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****CD-RW drive question. Please help.****

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****CD-RW drive question. Please help.****

Postby imtim83 on Thu Dec 05, 2002 9:07 pm

Whats a good *external* cd-rw most bang for the buck and a good usb 2.0 pci card thats not to much $?

Also how stable are usb 2.0/usb 1.1 cd-rw drives? I know they have burn proof and everything but do they burn as fast as the internel ones at the same speed ratings?
Last edited by imtim83 on Fri Dec 06, 2002 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby BuddhaTB on Thu Dec 05, 2002 10:15 pm

I had one of the first USB1.1 external drives in the Sony Spressa CRX100E/X 4x4x6. The only thing I didn't like about it was the lack of buffer underrun protection. But most of the newer drives have the buffer protection.

I think the best bang for the buck would be a 40x-48x external CD-RW drive based on a Lite-On drive. I would just check out the hot deals section on a regualr basis and see if anything cheap comes up. I think anything under $90-$100 for an external USB2.0 CD-RW drive should be a good deal already. I think 40x drives can be probably had for a bit cheaper since 48x is the max currently for external drives.
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Postby imtim83 on Fri Dec 06, 2002 11:19 am

BuddhaTB yeah but does bestbuy, compusa, etc sell liteon external usb 2.0 cd-rws? I never seen them.
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Postby BuddhaTB on Fri Dec 06, 2002 1:41 pm

imtim83 wrote:BuddhaTB yeah but does bestbuy, compusa, etc sell liteon external usb 2.0 cd-rws? I never seen them.

They do sell them, its just they may have a different appearance when inside an external housing. For example I think the TDK, BUSlink, and several other companies use Lite-On drives inside their external CD-RW drives. I guess you really have to ask around the forums and do your research to see who really made the CD-RW drive inside one of those external cases.
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Postby imtim83 on Fri Dec 06, 2002 1:48 pm

BuddhaTB ok. Just more expersive then locally. I found a liteon external retail usb 2.0 40x cd-rw drive for $125 and then the same one but not sure if its retail for $109. I know the person will be burning mostly audio with their cd-rw drive. Not sure why they don't want a internal cd-rw which is so much cheaper. I mean most computers don't even have usb 2.0 so even being able to move the external cd-rw to other computers will mostly make it the slower 4x 4x 6.6x that it is in usb 1.1

Plus either way you need to open the computer inless you don't care about the 4x 4x 6.6x usb 1.1 speeds.
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Postby BuddhaTB on Fri Dec 06, 2002 2:00 pm

imtim83 wrote: I know the person will be burning mostly audio with their cd-rw drive. Not sure why they don't want a internal cd-rw which is so much cheaper. I mean most computers don't even have usb 2.0 so even being able to move the external cd-rw to other computers will mostly make it the slower 4x 4x 6.6x that it is in usb 1.1

Plus either way you need to open the computer inless you don't care about the 4x 4x 6.6x usb 1.1 speeds.

That information is correct. If you do run at USB2.0 drive on USB1.1, it will burn at 4x4x6 instead of its rated speed for USB2.0.

As for your friend, since he will be burning audio, I would suggest trying to find a 40x external drive since they have been dropping in prices due to the current releases of 48x external drives. Another way to go would be firewire (IEEE 1394), but if your friend has neither firewire or USB2.0 ports on their computer, I would just tell them to save the extra money and buy an internal drive. Installing an internal CD-RW drive is really easy now a days.
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Postby imtim83 on Fri Dec 06, 2002 2:09 pm

I can't see a point to why you would want a external cd-rw except to move it around to different computers but most computers only have usb 1.1 :( I only see the new mobos like the Nforce 2 just coming with usb 2.0 built in so i don't think many computers are that new yet and won't be till some time. So the only computer that will be able to use this external cd-rw with the faster speeds will be mostly just theirs. Inless the person does not care about the slower 4x 4x 6x. But 4x 4x 6x is really slow i think espically the 6x of reading the cd its like going back to when cd-roms first came out sorta.

