's power. The LCD indicator will blink green and the tray will slide out of the chassis. After that, you need to put in it a "blank" CD-R disc from the list of recommended by Plextor. Then the self-diagnosis procedure begins. If it goes well, then the disc slides out on the tray. In case of problems, the disk does not come out, the LED blinks green once - a write or read error, or twice - an initialization error. The last technical nuance of this model is that the black color of the inner part of the tray was not chosen by chance, but in order to reduce jitter and improve the recording quality. A drive of this level, as you would expect, supports Mount Rainier technology.
The drive package includes an instruction manual, a quick installation guide, an IDE cable (UDMA 33), a set of mounting screws, a disc extractor, a blank CD-R disc, and a CD with a software bundle. The list of the latter is quite extensive and allows you to fully satisfy the needs of the user who bought the drive. The software package includes Roxio Easy CD Creator, Roxio DirectCD, SimpliCD by Oak Tecnologies, Plextor Liquid Player, Stomp Click'N Design 3d.

Plextor PX-W4824TU

The only external model in our review is the drive from Plextor. There are not so many USB 2.0 drives on sale in the Russian market. Therefore, the drive aroused particular interest - can it really compete in performance with models that have the same declared speed, but use the familiar ATAPI interface. The design of the model is very stylish. The silver metal case has a matte sheen. The front and rear body panels are made of gray plastic and have rounded edges. The name of the manufacturer and the brand of the model with all its characteristics are printed on the upper part of the case. The front panel of the drive is black. It has a button for pulling the tray, a headphone jack and an audio signal level control in it. The operating mode indicator is one. The end of the tray has the inscription PlexWriter 48/24 / 48U. A horizontal groove in which the aforementioned organs are located slightly enlivens the standard appearance of the front panel. Due to the fact that the model has an external design, the appearance of its rear side differs significantly from standard drives. There are power and self-diagnostic buttons. In addition, the rear panel contains connectors: for connecting a 12V power supply, USB and two composite audio (left and right). For the convenience of working with the drive, on this side of the upper part of the case, there are labels with information about the organs that are under them. Inspection of the drive and work with it allow us to note the thoughtfulness of its design. Quite a large weight (more than 2 kg) and four small rubber-like pads on the underside of the case increase the stability of the platform and allow you to minimize vibration during operation, and, consequently, to achieve higher quality and efficiency during the operation of this model. Another aspect of the drive design is the low noise level and smooth movement of the tray.
The operating parameters of the model are almost identical to the previous one. A suspicion creeps in that this drive is completely in line with the PX-W4824TA and they are siblings, and the difference lies only in the interface and external image. Anyway, both models identify themselves the same in the Nero Info Tool. The drive can read and write (CD-R) discs at up to 48X and rewrite CD-RWs at up to 24X. The buffer size is 4 MB. All the best Plextor technologies are implemented in the model. BURN-Proof will provide buffer underrun protection. PoweRec innovation will allow you to achieve maximum recording quality. VariRec technology is designed to improve the quality of audio recordings. Just like the previous model, you can increase the read speed from the default 40X to 48X with the SpeedRead function. Self-diagnosis mode is also possible. The black color of the tray is specially designed to reduce jitter and improve the quality of recordable discs. The drive supports Mount Rainier technology.
The high characteristics of the drive, declared by the manufacturer, can only be realized using the direct USB 2.0 interface (Hi-Speed USB). This remark is made so that you purchase this drive specifically for it. It can also work with USB 1.1, but the speed in this case will be several times lower and the money spent on this, in general, not cheap model will be spent ineffectively.
The drive package includes a power adapter, an instruction manual, a USB cable, a special wire extractor for ejecting discs from the drive, and two CDs. One with programs Nero Burning ROM and InCD, and the second with proprietary software Plex Tools. With the purchase of this model, its owners can immediately start working. To do this, the box with the drive contains five blank CDs and one CD-RW disc. Finally, it can be noted that the high price of this drive - $ 230 makes it not very affordable, even for the majority of computer owners with a USB 2.0 interface and freed from the need to purchase special controllers.

SONY CRX175E

The model has a rather nice "soft" design. A similar impression is created by the rounded corners of the tray and the Eject button on the front panel made in the same style. Audiophiles will love the headphone output and volume control. The operating mode indicator is one. The rear side of the drive is made according to the generally accepted scheme. There are power and interface connectors, as well as digital and analog audio interfaces. The picture is completed by a block of pins with a jumper to set the operating mode. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find information on this particular model on the manufacturer's website.
Sony drive is not the latest generation model. Its speed characteristics are rather modest today. The read speed can be up to 40X, and the write limit is 24X. Overwriting is possible at 10X speed. The buffer size is 2 MB.
OEM delivery does not include any drive equipment.

TEAC CD-W548E

The fastest model in the TEAC family of recorders has a completely traditional corporate design. The front panel does not differ in any special delights. In addition to the tray pull button, headphone jack and volume control, which is quite usual, we can only note the presence of two LEDs for operating modes. There are no hints on the manufacturer on the front panel. On the upper part of the drive, four transverse grooves are stamped at once, which, most likely, is intended to increase the rigidity of the case and reduce vibrations. The back of the drive is made almost according to the traditional scheme. It is necessary to make a reservation due to the fact that in addition to the interface and power connectors, a block of pins for setting operating modes, as well as digital and analog audio connectors, there is another set of pins (6 pieces) in the left edge, intended for factory testing.
The drive can read and write discs at up to 48X, and rewrite CD-RWs at up to 16X. The buffer size is 2 MB. The drives are equipped with proprietary TEAC technologies.
Fine Focus Control allows you to minimize deviations in laser focusing in various modes. The laser beam is positioned strictly at a given position at all write speeds, significantly increasing the quality of this process.
Intelligent Speed Control is another innovation that allows for high recording stability. This system allows you to test the condition of the media before starting the recording process and use a number of its parameters to determine the maximum possible recording speed with the best quality. For this purpose, an estimate of the number of tracks, disc balance, laser power, disc type, possible vibrations at high speed can be used.
Like all modern models, the drive has protection against errors related to buffer underrun during writing - it implements Bufer-under-run Prevention technology.
Compliance with the Mount Rainier specification can make life much easier for future owners of this model.
The drive we are considering was in OEM version, which in this case means the absence of any accessories in its package.

Yamaha CRW-F1

Yamaha is one of the leading developers of optical drives with original technical solutions. The CRW-F1 is no exception. The design of the drive is generally closer to the standard, but it is noticeable that Yamaha made certain attempts to personalize its product. There is a horizontal groove in the lower part of the front panel with two thin slots in it. The tray extension key is made in the form of a thin flat rectangle. The only indicator light shows in blue and purple. It seems like a trifle, but still a nice detail that gives some individuality to the acquired drive. Lovers of listening to audio discs will not be disappointed either. The front panel has a headphone jack and a volume control. The drive brand is easily recognized by the Yamaha lettering on the tray. The back of the case has a standard look. All connectors are made according to the standard scheme.
The model has 44X read and write speeds and 24X rewrite speeds. The buffer size of this drive is large and equals 8 megabytes. This solution is one of three key components of SafeBurn's proprietary innovation to bring together maximum speed recording and high process reliability. The buffer is large enough to store a large amount of data, which reduces the likelihood of buffer underruns. Buffer Under Run Protection prevents the possibility of a buffer underrun error. The gap when recording is stopped is about 1 µm. The last, third element of SafeBurn technology is Optimum Wright Speed Control. It automatically adjusts the recording speed for a specific type of media.

