Optical storage for everyone. Review of three CD-RW drives Cd and dvd drives information

And so on.).

Designed by [ by whom?] in the late 1970s, originally for reading CDs, to abstract from the format and type of disk, in common parlance called the generic name drive, based on the principle of reading information from the media.

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

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Varieties

The following types of drives exist:

• CD-ROM drive is the simplest type of CD drive, designed only for reading CDs.
• CD-RW drive - the same as the previous one, but is capable of recording only to CD-R/RW discs.
• DVD-ROM drive - its purpose is only to read DVDs.

• DVD/CD-RW drive - the same DVD-ROM, but capable of writing to CD-R/RW discs (combo drive).
• DVD-RW drive is a drive that can not only read DVDs, but also write to them.
• DVD-RW DL drive - unlike the previous DVD RW type, is also capable of recording on dual-layer optical DVD media, which differs from conventional ones in having a larger capacity.

• Blu-Ray drive (BD-ROM). This is an advanced optical media technology based on the use of a laser with a wavelength of 405 nm (blue spectrum). Reducing the laser wavelength made it possible to narrow the track width by half compared to a DVD disc and increase the data recording density. Reducing the protective layer thickness by six times improves the reliability of read/write operations on multiple write layers. The discs are primarily designed for recording digital video. high resolution. For example, up to 2 hours of HDTV (high-definition television) video is recorded on a single-sided, single-layer disc at video bit rates of up to 54 Mbit/s.
• The BD-RE drive is capable of reading/writing to Blu-Ray discs.

• HD DVD drive is a new generation optical disks, which are designed primarily for storing high-definition movies (HDTV). New format media allows you to record three times more data compared to DVD. Single-layer HD DVDs have a capacity of 15 GB, double-layer - 30 GB. Generally, an HD DVD drive can read all formats of DVDs and CDs.
• HD DVD-ROM drive - a drive that reads HD DVD format discs. The format was closed in February 2008.
• HD DVD/DVD-RW drive - unlike the previous one, it is capable of recording to discs in formats such 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 disks are quite similar. It contains:

• chassis (with loading tray or slot loader);
• spindle motor, 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 contains a laser emitter based on an infrared laser LED, a focusing system, a photodetector and preamplifier. The focusing system is a moving lens driven by an electromagnetic voice coil system, similar to a moving loudspeaker system - changes in the magnetic field strength cause the lens to move and focus the laser beam.
  • The head movement system has its own drive motor, which drives the carriage with the 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.
• electronics board, where all the drive control circuits are located, the interface with the computer controller, interface connectors and audio signal output.

How to choose a DVD drive for your computer

The fact that DVD media is slowly but surely disappearing into oblivion is difficult to dispute. They repeat the fate of their predecessors - floppy disks and CDs. No “revolutionary” solutions such as the release of double-layer or double-sided DVDs could radically change the situation, and the digital media market in small batches is falling into the hands of flash memory and Blu-ray disc manufacturers. However, the DVD format is still the most widespread in the distribution of movies, software, games and music (together with CDs), so the DVD drive is still considered an integral part personal computer.

Let's start, as usual, with the basics. “Scientifically”, a DVD drive is an optical drive, a device designed for reading and writing data from digital media, which, in particular, includes CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-/+R and DVD-/ +RW. Many still remember the times when a DVD burner was more of a luxury than a necessity. Today, finding a simply “reading” disk drive on sale is almost impossible, and there is no particular need for it. Even if you rarely or never use this function (recording), this has practically no effect on the final price, so it makes no sense to purchase a regular DVD drive or even a CD-ROM writer. Unless you collect them.

If you buy a computer from scratch, then by default the internal (packed in the system unit) DVD drive is included in the package. This applies to both desktop PCs and laptops with netbooks, although the latter are equipped with their own, thinner and more expensive, drive models. The need to separately purchase a DVD drive may arise for only two reasons. Either your drive has failed for some reason (there can be many reasons - from factory defects to carelessness in operating the device), or this model you are not satisfied with some parameters (noise, speed, design, compatibility), but we managed to find out this only while working with the drive.