BuddhaTB well i see a liteon retail 52x 24x 52x for $76 which is really cheap and i hear liteon cd-rw drives are good. Not sure if it limits the burning of audio to 24x like some of the plextor cd-rws do. I know i hear how plextor can do protected audio cds but not sure if this person will be using any protected audio cds. Mostly burning music with this cd-rw this person. Plextor is a good brand just expersive. :( I like how Liteon comes with Nero where Plextor comes with Easy cd creater. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.
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Postby BuddhaTB on Fri Dec 06, 2002 2:13 pm

imtim83 wrote:BuddhaTB well i see a liteon retail 52x 24x 52x for $76 which is really cheap and i hear liteon cd-rw drives are good. Not sure if it limits the burning of audio to 24x like some of the plextor cd-rws do. I know i hear how plextor can do protected audio cds but not sure if this person will be using any protected audio cds. Mostly burning music with this cd-rw this person. Plextor is a good brand just expersive. :( I like how Liteon comes with Nero where Plextor comes with Easy cd creater. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Plextor and Yamaha are both known to be good for Audio/Music burning, but they are quite pricey. That Lite-On 52x24x52 for $76 isn't too bad, but there have been better deals on this drive in the hot deals section. I would just shop around for the best price on a Lite-On drive as they are known to be the "best bang for the buck." But Lite-On drives are of high quality and are very reliable. Your friend won't be disappointed in a Lite-On drive.
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Postby imtim83 on Fri Dec 06, 2002 2:18 pm

BuddhaTB i bet the liteon drives in the hotdeals forum are cheaper after the mail in rebates plus you are not 100% that you will get a liteon drive in the box maybe. But i could be wrong. How do you find out what other brand name cd-rw drives are liteon cd-rw drives 100% sure? Seems like liteon media compat. is a little better too than i guess plextor maybe lets say. This is a hard chose sense i don't know if the person will be using protected audio cds or not. Hmm.
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Postby BuddhaTB on Fri Dec 06, 2002 2:25 pm

I would call up your friend and ask them if they are willing to pay extra for Plextor's features. If not, go with a Lite-On drive.

I know for sure that the newer (40x+) Sony and TDK use Lite-On drives. Some of the other companies like BUSlink, Memorex, and Cendyne also use Lite-On drives. On the Cendyne boxes, you can tell on the back of the box if your getting a Lite-On or not because they list the model number on a sticker on the back of the box. Any model # starting with LTR, you know your getting a Lite-On drive. I also do know that BUSlink, Memorex, and Cendyne's 52x24x52 drives are being made supplied by Lite-On. If you have any questions about a particular drive on sale, post a question and someone will answer it for you. Also, you can buy a drive and if its not Lite-On when you open up the box, just return the drive back for a refund.
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Postby imtim83 on Fri Dec 06, 2002 2:33 pm

BuddhaTB is there any difference from buying a actual liteon cd-rw drive like from newegg.com vs buying one that you know is a liteon drive just in a different box with a different brand name on it? Like are the access time the same as the actual liteon drive ? I see on the Universal BUSlink 52x24x52 Internal CD-RW Drive that it says a 120ms access time where i believe liteon has a lower one i believe. Would this not be correct sense its a liteon cd-rw drive?
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Postby imtim83 on Fri Dec 06, 2002 2:42 pm

BuddhaTB also can the liteon cd-rw drives do any protected audio cds? Like which ones can it not do ? The newer cds out there for sale can it not do or all ? Also can plextor and yamaha do all the protected audio cds or only some?
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Postby BuddhaTB on Fri Dec 06, 2002 4:12 pm

imtim83 wrote:BuddhaTB is there any difference from buying a actual liteon cd-rw drive like from newegg.com vs buying one that you know is a liteon drive just in a different box with a different brand name on it? Like are the access time the same as the actual liteon drive ? I see on the Universal BUSlink 52x24x52 Internal CD-RW Drive that it says a 120ms access time where i believe liteon has a lower one i believe. Would this not be correct sense its a liteon cd-rw drive?

It is the same exact drive except with a different box and instruction manual. The BUSlink 52x drive is a Lite-On straight out of the box and even has the Lite-On sticker on the back of the drive. I think the websites have incorrect information, since the Lite-On and the BUSlink are the same exact drive with the same model numbers too.

As for your second question, I'm not too sure about whether or not Lite-On can do all copy protected CD's. I would suggest reading the reviews or maybe asking Ian if he would know more about it. As for the Plextor and Yamaha drives, I've read they've been able to do most of the protected audio CD's, but maybe some of the newest CD's can't be done. I'm not too sure about the whole protected audio CD thing as I have not encountered any of the newer protections imployed on audio CD's. But I think the 52x Lite-On drive would be a nice drive to try out the success of doing protected audio CD's.
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