One of the exclusive technologies introduced for the first time in the CRW-F1 is [email protected], which can be translated into Russian roughly like a disk tattoo. Its meaning is about the same as that of tattoos on humans. In normal mode, write drives leave discs on the surface, burned-out areas of information 0.001 mm in size, which cannot be seen with the human eye. Technology [email protected] allows you to increase this size to 0.1 mm and after the end of recording on the disc, drawing graphics and text on its unused outer areas. Whether it is necessary or not is up to you. Not all people want to walk with a tattoo. Moreover, there are some restrictions on the type of media suitable for this purpose. In addition, the creation of such images on disks "finalizes" them and makes them unsuitable for further writing data to them.
Another interesting proprietary innovation implemented in this model is Advanced Audio Master Quality Recording. Through its use, a number of goals are achieved. These include improving sound quality, extending the lifespan of audio discs, extending the life of discs with backup information, limiting skips and pops in mobile CD players, improving compatibility with older CD players, protecting your valuable data. The effect of using the Advanced Audio Master Quality Recording technology is achieved by reducing the jitter level by 30%, using wider elements of information storage (pits and lands). The CRW-F1 supports this innovation in addition to the original 4X writing speed, but also 1X and 8X modes.
The drive is capable of recording and rewriting using Full CAV technology. A constant rotational speed is maintained on the inside and outside of the discs. The spindle of the electric motor spins CD-R discs at an angular speed of 8700 rpm during the recording process. A 700MB disc can be written in 163 seconds. To a certain extent, high-quality recording at high speed is achieved through the use of a special damping mechanism, which significantly reduces vibration and noise.
Great role in improving technical characteristics The drive is played by the new YDC-132-VLSI chip, which, according to the figurative expression of the developers, is the heart and brain of this model. A number of key technologies are supported with this microcircuit:

laser power control
disk rotation control
CAV recording strategy
[email protected]
Advanced Audio Master Quality Recording

The drive supports Mount Rainier technology.
In OEM version, the actuator is supplied without any accessories.

The current conjuncture of the optical drives market is such that read-only drives have practically completely outlived their usefulness in functionality. The reason for this was the significant drop in prices for disc burners. Moreover, modern CD-RW drives have already reached the peak of their development, which is reflected in their functional and speed characteristics. Most likely, the innovative potential of manufacturing companies in this area is practically exhausted. Every day more and more DVD recorders are coming into circulation.

However, you shouldn't write off CD burners ahead of time. Only now they have become available to absolutely everyone. Almost everyone new computer equipped with at least a CD-RW drive. That is why, in our review, we tried to extensively examine the line of writing optical drives on our market. Therefore, below we consider both low-, mid-, and high-end devices, a total of 11 units.

AOpen CRW-5232

AOpen drives belong to the budget sector of the disk read and write devices market - their price is quite acceptable for many consumers. At the same time, the optical drive AOpen CRW-5232 has enough high quality manufacturing, and also meets modern requirements for speed characteristics.

The bezel has a discreet design, but is not devoid of its own style. It contains a headphone output, volume control, drive operation indicator and buttons for rewinding / playing audio tracks and ejecting the tray.

The rear of the drive houses a Molex power connector, an IDE interface connector, digital and analog audio outputs, and two sets of pins for positioning the drive and testing it at the factory.

Technical specifications:

CD-ROM: 4x, 8x, 10x, 12x, 16x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 48x, 52x;
CD-R: 8x, 12x, 16x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 48x, 52x;
CD-RW: 4x, 10x, 12x, 16x, 24x, 32x;
CD: CD-DA, CD-Extra, CD-RW, CD-Text, Video-CD, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-I, Photo-CD;
CD-ROM: 100ms;

JustLink
JustSpeed- a technology that optimizes the recording speed of discs to minimize errors that occur when burning at speeds higher than 16x.

As you can see, the drive supports the function of fast formatting of rewritable CD-RW discs Mount Rainier.

ASUS CRW-5232AS

A well-known Taiwanese manufacturer of computer components, ASUS, has long been producing optical drives under its trademark. The company's products in this category are positioned as mainstream solutions. However, their quality and technical specifications have always been up to par.

The front panel design is simple and tasteful. It contains an audio output for headphones, an audio signal volume control, two LED indicators reflecting the state of the drive (read / write), as well as a button for navigating through audio tracks and a button for loading / unloading discs.

The rear side of the case houses the interface and power connectors, digital and analog audio outputs, and two sets of pins for drive positioning and factory testing.

It should also be noted that due to the single-chip design, the drive has reduced dimensions and weight, which can greatly facilitate its installation into fashionable barebones.

The drive was tested in OEM version without any accessories.

Technical specifications:

CD-ROM: 4x, 8x, 16x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 48x, 52x;
CD-R: 4x, 8x, 16x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 48x, 52x;
CD-RW: 4x, 10x, 12x, 16x, 24x, 32x.
CD: CD-ROM, CD-ROM / XA, Photo CD, CD-I, CD-Extra, CD-Text, Video CD, Audio CD, I-Trax;
CD-R / RW: DAO, TAO, SAO, Multisession, Packet Write;
CD-ROM: 100ms;

The drive also supports the following proprietary technologies:

DDSS II- Double Dynamic Suspension System, the second generation of the disc stabilization system during operation;
AFFM- AirFlow Field Modification, an airflow modification technology that reduces noise during read / write processes;
FlextraLink- technology to prevent errors associated with underloading the buffer;
FlextraSpeed- technology for selecting the optimal recording speed to minimize errors.

The label on the top panel gives general information about the place and time of manufacture of the drive:

Now let's move on to examining information about the drive obtained using the utilities. To do this, we will use the programs NeroInfoTool and DVDInfoPro, with their help you can find out about the supported technologies, formats and types of discs.

BenQ 5232P

During its presence in our market, the young company BenQ has managed to establish itself well as a manufacturer of high-quality and relatively inexpensive LCD panels, computer peripherals, scanners and optical drives.

The BenQ 5232P has an austere, unremarkable design. Under the tray, on the front panel, there is an audio output for headphones, an audio volume control, an audio CD track navigation button and a tray eject / load button.

The rear panel of the actuator contains the power connector, interface connector, actuator positioning pins, analog and digital outputs.

The drive was tested in OEM version without any accessories.

Technical specifications:

CD-ROM: 40x, 52x;
CD-RW: 4x, 10x, 12x, 16x, 20x, 24x, 32x.
CD: CD-DA, CD-ROM (mode 1 and 2), CD-ROM XA, CD-I, CD-I Ready, Video CD, CD Extra, Karaoke CD (VCD format), Enhanced CD, Photo-CD, CD-RW, CD-WO;
CD-R / RW: DAO, TAO, SAO, Multisession, Packet Write;
CD-ROM: 80ms;

By default, the drive's CD-ROM speed is limited to 40x. However, after holding down the “Eject” button for three seconds, the speed was set at 52x.

The drive also supports the following proprietary technologies:

Seamless Link- Allows the CD-RW drive to memorize the address of the end point and stop recording for the time when a buffer error occurs - its empty.

The label on the top panel gives general information about the place and time of manufacture of the drive:

LG GCE-8522B

LG's optical drives are widespread in our country. They have a reputation for being cheap and poor quality products. We will be able to see the LG GCE-8522B drive later, but now about the design and the declared functionality, whether the one who took part in the testing confirms its reputation.

The drive tray, on which you can read the name of the manufacturer and the speed formula, is made in the usual style for LG - there are rounded lines on it, giving a "soft" tone to the entire design. Under the tray are the audio output for headphones, a volume control, an indicator of the drive and a button to eject discs.