Drive speed and major media formats

The question arises, what could be wrong with this or that drive? Main parameter, which is supposedly worth paying attention to is the read and write speed. Because in fact, you can only experience this speed if you are going to read or write disks on a truly industrial scale. It is also worth deciding what media you will most often “feed” the device, because the same CDs are read much slower (more than 9 times) than DVDs. It is logical to assume that if most of the information on the market today is sold on DVD media, then you will mostly be stuffing discs of this format into the drive.

Drive speed is indicated in 1x, where 1 corresponds to 150 Kb/s for CD-ROM, and 1.385 MB/s for DVD-ROM. The maximum volume of a standard CD, on which music albums and small ones are most often found on sale now computer games(as well as databases and software) is 700 MB. By today's standards, the size is ridiculous, but quite sufficient for recording a dozen uncompressed music tracks, text files, programs or disk with corporate information (catalogues, price lists, instructions, etc.). Theoretically, the CD reading speed is limited to 56x, but in practice this figure does not exceed 40x, because the faster the disk rotates in the drive, the more noise it creates during operation.

If you often and enjoy writing discs CD-R (one-time use) And CD-RW (rewritable), then your ability to read these media will be limited to speeds of 40x and 48x, or even 24x (for CD-RW). As for recording, by default the drive will operate at the maximum possible speed, which can be manually changed to a lower speed. 700 megabytes usually fills up within five minutes.

Now let's turn directly to DVD discs, which you will encounter most often, both during the reading and writing process. We remind you that data exchange with DVD media can only be carried out using a DVD drive; a regular CD-ROM cannot cope with this function by definition.

Currently the following are distinguished: DVDs. This is first and foremost the most common DVD-ROM, which is the basis for film products, games, software and other data produced and sold in series. Writing to DVD-ROM at home is impossible, read only. DVD-ROMs come in single-layer and double-layer formats, with capacities of 4.7 and 8.5 GB, respectively.

The most common disc formats that you will encounter are disposable discs DVD-R and DVD+R, which are most often used to store “heavy” information such as video and software. Why plus and minus? It's simple, negative disks appeared a little earlier at the instigation of the famous company Pioneer, while “plus” technologies belong to the pen of Sony and Phillips. The difference lies in the presence of special markings that make it easier to position the drive head, and the use of different reflective material. At first, these differences were critical for the quality of multiple rewrites (of course, for DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs), but today most drive models can easily cope with any version.

The maximum reading and writing speed on DVD-R and DVD+R discs is, depending on the drive model and disc quality, from 8x to 24x, which, when fully loaded with data, will take approximately 4 to 8 minutes. There are also two-layer disposable discs with the prefix DL (dual layer) in the name, with a capacity of 8.5 GB. However, the recording speed on these “giants” is no more than 12x.

Media that support rewriting are distinguished between DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM. You've probably already encountered the first two: 4.7 GB disks with a maximum write speed of 8x. As for DVD-RAM, which can be written to simultaneously with the process of reading data, their mass use is limited due to the prohibitive cost.

What else do you need to know about DVD drive speed? Considering the fact that this parameter of the device directly depends on the media used in it, it is not advisable to strive to buy the fastest drive. Blanks supporting high speeds recordings and readings are expensive and are not sold everywhere. Remember that discs are extremely fragile media, susceptible to scratches, chips and other physical surface deformations. At high rotation speeds, such interference can lead to the destruction of the disk, which simply shatters into fragments and can cause irreparable damage to the drive. As they say, the quieter you go, the further you will go.

Features of connecting the drive and sales packaging

Probably everyone has seen a regular internal disk drive. A rectangle (148x42x198 mm) without unnecessary design frills, weighing under a kilogram. There are also shortened versions (for compact cases) with a length of up to 170 mm and lightweight ones up to 750 grams. The most elegant are, of course, DVD drives for laptops - square in size (130x130 mm) with a thickness of only 13 mm and a weight of 120 grams. However, these devices are very expensive and capricious in terms of installation, which is best left to professionals.

Appearance of a DVD drive for a laptop

DVD drive, being internal device, connected via a cable to motherboard computer, and therefore there are two types of connection - through the parallel IDE interface or serial SATA interface. IDE is now being widely replaced by the more advanced SATA, so when purchasing a drive separately, you should check the insides of your computer, or rather, the connectors on the motherboard, so as not to get into trouble. New board models most likely already work with SATA, so you can safely purchase the appropriate drive. What's the advantage? Theoretically - in speed. But in practice, you most likely will not notice the difference.

