CD-RW recommendations

[Hermit]

Hoping to purchase a CD-RW in the near future. Appreciate recommendations of brand names please.

I am using RH 6.1 waiting for 7.1 to hit the shelves.

Thanks,

Dick Williams

[mstich]

I have a Yamaha 8/4/24 SCSI. I've had it for about a year and haven't run into any problems with it. It's very easy to set up to.

[willk]

Generally speaking HP has had the best up to date...as far as IDE goes...
However i have come to judge any CD device by how it functions mechanically...if it is smoth and solid, has the "feel" of quality mechanically, the electronics will follow suite...
If ya can't check that out...goe HP, and make sure the carton is factory sealed.

[fallenang3l]

HP Best.... Step away from the crackpipe please. It doesn't even have burn-proof or Just Link so it gets a HUGE minus right there. If you wanted to make backups of your games with that burner, well, you would be screwed because it can't do much. The very best of best are of course Plextors, and anybody will tell you that. Close second is Yamaha. The only minus with the Plextors that surfaced is that it can't copy SafeDisc 2 protected discs (well it can, but the copy will work only in the burner). Other that that, it's the best burner. If you are heavy on copying, I can't believe I'm saying this, get an Acer 1208A because it can cut _anything_. It can't read subchannel data needed for SecuRom 2 titles so Toshiba 1502 DVD would be a perfect companion (RAW reader). Still, for regular use, nothing beats Plextor.

[Strike]

burn-proof isn't necessary in Linux. I've TRIED to cause bad burns by doing stuff like kernel compiles while apt-get upgrade'ing and running updatedb, but still haven't had any buffer underruns. In fact, the lowest I've ever had the buffer (fifo) go is about 60% in Linux. I've made coasters in Windows (with Adaptec EZ CD Creator) just because somebody IM'ed me.

That said, I use a Sony, and it works fine. I really like both the HPs and the Plextors, but they are a bit pricey, that's why I went with a Sony. Haven't had any experience with the Yamahas though.

[Malakin]

I would strongly suggest not buying an HP, I have one and I hate it. Terrible support, it's based on a sony drive, sony released new firmware for it ages ago that supports 80 minute cd's but HP refuses (literally) to release a copy for their drive so I ended up getting a hacked copy of the sony firmware.

Here's a few good sites for info
http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd_writers.shtml
http://www.cdrinfo.com/hardware/
http://www.storagereview.com

If you plan on using it for audio extraction at all you might want to check the audio extraction speed on the drive before you buy it, this info is actually not so easy to find.


I'd suggest a Plextor.

Hope this helps, good luck with your purchase.

[Mantis]

I'm happy with my Mitsubishi-Verbatim IDE unit. It have been with me for more than two years without any problem. It performs particulary well with some hard-to-burn CD-Rs like the deep blue Verbatims AZO.

[Molecule Man]

I've had a Ricoh MP6200s for three years now. It works great. The tech support was really good, particularly because I had an OEM drive, and they still supported me.

[Hermit]

Thanks to all that responded to my post. Your input helps me make sound decisions based on your experience.

Again, thanks!

Hermit