The rear side of the drive houses a power connector, an IDE loop connector, pins that determine the position of the device on the interface cable, and analog and digital audio outputs.

The drive was tested in OEM version without any accessories.

Technical specifications:

CD-ROM: 52x;
CD-R: 8x, 16x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 52x;
CD-RW: 4x, 10x, 16x, 24x.
CD-R / RW: DAO, TAO, SAO, Multisession, Packet Write;
CD-ROM: 90 ms;

The drive also supports the following proprietary technologies:

AFT- Anti Flutter Technology, reduces errors when writing discs at high speeds.

The label on the top panel gives general information about the place and time of manufacture of the drive:

As you can see, the drive supports the function of fast formatting of rewritable CD-RW discs Mount Rainier.

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

The drive from Mitsumi has a strict, classic design. The set of elements located on the front panel is standard: a headphone output, a volume control, an LED indicator of the drive operation and a button to eject the tray on which the speed formula is applied.

Looking at the rear of the drive reveals the Molex connector, interface connector, drive positioning pins, analog and digital audio outputs.

The drive was tested in OEM version without any accessories.

Technical specifications:

CD-ROM: 4x, 16x, 32x, 40x, 54x;
CD-R: 4x, 16x, 32x, 40x, 54x;
CD-RW: 1x, 2x, 4x, 10x, 12x, 16x, 24x, 32x.
CD: CD-R / RW, CD-ROM Mode 1,2, CD-ROM XA, CD-Plus, CD Extra, CD Text, Mixed CD, CD-I FMV, CD-DA, Video CD, Photo-CD, Video CD;
CD-R / RW: DAO, TAO, SAO, Multisession, Packet Write;
CD-ROM: 120ms;

The drive also supports the following proprietary technologies:

ExacLink- technology to prevent errors due to buffer underrun.

The label on the top panel gives general information about the place and time of manufacture of the drive:

As you can see, the drive supports the function of fast formatting of rewritable CD-RW discs Mount Rainier.

MSI CR52-M

The Taiwanese company MSI has been producing optical drives relatively recently. Nevertheless, its products for this market segment have already gained well-deserved popularity. And the original design solutions, which the company implements in its drives, played an important role here.

The drive was tested in full retail. And the first thing that catches your eye when you open the box are three interchangeable front panels that give the drive an original and stylish look. It is for this reason that the MSI CR52-M receives the design award.

As for the rest, the package includes the drive itself, an analog audio cable, a CD with the Nero Burning Rom program and a manual for its use. It is a pity, of course, that MSI's optical devices are somewhat "below" the level of its video cards, but, nevertheless, it is better than nothing.

On the rear side of the drive there are three rows of pins (two for factory testing, one for positioning), digital and analog audio outputs, interface and power connectors.

Technical specifications:

CD-ROM: 40x, 52x;
CD-R: 4x, 8x, 12x, 16x, 20x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 48x, 52x;
CD-RW: 2x, 4x, 10x, 12x, 16x, 24x, 32x.
CD: CD-R / RW, CD-ROM Mode 1,2, CD-ROM XA, CD-Plus, CD Extra, CD Text, Mixed CD, CD-I FMV, CD-DA, Video CD, Photo-CD, Video CD;
CD-ROM: 80ms;

The drive also supports the following proprietary technologies:

ABS- Anti-Bumping System, a technology that reduces disk vibration, which allows data to be read with greater accuracy;
SoftBurn- noise reduction technology;
SuperLink- technology of protection against underrun of the data buffer;
HyperGuard- Provides protection of a low-quality disk from destruction when reading / writing at high speeds.

The label on the top panel gives general information about the place and time of manufacture of the drive:

As you can see, the drive supports the function of fast formatting of rewritable CD-RW discs Mount Rainier.

MSI CRE52-M

External optical drives are poorly distributed in our market and are not in great demand. The reason most likely lies in the lack of demand for these devices, as well as in the high price relative to internal counterparts. However, you should not completely ignore their presence, external drives have one indisputable advantage - it is not necessary to disassemble the computer in order to use it. Often this opportunity turns out to be decisive when choosing a drive - after all, sometimes the selling company is forbidden to open the computer case before the expiration of the warranty period.

The external "burner" is presented in the review by a drive from MSI. The drive has a pleasant-looking (and touch;)) design. On the front panel, you can see a tray eject / load button, a button for navigating through audio tracks. It should be noted right away that both buttons act as LED indicators. When a disc is inserted, the "Eject" button glows a pleasant blue. During reading, the second button has the ability to blink blue, and when you try to write something, the blue color changes to green. The developers have not forgotten the audio output for the headphones, together with the volume control.

On the rear side, the drive has an output for connecting a USB cable, an audio output, an on / off switch for the device and an output for a power supply.

In addition to the MSI CRE520-M drive itself, the standard package includes: a power supply along with the necessary adapters for connecting it to the drive, a USB and audio cable, quick guide installation manual, disc with Nero Burning Rom software and a small booklet on how to use it.

Technical specifications:

CD-ROM: 40x, 52x;
CD-R: 4x, 8x, 12x, 16x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 48x, 52x;
CD-RW: 2x, 4x, 10x, 12x, 16x, 24x, 32x.
CD: CD-R / RW, CD-ROM Mode 1,2, CD-ROM XA, CD-Plus, CD Extra, CD Text, Mixed CD, CD-I FMV, CD-DA, Video CD, Photo-CD, Video CD;
CD-R / RW: Disc-at-Once, Track-at-Once, Session-at-Once, Multisession, Packet Writing, RAW Mode;
CD-ROM: 80ms;

By default, the drive's CD-ROM speed is limited to 40x. However, after holding down the Eject button for three seconds, the speed was set to 52x.

As you can see, the drive supports the function of fast formatting of rewritable CD-RW discs Mount Rainier.

NEC NR-9400A

NEC actuators are widely used in our market and have a reputation for value and quality. In our review, the Japanese company is represented by the NR-9400A model - today it is the most modern in the line of NEC CD-RW drives.

As you can see in the photo, its design is no different from other products of the company. If my memory serves me, the design has not changed for 3-4 years. However, the drive does not look bad anyway - strict straight lines, the manufacturer's name printed on the tray, audio output, signal volume control, drive operation indicator and tray eject button - everything is done simply and tastefully.

The rear panel of the NR-9400A is also unremarkable. It contains connectors for connecting power, interface, analog and digital cables, as well as three rows of pins for positioning.

The drive was tested in OEM version without any accessories.

Technical specifications:

CD-ROM: 4x, 8x, 10x, 12x, 16x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 48x;
CD-R: 4x, 8x, 16x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 48x;
CD-RW: 4x, 10x, 12x, 16x, 24x, 32x.
CD: CD-R / RW, CD-ROM Mode 1,2, CD-ROM XA, CD-Plus, CD Extra, CD Text, Mixed CD, CD-I FMV, CD-DA, Video CD, Photo-CD, Video CD;
CD-R / RW: DAO, TAO, SAO, Multisession, Packet Write;
CD-ROM: 110 ms;

On the official website of the manufacturer, nothing is said about the drive's support for any proprietary technologies. Nevertheless, they mention buffer underrun protection, which, however, is not at all surprising - drives without it have not been produced for several years.

The label on the top panel gives general information about the place and time of manufacture of the drive:

As you can see, the drive supports the function of fast formatting of rewritable CD-RW discs Mount Rainier.

Plextor PlexWriter Premium and PlexTools

The Japanese company Plextor has been present on our market for a very short time. However, its products are in high demand around the world and have a reputation for functional and quality products.