Regarding packaging. The fact that used drives are not worth buying is, I hope, clear without further ado, because all computer components have their own limited resource. The store will offer you two options: OEM and Retail. OEM is a package “for the poor”, which includes a plastic bag plus a disk with installation software. As part of the Retail kit, in addition to the drive itself, you will find wires (cable), screws, blank disks, and if the manufacturer is generous, then an audio cable and even replacement panels. Naturally, the second option will cost you a little more than the “polyethylene” one.

Manufacturers and prices

It's no secret that in the niche of DVD drives, a brand or trademark often becomes the determining factor in choosing a particular device. There are many different elements in the system unit, starting from the motherboard, video card and ending with the power supply and, in fact, the system case itself. But all these components, as a rule, are impersonal, because not everyone would think of going inside to look at the manufacturer of the sound board or motherboard. Many, not very advanced, users focus more on specific parameters rather than on company names. It’s different with DVD drives; they are “facing” the consumer, proudly decorating the system unit with an inscription like NEC, Sony or.

There is always a lot of subjectivity in the selection of a specific brand, because few people have to test drives from different manufacturers at home. Usually we become attached to a particular model, after which we don’t even want to hear about its replacement with something else. Nevertheless, there are quite a lot of players in this market, which we will talk about at the end of the article.

DVD-ROM from Plextor

If you have to deal with the recording process often and a lot, then there are actually two options. Either constantly change cheap devices, or occasionally face the need to buy expensive models. For both of them, the resource is a parameter with a finite value. If you are more satisfied with the second option, then pay attention to the quality of the company Plextor, whose devices are distinguished by high reliability and performance. The cost of Plextor drives is not the only, but the most significant reason why only a select few can afford to communicate with this brand (from 5,000 rubles and above).

The situation is approximately the same with the products of American companies. Dell And Hewlett-Packard (HP). Good, even remarkable quality, high operating speeds, reliability, but the price in the region of 4000-5000 rubles will not please everyone. Moreover, their products are rarely seen on store shelves, and Dell prefers to specialize in ultra-thin laptop models.

Drives available with label ASUS And Sony Optiarc (since 2006, the official merger of two companies - Sony and NEC)- strong middle peasants. At a cost of around 1,000 rubles, they demonstrate high recording quality, and discs created using these drives can be read without problems by devices from other manufacturers, as well as by many DVD players. Quiet, stylish, practical - optimal value for money.

DVD-RW drive Sony Optiarc

Drives from Samsung, Toshiba and Pioneer are considered the most capricious in terms of blank quality. LG drives also handle scratched media better than others. Of course, these conclusions were made during testing specific models, which, as we know, can be both successful and not so successful. In other words, you may be incredibly lucky and your Samsung DVD drive will be omnivorous and tireless, while the ASUS drive, highly rated by “experts,” will stumble at every step.

In any case, when buying a DVD drive, pay attention to three things: packaging (OEM or Retail), connection method (IDE or SATA) and speed characteristics. Well, and the design, of course, because a black NEC sticking out on a white case will be striking. Each trademark has its advantages and disadvantages, however, in this market, unless we are talking about elite models of semi-professional quality, the main and determining factor is still the price of the device, which for the vast majority of DVD drives varies from 600 to 1500 rubles.

Application area optical drives is not only the computers we are used to, but also the car radios we use, DVD players, and some types of optical discs that use tape recorders. Even so, many people question the need for such devices to read optical discs. But in order to know how correct this statement is, you must first know what an optical drive is and what capabilities it has.

The period of development of the drive for reading optical discs spans more than one generation. Its operation is based on a laser beam precisely directed at the reflective disk layer. This is necessary precisely for reading information from recesses visible only under a microscope on optical disks, in fact, for recognizing information from which it is needed. Therefore, such storage media as optical discs are often called laser.

An optical reading device is classified not only as a computer hardware part, but also as a multimedia part, and all due to the fact that the predominant information stored on disks is multimedia-directed.

What is an optical drive

Optical drive, what is it for? Regardless of the fact that this device has been used by people for a long time, not everyone knows what kind of drive it is. Let's move on to deciphering the established term.
An optical disc drive or optical drive is a device that combines both mechanical and electronic components, the entire operation of which is based on the use of a laser; its function is precisely to read information from optical discs, while some representatives are also endowed with the ability to write data.