The Plextor PlexWriter Premium is presented in our review in two colors: black and white. The front panel of the drive has a strict, unremarkable design, however, like most of the company's products. Below the tray, which is labeled with the model name, is the audio output for the headphone, volume control, LED indicator and disc eject button. The indicator is orange, which indicates the ongoing process of reading / writing the disc and green when the disc is simply inserted into the drive. The back side contains interface and power connectors, digital and analog audio outputs, as well as a set of pins for positioning the drive. We would also like to draw your attention to the fact that the drive tray is black, which, according to the company, helps to reduce the C1 errors and reduce the jitter value.

As for the drive with a black front panel, color is the only thing that distinguishes it from its white counterpart, as you can see by looking at the photo:

The delivery set includes the following components: the drive itself; two discs with software; Verbatim (???) CD-R disc certified for 52x recording; 40-wire IDE interface cable; a bag with fastening screws, a jumper and a device for emergency removal of the drive tray without turning on the computer; a small insert containing instructions for mounting the drive and installing the main software; very good leadership user on English language describing how to install, configure and use the drive.

Despite the complete identity of both devices, the packaging and packaging of "black" have some differences:

Instead of one 700 MB CD-R disc Verbatim, the set includes 700 MB CD-R and 650 MB CD-RW discs produced by Plextor itself, also there is no interface cable. Perhaps this is where all the differences between the drives end.

The drive comes standard with the following software:

Easy CD Creator 6 (software for burning CD / DVD discs);
PlexTools.

And on the latter, perhaps, we will dwell in more detail.

Plextools

The proprietary utility PlexTools allows you to configure various drive parameters, as well as perform some tests for the quality of recording and reading disks.

We believe that we should consider in more detail the capabilities of this program. Therefore, below we give a more complete description of each of its sections.

General Information:

Displays information about installed IDE devices, as well as information about the firmware and buffer size of optical drives.

Drive Settings:

Basic: allows you to adjust the speed of reading CD / DVD discs, speed of stopping discs and volume of audio output.

Advanced: enables / disables buffer underrun protection during recording, allows hiding the origin of inserted CD-R discs from other programs, initializes support for DMA mode, etc.

VariRec (CD): Enables / disables the use of VariRec mode, which allows manual adjustment of the laser power during recording (disabled by default).

GigaRec: enables / disables the GigaRec technology, which allows recording up to 1 GB of information on one standard 700 MB disk, however, very few drives will be able to read data from it later.

Silent Mode: adjusts the maximum read / write speed of disks, access time and the speed of ejecting / loading the drive tray (!).

SecuRec: Allows you to set a password for accessing the recorded disc at the hardware level.

Drive Information:

Displays information about the supported speed modes, as well as the types of readable and writeable discs.

CD / DVD Info:

Shows information about the disc inserted in the drive.

Multimedia Player:

The simplest player for various multimedia files (WAV, MP3, MPEG4, etc.).

AudioCD Player:

The simplest AudioCD player.

Digital Audio Extraction:

A fairly functional "ripper" of AudioCD discs.

AudioCD Maker:

"Burner" AudioCD-disks.

CD / DVD-ROM Maker:

Writes CD / DVD discs.

CD / DVD Copy:

Makes an exact copy of a disk to another disk or to an image on a hard drive.

CD / DVD RW Functions:

Performs fast / full formatting of CD / DVD RW discs.

CD / DVD Test:

Searches for fatal disk errors and identifies potential read errors.

Read Transfer Rate Test:

Sequentially reads data from a disk to calculate the data transfer rate over the interface.

Write Transfer Rate Test:

Performs sequential writing (in emulation mode) of data to disk to calculate the data transfer rate over the interface.

Q-Check C1 / C2 Test:

Quality test of the recorded CD-R / RW disc, checks for C1, C2 and CU errors.

Q-Check FE / TE Test:

Test of the mechanical characteristics of blank CD-R / RW discs (carried out in emulation mode).

Q-Check Beta / Jitter Test:

Quality test of the recorded CD-R / RW disc, checks for Beta and Jitter errors.

Q-Check PI / PO Test:

The quality test of the recorded DVD ± R / RW disc shows the number of Parity Inner and Parity Outer errors (available only for Plextor DVD burners).

Technical specifications:

CD-ROM: 4x, 8x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 52x;
CD-R: 4x, 8x, 16x, 20x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 52x;
CD-RW: 4x, 10x, 16x, 20x, 24x, 32x;
CD: CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-ROM + CD-DA, CD-ROM XA, CD-I, PHOTO-CD, VIDEO-CD, CD-Extra, CD + G, CD-TEXT;
CD-R / RW: DAO, TAO, SAO, Multisession, Packet Write;
CD-ROM:<65 мс;

The drive also supports the following proprietary technologies:

GigaRec- allows you to record up to 1.2 GB of data on one standard 99-minute disc, or 1 GB for an 80-minute one. However, in the future, very few drives will be able to read data from it;
SecuRec- allows you to protect data at the hardware level;
Silent Mode- allows you to configure the access time, read and write speed, as well as the disc ejection time at your discretion;
Q-Check- Provides support for error checking (C1 / C2 test, FE / TE test and Beta / Jitter test) before and after the recording process;
BURN-Proof- protection against buffer underrun;
PoweRec II- technology that adjusts the recording speed of discs to minimize possible errors;
VariRec- allows you to manually adjust the audio tone setting when recording audio discs.

The label on the top panel gives general information about the place and time of manufacture of the drives:

As you can see, both devices are practically the same here - both were made in China in August 2003. Even the first five digits of the serial number are the same, which indicates that the drives belong to the same batch.

And now let's move on to studying the information about drives obtained using the utilities. To do this, we will use the programs NeroInfoTool and DVDInfoPro, with their help you can find out about the supported technologies, formats and types of discs.

Let me make a reservation right away that all the results of both Plextor drives are almost identical. For this reason, diagrams and table data are provided in a single copy.

As you can see, the drives support the function of fast formatting of rewritable CD-RW discs Mount Rainier, and also have the largest buffer relative to the rest of the reviewers.

Sony CRX230E

In fact, the Sony CRX230E is a relabeled product from LiteOn. This fact is indicated by both its design and its characteristics. The front panel contains an audio output for headphones, an audio volume control, a drive operation LED and a tray eject / load button.

The rear of the drive contains analog and digital audio outputs, pins for drive positioning, Molex and IDE connectors.

It should also be noted that the length of the drive allows it to be mounted even in the smallest cases - it is only 170 mm.

The drive was tested in OEM version without any accessories.

Technical specifications:

CD-ROM: 4x, 8x, 12x, 16x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 52x;
CD-R: 4x, 8x, 12x, 16x, 20x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 48x, 52x;
CD-RW: 4x, 10x, 16x, 24x, 32x.
CD: CD-R / RW, CD-ROM Mode 1,2, CD-ROM XA, CD-Plus, CD Extra, CD Text, Mixed CD, CD-I FMV, CD-DA, Video CD, Photo-CD, Video CD;
CD-R / RW: DAO, TAO, SAO, Multisession, Packet Write;
CD-ROM: 100ms;

The drive also supports the following proprietary technologies:

Power-Burn- buffer underrun protection technology.

The label on the top panel gives general information about the place and time of manufacture of the drive:

As you can see, the drive supports the function of fast formatting of rewritable CD-RW discs Mount Rainier.

resultstesting:

Nero CD-DVD Speed: Write Transfer Rate

For the test, eight discs were recorded in emulation mode: CD-R Digitex 52x, CD-R Verbatim 48x, CD-R e-ProFormance 24x (800 MB), CD-R Philips 48x (800 MB), CD-RW e- ProFormance 12x, CD-RW Verbatim 10x, CD-RW Verbatim 24x, CD-RW Verbatim 32x.

CD-R Digitex 52x:

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

The Digitex disc is certified for 52x recording. However, not all drives were able to burn it at this speed. In particular, this applies to BenQ, LG, Mitsumi, NEC and Sony. While everything is clear with the NEC NR-9400A (it is capable of recording discs at a maximum speed of 48x), the reason why the others refused to "overclock to full speed" is not entirely clear. We will assume that these drives themselves know better what and at what speed they should record. It is also worth noting the external MSI CRE52-M - at the very end of the disc there was some kind of "jump". However, later the same disc was recorded without any problems. The "fastest" representative of the review, Mitsumi CR-485GTE, coped with a 52x disc with the lowest speed relative to other drives - 16x.

CD-R Verbatim 48x:

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

As for the Verbatim disc, the high quality of its workmanship has been confirmed once again. Seven out of ten presented drives were able to record it at the maximum speed for themselves - 52x. However, on the other hand, everyone else burned it at a lower speed than it is certified. Otherwise, there are no complaints. We can only note again the device from Mitsumi, which refused to record even a higher quality disc at the maximum speed declared for itself - 54x.

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

800 MB disks are not in great demand in our market, however, their presence should not be ignored. Moreover, it is always helpful to know how drives can handle non-standard media. As you can see from the graphs, only the LG GCE-8522B was able to correctly recognize the 800 MB disk. All the rest stubbornly "asserted" that no more than 700 MB (± 3 MB) could fit on the "disc". Nevertheless, all drives were able to burn 800 MB to this disc without any problems, despite all the assurances of the Nero Burning Rom program that overburning discs "is not good". I also want to assure you that there were no problems with reading them on other drives.

I would also like to note both devices from MSI - they were able to write a certified 24x disc at 32x (external MSI CRE52-M) and 52x (MSI CR52-M) speeds.

CD-R Philips 48x (800 MB):

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

In addition to 800 MB 24x e-ProFormance discs, more expensive 800 MB Philips discs certified for 48x recording were also tested. And I want to say right away that not all drives were able to record it at such a speed. The representatives from AOpen, ASUS, MSI (external and internal) and Sony coped with the task "as it should". Moreover, AOpen CRW-5232 and MSI CRE52-M completed burning (or rather emulation) at a speed of 52x. As for the LG drive, it was again the only one that correctly recognized the volume of the inserted media. It is also worth noting that the "fastest" drive (Mitsumi) coped with recording a disc from Philips again at the lowest speed among all the others - 16x.

CD-RW e-ProFormance 12x:

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

All discs produced by e-ProFormance represent budget storage media in our review. After all, any drive should be able to record not only high-quality and expensive discs, but also cheaper ones, the demand for which, as you know, is often higher. It is for this reason that a 12x disc from e-ProFormance has been added in addition to Verbatim's three rewritable blanks.

Now comments on recording emulation graphs. Actually, nothing interesting can be said about them. One has only to pay attention to the drives from LG, NEC and Plextor - they burned the test disc at 10x. And this is a clear indication that later the 32x Verbatim disc will not be able to be recorded. And if this is nothing unusual for LG and NEC (the maximum burn speed of rewritable media is 24x), then Plextor should have coped with all "blanks" without any problems.

CD-RW Verbatim 10x:

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

All drives that support 32x RW rewriting were able to write 10x Verbatim media at 12x. Which once again indicates the quality of the products manufactured by this company.

CD-RW Verbatim 24x:

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

Absolutely all reviewers coped with rewriting a 24x Verbatim disc without any problems. The average speed and write time are approximately the same for all drives.

CD-RW Verbatim 32x:

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

Both Plextor drives, as well as BenQ, refused to write on 32x Verbatim disc and gave an error. It is likely that the problem will be fixed with the release of the new firmware. As for NEC and LG, as noted above, they are not capable of recording such discs.

It was very surprising to see such a phenomenon as burning a rewritable CD, certified for recording at 32x only, with a drive that does not support such speeds. This is all about the representative from NEC, NR-9400A. He did an excellent job of recording the aforementioned media at a speed of 16x.

Nero CD-DVD Speed: Overburning Test

Drive unit	Digitex 52x	Verbatim 48x	e-ProFormance 24x (800 MB)	Philips 48x (800 MB)
AOpen CRW-5232	82: 39.23 (726 MB)	81: 01.13 (713 MB)	95: 50.17 (845 MB)	92: 19.01 (811 MB)
ASUS CRW-5232AS	84: 16.35 (740 MB)	83: 28.09 (731 MB)	95: 06.47 (835 MB)	93: 06.29 (818 MB)
BenQ 5232P	80: 07.45 (704 MB)	81: 49.09 (719 MB)	80: 07.45 (704 MB)	92: 36.30 (813 MB)
LG GCE-8522B	93: 37.35 (822 MB)	93: 34.32 (822 MB)	93: 47.08 (824 MB)	--:--.--
Mitsumi CR-485GTE	82: 41.42 (726 MB)	83: 34.18 (734 MB)	95: 15.31 (837 MB)	93: 02.13 (817 MB)
MSI CR52-M	82: 41.42 (726 MB)	83: 34.18 (734 MB)	95: 15.31 (837 MB)	93: 02.13 (817MB)
MSI CRE52-M	82: 32.33 (725 MB)	83: 01.72 (729 MB)	95: 02.25 (835 MB)	109: 35.42 (958 MB)
NEC NR-9400A	83: 53.29 (737 MB)	85: 42.60 (753 MB)	99: 47.08 (874 MB)	96: 43.54 (850 MB)
Plextor Premium	83: 19.52 (732 MB)	83: 59.60 (733 MB)	96: 55.18 (847 MB)	94: 05.24 (822 MB)
Sony CRX230E	82: 48.66 (725 MB)	81: 00.42 (711 MB)	95: 05.53 (835 MB)	91: 55.54 (806 MB)

It is rather difficult to determine a definite winner in this test - all drives are approximately on the same level. And again, LG GCE-8522B is worth noting - only he was able to correctly recognize all 800 MB disks, and also only he was able to write more than 800 MB of information on both 700 MB disks. On the other hand, the drive could not pass this test with an 800 MB Philips drive, the program gave the following error:

Also worth mentioning is the MSI CRE52-M external drive - it can store up to 950 MB of information on an 800 MB Philips disk!

To check the quality of disc recording, we used the KProbe utility version 2.2.3. With its help, you can track the level of C1 / C2 errors.

CD-R Digitex 52x:

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

Judging by the results of this test, the 52x disc from Digitex was the worst recorded by the drives from MSI. The graph shows a very high level of errors in the second half of the disc. All would be fine, but these two drives have a slightly higher price in comparison with the rest of the participants.

As for the most expensive reviewer, Plextor Premium, this drive took the honorable fourth place. From the end. Of course, the level of errors on the disc he recorded is not very high, but its price is twice as high as all other drives.

The best results in this test are from ASUS, BenQ, Mitsumi, NEC and Sony.

CD-R Verbatim 48x:

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

Very inconsistent results can be seen in this test. On average, all drives performed poorer than the Digitex disc. Nevertheless, some have improved their result - this is LG, external and internal MSI. The worst performers were Mitsumi, MSI, Plextor and Sony. BenQ, NEC and ASUS have the best results again. However, LG also has a fairly low error rate.