Synonyms are often used to refer to an optical disk drive; it can be called an optical drive, simply a drive, a floppy drive, and sometimes you hear less common names. The term disk drive, like many other terms related to computers, comes from the English. Disk Drive ( Disk drive), which means, in a rough formulation, it sets in motion, and it spins, as was said earlier, precisely the disks. The optical drive is not the only representative of disk drive devices, but it is the only one used to this day in current computer configurations.

What does a standard optical drive look like?

Optical drives are by no means monotonous, as evidenced by the presence of their representatives not only in an ordinary system unit with the usual dimensions, but also thinner ones in an all-in-one computer or laptop, and the drive can also be portable.

The main interfaces for connecting to a computer are SATA and USB; such drives are connected to outdated computers using IDE cables. There are other ways to connect the drive to a computer, but they are not popular.

Portable, or usually external, with a USB drive connection interface, suitable for those who like to use a disk, even if such an option is not provided in the device. In addition, such optical drives can be used on several personal computers, which is also convenient.

Various modifications of drives, for example, with a tray, usually controlled using a button or on program level or with an inlet hole with the ability to automatically pick up the disk, there are quite a few. It is worth paying attention to the small hole, usually located next to the tray eject button, which will help you remove the disc from the drive by inserting a needle into it and thereby engaging the ejection mechanism, which is important when the computer is turned off or when the mechanism is jammed. There's nothing strange here, nothing perfect yet technical solution most likely does not exist.

Types of optical drives and their functionality:

An important functional feature of an optical drive is determined by its type, which characterizes the work with the drive used in the future, and at the same time the possible capacities of the disk, the speed of writing to and reading from it. For a more complete understanding of what an optical drive is and what functional diversity it has, let's consider the capabilities of each type.

CD drives

The CD drive is considered the most common device for reading optical discs; it is divided into:

CD-ROM is a device for reading CDs only.

CD-RW - just like CD-ROM, has the ability to read information from a disk, but in addition to reading, such devices can also write.

DVD drives

DVD - the main function of such optical drives is to use DVD discs:

DVD-ROM is only capable of reading information, DVD-RW performs both reading and writing, but here you need to pay attention to the fact that DVD drives can perform read and write operations with CD media.
A drive such as DVD - RW DL performs all the functions of previous DVD drives with a small bonus, which is the ability to record on dual-layer discs with greater capacity.
Among DVD devices, there is one exception, which includes a combined DVD/CD-RW drive, which, in addition to reading all CD and DVD formats, can only write to CD discs.

Blu-ray drive

BD-RE is an optical drive designed for reading information from Blu-Ray discs with a layer size of 23.3 GB. Its operation, in comparison with DVD devices, is based on a shorter laser wavelength and blue radiation spectrum, as well as an increased protective layer of discs. This layer provides high reliability when reading and writing.

Blu-Ray technology is mainly used to store high-definition video on such discs and, along with previous types of drives, has the ability to use CDs and DVDs.

HD DVD drive

There are also types of drives such as HD DVD, for reading information from all types of discs except Blu-Ray, and its more advanced relative HD DVD/DVDRW, which not only reads, but also writes. The main functionality of the device is represented by reading HD DVD discs and reading and writing in the case of HD DVD/DVDRW. Single-layer disks have a capacity of 15 gigabytes, and double-layer disks have a capacity of 2 times more.

The Importance of an Optical Disc Drive in a Modern Computer

If the average computer of the mid-90s simply could not exist without such a device as an optical drive, now this is not entirely true. Although such a reading device is capable of expanding the capabilities of a personal computer, it cannot be called part of the mandatory configuration of the computer.

The popularity of drives began to fall sharply with the introduction of other sources of information to the masses: such as flash memory, which takes up much less space in your pocket and at the same time, every year, it increased its space for storing information and is probably the most popular way to get something The Internet and the development of piracy in it became on my computer. Why buy something if it’s much more convenient to download it on the Internet and bring it on a flash drive to a friend.

Distribution of software, movie music and other variety on disks is far from the only way to distribute these information products. Even if we exclude piracy on the Internet, almost everything can be purchased in online stores and stored, for example, on a hard drive, and not on an optical drive.