CD-R e-ProFormance 24x (800 MB):

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

Now let's look at the recording quality of 800 MB "discs". It should be noted right away that the AOpen CRW-5232 drive has a huge level of errors at the beginning of the disc. For the rest, all other reviewers performed very well on average. However, even though the MSI drives had a significantly lower error rate, it was still higher than the others. Plextor Premium is again the fourth and again from the end. Everyone else has very good results.

CD-R Philips 48x (800 MB):

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

It seems that all drives are "not indifferent" to Philips drives. The average error rate is the lowest of all drives in use. Oddly enough, even MSI recorders performed well enough for themselves. For the rest, for the most part, the number of errors for all participants is approximately the same. Sony and NEC drives were only a little "pumped up".

CD-RW e-ProFormance 12x:

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

As you know, rewritable discs are always written at a lower speed and read worse than write-once discs. The error rate on such media is also usually higher than that of CD-R discs. This is confirmed by the diagrams presented here.

So, on the e-ProFormance CD-RW disc, which is certified to write at 12x, many drives show very high error rates. The worst results can be seen with the Sony CRX230E. The diagram for the beginning of the disk for MSI CR52-M also looks very bad, but towards the end the number of errors decreases to the level shown by the rest of the drives. For the rest of the reviewers, the picture is about the same: a high level of errors at the beginning and end of the disc and a lower one in the middle.

We should also mention the Plextor Premium drive. This time he is the first. And from the beginning. The number of errors on the disc he recorded is record low - about the same as on well-recorded CD-R "blanks" - on average 10-30 times lower than on the others.

CD-RW Verbatim 10x:

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

Strangely, Verbatim has a higher average disk error rate than e-ProFormance. However, it is possible that such indicators were "achieved" due to the recording by some drives of this disc at 12x, instead of the required 10x.

You should immediately pay attention to the burner from Sony - the level of errors is simply enormous. The worst result in the entire survey. The rest showed approximately the same results, except for the drives from MSI and ASUS. CRE52-M also has a lot of errors. ASUS has poor results only at the beginning and end of the disc.

And again Plextor was pleasantly surprised - the shown error rate is very low in comparison with the others.

CD-RW Verbatim 24x:

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

Verbatim's 24x CD-RW performance is on average better than the previous two. Sony again has the worst score, but no doubt better than Verbatim's 10x. The rest of the drives have very good performance. Some (AOpen, LG, both MSI, NEC and Plextor) have "leap" errors at the beginning of the disc and quite low in the rest.

CD-RW Verbatim 32x:

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

It is pleasant to state that the Verbatim 32x blank was received very well by the drives as compared to other rewritable discs. Naturally, this applies only to those drives that were still able to record it.

I would like to mention the device from Sony - this time one of the best results was shown. The ASUS drive also showed good results.

As for the Plextor and BenQ, as mentioned above, they were unable to burn this disc. But, we believe that a similar problem can be solved by simply changing the firmware.

Test CD burning time

CD-R discs:

Drive unit	Digitex 52x	Verbatim 48x	e-ProFormance 24x (800 MB)	Philips 48x (800 MB)
AOpen CRW-5232	2:29	2:46	5:24	2:51
ASUS CRW-5232AS	2:46	2:50	5:56	2:54
BenQ 5232P	4:00	2:35	4:44	3:05
LG GCE-8522B	5:37	6:19	6:25	3:38
Mitsumi CR-485GTE	5:20	3:45	6:00	5:00
MSI CR52-M	2:50	2:46	3:03	3:11
MSI CRE52-M	2:52	3:16	3:32	3:23
NEC NR-9400A	2:41	3:15	6:13	4:40
Plextor Premium	3:44	5:34	5:06	4:49
Sony CRX230E	3:21	2:40	5:32	-:--

As you can see from the table, the drives from AOpen and both MSI coped with the CD-R recording the fastest. The slowest were LG GCE-8522B and the fastest according to the declared characteristics - Mitsumi CR-485GTE.

It should be noted that when burning an 800 MB Philips disc on a Sony CRX230E drive, Nero Burning Rom gave the following error:

However, the disc subsequently passed the KProbe test.

CD-RW discs:

Drive unit	e-ProFormance 12x	Verbatim 10x	Verbatim 24x	Verbatim 32x
AOpen CRW-5232	7:13	7:16	3:49	3:07
ASUS CRW-5232AS	7:14	7:15	3:58	3:18
BenQ 5232P	7:32	7:22	5:04	-:--
LG GCE-8522B	9:00	9:08	4:41	-:--
Mitsumi CR-485GTE	7:21	7:28	3:50	3:11
MSI CR52-M	7:21	7:15	3:53	3:14
MSI CRE52-M	7:25	7:14	3:53	3:13
NEC NR-9400A	8:31	7:16	4:20	-:--
Plextor Premium	8:44	8:36	4:08	-:--
Sony CRX230E	7:21	7:06	3:48	3:18

I think this table is self-explanatory. The recording time of rewritable discs is approximately the same for all drives.

CD-ROM Drive Analyzer

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

CD-R 800 MB:

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

This test clearly shows that the Plextor drive has the lowest seek time. We are also pleased to state the fact that this search time corresponds to the declared (<65 мс) - для штампованного компакт-диска оно составило 64 мс. В остальном же все участники обзора показали одиноково хорошие результаты.

AOpen CRW-5232

ASUS CRW-5232AS

BenQ 5232P

LG GCE-8522B

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

MSI CR52-M

MSI CRE52-M

NEC NR-9400A

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

Sony CRX230E

The Plextor and AOpen drives showed a little hesitant reading at the end of the test CD-R disc. For the rest of the drives, the results are equally good and do not require comments.

CD-R 800 MB:

AOpen CRW-5232

Nero CD-DVD Speed: Disk Quality Check

Drive unit	Quality score	Speed	C2 Errors (Total)
AOpen CRW-5232	0%	32.60x	1745
ASUS CRW-5232AS	0%	32.20x	606
BenQ 5232P	0%	32.60x	1923
LG GCE-8522B	-	-	-
Mitsumi CR-485GTE	-	-	-
MSI CR52-M	0%	4x	44816
MSI CRE52-M (40x)	0%	32.82x	349190
NEC NR-9400A	-	-	-
Plextor Premium	100%	4x	0
Sony CRX230E	94%	4x	0

Until the end, this test was passed only by two drives: Sony and Plextor. Moreover, Plextor Premium passed it, without exaggeration, perfectly. The rest either simply did not finish it, or even "refused" to go through. In particular, this concerns the drive from Mitsumi. After starting the test, the program successfully hung up and did not respond to any requests. At the same time, the drive did not show any signs of activity. The same is true for the LG GCE-8522B. He normally recognized the inserted disc, but after the start of the test did nothing with it - the disc was stopped and absolutely nothing happened. As for the NEC NR-9400A, the program issued the following message when trying to start testing:

Nero CD-DVD Speed: Advanced DAE Quality Test

The Advanced DAE Quality Test was used to determine how well the drives can extract tracks from audio CDs.

Drive unit	Average Speed	Data Errors	Sync Errors	Quality Score	On the fly Copying	Offset, Bytes (Samples)	Read Leadin	Read Leadout	Read CD Text	Read Subchannel Data
AOpen CRW-5232	36.17x	0	0	100	16x	-2448 (-612)	+	+	+	+
ASUS CRW-5232AS	37.45x	94	0	100	16x	-2448 (-612)	+	-	+	+
BenQ 5232P	35.18x	0	0	100	16x	0 (0)	+	-	+	+
LG GCE-8522B	27.28x	0	0	100	16x	2636 (659)	-	-	+	+
Mitsumi CR-485GTE	29.29x	0	0	100	16x	2812 (703)	-	-	+	+
MSI CR52-M	29.81x	0	0	100	16x	-96 (-24)	+	+	+	+
MSI CRE52-M	29.51x	0	0	100	16x	-96 (-24)	+	-	+	+
NEC NR-9400A	29.59x	2	0	100	16x	460 (115)	+	-	+	+
Plextor Premium	37.17x	0	0	100	16x	0 (0)	+	+	+	+
Sony CRX230E	29.25x	0	0	100	16x	-96 (-24)	+	+	+	+

Based on the results obtained, we can say that all drives will more or less cope with the task of accurately copying audio data. However, the Offset parameter, which determines the positioning accuracy on audio discs, is not the same on all discs. You should immediately pay attention to BenQ and Plextor drives - they have the best values of this indicator. Also, good values can be observed with both MSI and Sony.

It is also worth noting that not all drives can work with specific service information. AOpen CRW-5232, MSI CR52-M, Plextor Premium and Sony CRX230E showed the best results here. As for the rest, they have the ability to accurately extract data from an AudioCD below.

Nero CD-DVD Speed: Advanced DAE Error Correction Test

This test shows how well drives can handle C2 errors, and if they can do it at all.

Drive unit	C2 Accuracy	Quality score	C2 Errors	C2 Missed	Compare Errors	Sync Errors
AOpen CRW-5232	6.55%	0.0	2118311	6969015	7457565	28639
ASUS CRW-5232AS	40.46%	0.0	7554202	10743156	10842871	14321
BenQ 5232P	20.65%	0.0	6754272	8747652	12862751	9674
LG GCE-8522B	51.91%	0.0	9697369	7719346	16050589	5536
Mitsumi CR-485GTE	46.81%	0.0	366962694	144907434	272430710	314356
MSI CR52-M	72.25%	0.0	5301568	1976819	7124327	5880
MSI CRE52-M	83.81%	0.0	75554146	14102357	87113312	41201
NEC NR-9400A	0.0%	0.0	0	12322466	12322466	5897
Plextor Premium	16.37%	0.0	8531797	42497860	50816663	46275
Sony CRX230E	70.37%	0.0	11772766	3111865	14530691	5753

Paradoxically, absolutely all drives could not cope with the test disc. Most likely, the reason lies in too serious mechanical damage on its surface. Also worth noting are NEC and Mitsumi drives. The first one cannot work with C2 errors at all, while the second showed a record high number of them.

Exact Audio Copy

The EAC program is used in our review to check the quality and speed of extracting audio tracks. Let me remind you that EAC uses all the capabilities of the drive to obtain the most accurate copies. Its functionality also allows you to define drive parameters such as data caching, "fine flow" and the ability to work with C2 errors.

Drive unit	DAE Time	Caching	Accurate Stream	C2 Error Info
AOpen CRW-5232	11:32	-	+	+
ASUS CRW-5232AS	46:39	-	+	+
BenQ 5232P	5:40	+	+	+
LG GCE-8522B	13:23	-	+	-
Mitsumi CR-485GTE	6:32	-	+	-
MSI CR52-M	2:47	-	+	+
MSI CRE52-M	4:45	+	+	+
NEC NR-9400A	16:56	-	+	-
Plextor Premium	22:25	+	+	+
Sony CRX230E	6:26	+	+	+

As you can see from the table, all drives support the "accurate stream" function. As for caching, this feature is available only for BenQ drives, external MSI, Plextor and Sony drives. The picture is almost the same with C2 errors - only AOpen, ASUS, BenQ, both MSI, Plextor and Sony can recognize them.

Drives from BenQ, MSI and Sony coped the fastest with the task of extracting data from an audio disc, which, in my opinion, is a little strange - these drives are capable of working with C2 errors, and this should have slightly slowed down the copying speed. The slowest result was demonstrated by a representative from ASUS.

After all the tests, unfortunately, it is impossible to single out a clear winner. All drives have their own advantages and disadvantages. However, if the Plextor Premium performed at least a little better in the recording tests and cost less, then it could easily have been awarded the title of "Our Choice".

Also, the drives from MSI did not fully meet the expectations. Their recording quality is, on average, a little worse than that of other drives. However, these disadvantages are offset by one of the best read / write speeds and minimal noise characteristics.

As for the quality of the recording, after a series of tests, a new version of the firmware was posted on the official Microstar website, which solves the problems with the not very good recording quality of MSI drives.

I would like to separately note the drive from ASUS. Considering its cost, it has shown very good results, for which it receives the "Best Price / Quality Ratio" mark.

And now about each drive separately:

AOpen CRW-5232

In general, the impressions of this decision were positive. The drive has written all types of media without any problems. And he did it at a very good speed relative to the other participants in the review. As regards the recording quality, on the whole it is not bad, however, the 800 MB e-ProFormance CD-R disc was recorded with a lot of errors. The CRW-5232 burns rewritable discs as a whole a little worse than the others, but the result is still not the worst. There are also no special complaints about reading optical media.

ASUS CRW-5232AS

So, as noted above, the drive performed very well. Good write quality (one of the best in our tests) as well as good burn / read speeds make this drive a top buy. The low noise level and the shortened body are worth mentioning.

BenQ 5232P

BenQ 5232P performed very well. The recording quality is excellent. However, the ideal picture was spoiled by the inability to write a rewritable disc at 32x. Hopefully the new firmware will fix this problem. There are also no special complaints about the quality of reading. In general, it can be argued that the device from BenQ justifies its cost.

LG GCE-8522B

Immediately I would like to note the "jagged" recording schedule for all media. However, the drive is capable of recording all discs except for 32x CD-RW Verbatim. Also, a very good result was shown in the test of overburning "discs". The recording quality is generally good. Reading is also not satisfactory. But, on the other hand, the drive could not pass the Nero CD-DVD Speed: Disk Quality Check test, or rather did not even start it.

Mitsumi CR-485GTE

To be honest, it was a lot of fun to see how the fastest drive according to the declared characteristics showed the lowest results in writing speed (this applies only to CD-R "blanks"). However, the recording quality turned out to be at an acceptable level. As for reading, the drive refused to read the 800 MB disc, interrupting the test at 80 minutes, which does not do it any credit. And finally, a very high noise level should be noted. Despite the rather strong hum from the entire system, the drive was perfectly audible from the other room.

MSI CR52-M

The read / write speed of this drive turned out to be one of the best in the review! The reading quality and noise characteristics are also pleasing. The originality of the design of the drive, which is achieved by means of replaceable panels that are included in the delivery set, does not seem to raise any doubts for what the drive is and receives the award for the best design. The only disappointing thing is that despite the good design and support of many proprietary technologies, the drive showed itself not on the best side in the tests of the recording quality. However, the new firmware already mentioned above should solve these problems.

MSI CRE52-M

After the tests carried out, we can say that an external CD-RW drive from MSI may well serve as a replacement for a desktop one. The speed characteristics are exactly the same as for the internal models, moreover, the burn time is also one of the best. But, as we have already written above, the recording quality of the drive is by no means the best (which, again, can be solved in the light of the released firmware for MSI drives). It is also worth noting that CRE52-M refused to record on 4x rewritable discs from SKY and TDK. That cannot be written down in its advantages. The reading quality is at a fairly high level. The noise level was also pleasing - this drive was the quietest in the review.

NEC NR-9400A

Nothing special or outstanding in the results shown by the drive from NEC could be found. However, nothing bad either. Only a little hesitant reading of low-quality discs is a source of criticism. For the rest, this is a medium drive with an average price.