For some, using disks is a matter of habit, for others it is an opportunity to use information previously saved on them, maybe someone’s car radio does not have the ability to read from USB media, but in turn copes with reading MP3 disks , of which a huge collection has already accumulated. Of course, it’s too early to throw away such devices if they are still needed.

Many people are more accustomed to buying a collector's edition of a game or a music album on optical disk with beautiful packaging for your collection. Some people still have old but not forgotten photographs, video footage from a wedding, and it is not always clear where the information will be stored longer.

For example, when assembling a computer, not everyone has the opportunity to download drivers from the official website, but if your kit includes a drive, then it will no doubt help in this situation; equipment manufacturers package their technical products software on disk.

To summarize the article: what an optical drive and a disk drive are, it becomes clear that it is too early to discount such devices. Those who don’t know about them probably don’t need to start using them, because they already managed without them before. Those who know the value of drives will not get rid of them soon. Here, for everyone, their own option will be the best, and new formats of such devices present new opportunities.

Optical drive or CD drive is an optical-mechanical device designed for reading information from, presented in the form of CDs of 8 and 12 cm in size. Modern CD drives are universal; in addition to reading, they can also write various types of information to disks various formats: disposable and reusable CDs (CD-R and CD-RW), disposable and reusable DVDs (DVD-R and DVD-RW).

Operating principle of an optical drive

The main element of the drive is optical system, forming a laser beam that reads information from a rotating medium. Information on a CD is recorded in the form of a spiral track on which microscopic depressions are burned with a laser beam. In mass production of data disks, information is entered onto them using the stamping method 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 tubercles, less from the pits. And given that the computer processes information in binary numbers (encoded by a sequence of zeros and ones), then data can be recorded in a certain way in the alternation of pits and tubercles. Here the bump acts as a one, and the depression represents a binary zero.

CD drive device

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

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

Your computer will likely have at least one optical drive that can accommodate a DVD or CD in its output tray.

Alternative to optical drives

Recently, the popularity of CDs for computers has fallen sharply due to the massive proliferation of other types of storage media, primarily flash memory or otherwise “flash drives”. The popularity of flash drives is due to their low cost, sufficient memory capacity and read/write speed. In addition, external storage devices are widely used to store large amounts of information. hard disks, connected to

Most likely, what is most relevant for consideration in an article dedicated to optical drives, there would be testing of DVD drives, but not everything is so simple. It is unlikely that in our time of rapid proliferation of drives capable of working with DVDs, any user will refuse to purchase them if they have sufficient financial resources. The only reasonable reason can be the lack of functional need for such drives. In this article, we will look at three CD-RW drives - devices that are not capable of working with DVD media, but allow, in addition to reading, also writing data on CDs.

Monitored drives

Mitsumi CR-488TE

The drive design is characteristic of all Mitsumi products in this category - there are practically no elements of “decoration”. The tray has a device type symbol. In addition, on the front panel we see an elongated media loading/unloading control button with rounded edges, an operating mode indicator light, and a headphone output with a signal level control. On the back of the drive there are power and interface connectors, analog and digital audio outputs, and a set of pins with a jumper for positioning the drive in the system.

The drive provides CD reading and writing speeds of up to 52x. For CD-RW there is a rewriting mode up to 32x. The buffer size is 2 MB. The stated average access time is 100 ms. The drive supports the E-IDE (ATAPI) interface. The drive can work with CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-RW, CD-ROM XA, CD-R, CD-I, Video-CD, Photo-CD, CD-Extra, CD-UDF, CD-Text media. The drive supports Mt.Rainier and Buffer underrun prevention technologies. dimensions drive dimensions are 148.6 x 41.8 x 193.3 mm, and the weight is 1 kg.

The approximate retail cost of the drive is 39 USD.

Samsung SW-252FF

The Samsung drive can be easily distinguished from similar products from other manufacturers due to its distinctive front panel design. The end part of the tray has rounded edges, and a closed contour is also highlighted on it using a relief “groove”. Although the manufacturer's name is not on the front panel, there is a conventional symbol of the device type and its speed characteristics, allowing you to understand that you are dealing with a CD-RW drive. Under the tray, in a small recess, there is a round media loading/unloading control button and a miniature LED operating mode indicator. On the back of the case there are power and interface connectors, analog and digital audio outputs, and a set of pins with a jumper for positioning the drive in the system.