Plextor PlexWriter Premium

As noted above, the drive from the Japanese company Plextor is the most expensive in the review - about twice as expensive as all the others. Nevertheless, we believe that he does not work out his money at all. Yes, good equipment, proprietary technologies and software are always good, but for that kind of money there should be no problems with the quality of recording and reading discs. And in terms of burning discs, the drive showed itself not from the best side. However, it is pleasant to state that this drive reads discs the best. We can safely say that he reads everything! Even handwritten text from paper;). But still, if it weren't for these frank "blunders", then one could safely give the "plexor" "Our choice".

Sony CRX230E

The drive is the OEM version of the LiteOn device. I think its results can be used to judge the capabilities of this company's drives. The recording quality of CD-R discs is at a fairly high level. However, the drive failed with writing rewritable media - it has the highest error rate among the others. The CRX230E reads discs quite well, even a low-quality disc was read a little worse than Plextor did. I think the drive can be recommended for purchase - it fully justifies its cost.

GreenLine for the drives MSI CR52-M, MSI CRE52-M provided for testing;

Rongbuk for the AOpen CRW-5232, NEC NR-9400A drives provided for testing;

CD-Life for the drives ASUS CRW-5232AS, BenQ 5232P, LG GCE-8522B provided for testing;

UltraPrice for the supplied Plextor PlexWriter Premium and Sony CRX230E drives.

Optical drive or a CD-ROM drive is an optical-mechanical device designed to read information from compact discs of 8 and 12 cm in size.Modern CD drives are universal, in addition to reading, they can also write various kinds of information to discs of various formats : single-use and reusable CDs (CD-R and CD-RW), single-use and reusable DVDs (DVD-R and DVD-RW).

How an optical drive works

The main element of the drive is an optical system that forms a laser beam that reads information from a rotating medium. The information on the CD is recorded in the form of a spiral track, on which microscopic depressions are burned with a laser beam. In the case of mass production of discs with data, information on them is entered by stamping from a special matrix.

If you look at the surface of the disk through a microscope, you can see alternating tubercles and pits, from which the laser beam is reflected with different intensities - more from the tubercle, less from the fossa. And given the fact that the computer processes information in binary notation (encoded by a sequence of zeros and ones), then in the alternation of pits and tubercles, data can be recorded in a certain way. Here, the bump acts as a unit, and the indentation represents a binary zero.

CD-ROM drive

The most common CD-ROM drives today are internal bay devices, the so-called 5.25-inch optical drives. Here 5.25 inches is the size of the large bay in the computer case for installing devices.

Inside the iron case are an electronic board, motors for rotating the disk and the optical system, the optical system itself for reading and writing to a CD. The rear side of the drive contains connectors for connecting to the motherboard and for power. On the front panel there is a slide-out tray for inserting a CD-ROM, a button to extend / close the tray and a read / write indicator.

Your computer will most likely have at least one optical drive that you can insert a DVD or CD into the output tray.

Alternative to optical drives

Recently, the popularity of CD-ROMs for computers has fallen sharply due to the massive distribution of other types of storage media, primarily flash memory or, in other words, "flash drives". The popularity of flash drives is associated with their low cost, sufficient memory and read / write speed. In addition, external hard drives are widely used to store a large amount of information.

Etc.).

Designed by [ by whom?] in the late 1970s, originally for reading CDs, to abstract from the format and type of disc, in common use is called a generalizing name drive, on the principle of reading information from a carrier.

By itself, an optical drive can be a component of a structure as part of more complex equipment (for example, a household DVD player), or it can be produced as an independent device with a standard connection interface (PATA, SATA, USB), for example, for installation in a computer.

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Subtitles

Varieties

The following types of drives exist:

CD-ROM drive is the simplest kind of cd-drive, designed to read-only cd-disks.
CD-RW drive - the same as the previous one, but can only write to CD-R / RW discs.
DVD-ROM drive - Its purpose is to read DVDs only.

DVD / CD-RW drive - the same DVD-ROM drive, but capable of writing to CD-R / RW discs (combo drive).
DVD-RW drive - A drive capable of not only reading DVDs, but also writing to them.
DVD-RW DL drive - unlike the previous type of DVD RW, it is also capable of recording on double-layer optical DVD media, which differ from the usual ones in higher capacity.

Blu-ray drive (BD-ROM). It is an advanced optical media technology based on the use of a laser with a wavelength of 405 nm (blue emission). Decreasing the laser wavelength allowed the track width to be narrowed in half compared to DVD and increased the data density. Reducing the thickness of the protective layer by six times increased the reliability of read / write operations on multiple write layers. Discs are designed primarily for high definition digital video recording. For example, on a single-sided, single-layer disc, up to 2 hours of HDTV (High Definition Television) video is recorded at video stream rates up to 54 Mbps.
the BD-RE drive is capable of reading / writing Blu-Ray discs.

The HD DVD drive is a new generation of optical discs designed primarily for storing high definition movies (HDTV). The new media format allows you to record three times the amount of data compared to DVD. Single layer HD DVD discs have a capacity of 15 GB, dual layer discs have a capacity of 30 GB. Generally, an HD DVD drive can read all DVD and CD formats.
HD DVD-ROM drive - a drive that reads HD DVD discs. The format was closed in February 2008.
HD DVD / DVD-RW drive - unlike the previous one, it can write to discs such formats as DVD-R, DVD + R, DVD-RW, DVD + RW, CD-R, CD-RW.

GD-ROM drive
UMD drive

Design

Structurally, drives of all types of discs are quite similar. It contains:

chassis (with tray for loading, or slotted loader);
spindle motor, is used to drive the disk into rotation at a constant or variable linear speed.
The optical head system consists of the head itself and its movement system:
- the head assembly houses a laser emitter based on an infrared laser LED, a focusing system, a photodetector and a preamplifier. The focusing system is a movable lens driven by an electromagnetic voice coil system, made by analogy with a movable loudspeaker system - a change in the magnetic field strength causes the lens to move and focus the laser beam.
- the head movement system has its own drive motor, which drives the carriage with an optical head using a gear or worm gear. To eliminate backlash, a connection with an initial voltage is used: with a worm gear, spring-loaded balls, with a gear, pairs of gears spring-loaded in different directions.
the electronics board, where all the control circuits of the drive, the interface with the computer controller, the interface connectors and the audio signal output are located.

Optical drives DVD-RW undoubtedly occupy a leading position in the market today. The Russian market of computer components is no exception. DVD-RW not only reads CDs and DVDs, but also writes both CD-R / RW media and the larger DVD-R / RW and DVD + R / + RW media. And if in addition there is Super-Multi, then the DVD-RAM format is also added here. These devices today, without a doubt, are both relevant and promising.

For $ 20-30, you can purchase an optical drive, a functional set of which will satisfy the needs of the average consumer. Today it is difficult to imagine a modern PC without DVD-RW. After all, it is the most attractive device in terms of price-performance ratio.

Blu-ray - the modern standard for optical drives

In addition to the above devices, mention should be made of such a modern high-tech format as Blu-ray... This format is used for recording and storing high-density digital data. It got its name thanks to the use of a blue (blue-from which the name came from) short-wave laser in the recording / reading process.

During 2006-2008 Blu-ray competed with the then existing alternative HD DVD format. Still, as a result of this "format war", Blu-ray came out the winner. He was predicted a great future and widespread distribution, but this never happened. First of all, due to the high cost of the device itself. In the second - because of the high cost of disks. Even today, such drives are rarely installed in a new system unit. And preference is given to the older brother DVD.

Discs of this format have from one to ten layers with a capacity of 25 to 320 gigabytes, respectively. Among them there are BD-R one-time recording discs as well as BD-RE reusable media.

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