The drive can read and write CD media at speeds up to 52x. For CD-RW rewriting, a mode of up to 32x is provided. By the way, it is precisely in this parameter that the 252F modification differs from the 252B, which supports a 24x rewrite speed. So, for those who care about this, don’t make a mistake when purchasing. The buffer size is 2 MB. The stated average access time is 100 ms. The drive supports Ultra DMA Mode 2 and meets the Mt. specification. Rainier. The drive can work with CD-R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM/XA, CD-ROM, Video-CD, CD-I, Photo CD, CD-Extra, CD-TEXT media. The drive implements technology to protect the buffer from emptying, and reduces noise and vibration levels due to the DVA (Dynamic Vibration Absorber) innovation. The overall dimensions of the drive are 148.2 x 42 x 184 mm, and the weight is 0.77 kg.

The approximate retail cost of the drive is 25 USD.

Teac CD-W552G

There is no problem distinguishing a Teac drive from other models, thanks to the manufacturer's name on the tray; there is also a conventional symbol for belonging to the class of recordable drives. Under the tray there is a rectangular media loading/unloading control button, an operating mode indicator light and a headphone output along with a volume control. On the back of the case there are power and interface connectors, analog and digital audio outputs, and a set of pins with a jumper for positioning the drive in the system. Traditionally for optical drives from TEAC, one can note the reduced length of the case of this model, which makes life easier for the user when installing the drive in “tight” spaces. system units.

The drive provides CD reading and writing speeds of up to 52x. For CD-RW, rewriting mode up to 32x is supported. The buffer size is 2 MB. The stated average access time is 100 ms. The drive supports the IDE (ATAPI) interface. The drive can work with CD-ROM Mode-1/650 MB/700 MB, CD-DA/74 min/79 min, CD-RW, CD-ROM XA Mode-2 (Form-1)/650 MB/700 MB media , CD-MRW, CD-ROM XA Mode-2 (Form-2)/738 MB/795 MB, CD-I, Video-CD, Photo-CD (Multisession), CD-Extra. The drive supports Mt.Rainier and Burn Proof technologies. Extraction speed audio tracks from audio discs reaches 52x. The overall dimensions of the drive are 148.4 x 42.8 x 170.0 mm, and the weight is 0.86 kg.

The approximate retail cost of the drive is 33 USD.

Testing methodology

In order to determine the performance characteristics of the drive, the following programs and utilities were used:

• Nero CD-DVD Speed ​​version 3.12;
• Nero Info Tool version 2.11;
• Nero CD DAE version 0.4B;
• Andre Wiethoff Exact Audio Copy (EAC) version 0.95 prebeta 5;
• Nic Wilson DVDINFOPro version 2.35;
• SlySoft CloneCD version 4.3.2.2;
• Ziff Davis Media CD WinBench 99.

The test computer configuration was as follows:

• Motherboard– Intel Bonanza D875PBZ;
• CPU – Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz;
• HDD– IBM DTLA-307015 15 GB;
• Graphics adapter– GeForce2 MX400 64 MB;
• RAM – 512 MB;
• operating system – Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 1 and DirectX 9.0b installed.

The drives were connected to the second IDE channel in "master" mode.

Nero Info Tool and DVDINFOPro

Mitsumi CR-488ETE

Samsung SW-252F

TEAC CD-W552G

In the screenshots presented above, you see the information that the tested drives reported about themselves. The Mitsumi CR-488ETE drive was unable to work with graphics on CDs (CD+G). The Samsung SW-252F device cannot do anything about C2 errors. Only the TEAC CD-W552G drive “declared” the presence of a complete set useful functions.

According to CD WinMark indicators, the TEAC CD-W552G drive is noticeably ahead of the other two devices, which demonstrated approximately the same results on all types of disks. Its superiority reaches approximately one and a half times the size.

Among other indicators, it can be noted that the minimum access time in general is found in the Mitsumi CR-488ETE drive, and the maximum in the Samsung SW-252F.

Nero CD-DVD Speed: Basic Tests (CD)

To carry out a group of basic tests according to the proven scheme, the following CD media were used: a “stamped” CD that comes as an application with a magazine about computers, seven hundred megabyte CD-Rs and CD-RWs with data recorded using the utility itself, an eight hundred megabyte CD R, prepared in a similar way, and a licensed audio disc.