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| Posted by | Tor Magne |
| Posted on | 11/01/04 21:52 |
| Number of views | 9052 |
| Review: Mediagear External DVD-Writer |
I/O Inerconnect was kind enough to send us their latest drive. Actually it's so new that it's just a pre-release sample and everything we got with the drive refers to another model, you will for sure notice this during the first pages of this review. The drive is a feature filled external drive, first it's a dual format DVD-Writer based on a BTC DRW1004IM writer, and second it's a flash card reader supporting all the flash card formats currently on the market, and least it also have a built in two-port USB2.0 Hub. All this sounds great, so let's continue with the review to see if it really lives up to our expectations.
Also thanks to Memorex for being so generous and providing some of the media used in this review.
Some I/O Interconnect information:
We were unable to find much information about Mediagear and I/O Interconnect, so the information we present here is rather sparse. On the Mediagear homepage the 'about" button is not even clickable, in other words: that page is not yet finished. But on the homepage of I/O Interconnect we were able to find the following information by clicking the 'about" button:
Since 1986, I/O Interconnect has serviced a wide variety of customers in the Computer, Networking, Telecommunications, and Medical Industries by providing premium quality products and related assembly services. I/O Interconnect extends its presence into three continents with offices in the United States, Taiwan, China, and England. In addition, we have over 230K square feet of manufacturing operations worldwide. These facilities are entirely owned and operated by I/O Interconnect. Over 1000 enthusiastic and highly skilled employees contribute their proficiency in manufacturing, engineering, servicing, selling, and supporting all I/O Interconnect products. I/O Interconnect is Quality System registered to the latest ISO 9001 standards with products and facilities that are UL/CSA approved. The company has demonstrated leadership in interconnect design, manufacturing technology, quality assurance, and customer service. Vertically integrated manufacturing from connector fabrication to cable assembly outer molding is provided. I/O Interconnect is a minority-owned company headquartered in Santa Ana, California.
Yes, that was everything that we were able to find by just looking at the web pages. But let's stop looking for company information and move on to the specifications of this drive.
Drive specifications:
First let us take a look at the specifications of the drive, the specifications are found at the BTC Homepage.
| Model name | DRW 1004IM |
| Interface | E-IDE/ATAPI |
| Disc data capacity | (CD) 74min/650MB, 80min/700MB |
| Supported media for writing | DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, CD-R, CD-RW |
| Writing formats | (DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW) DVD-ROM, DVD-Video(CD) CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-Extra, CD-I, Mixed-Mode CD, Video CD, Photo CD, CD-TEXT, Bootable CD, CD-R, CD-RW, Multi-Session |
| Writing methods | (DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW) Random Access Write, Sequential Write(CD-R/RW) Track at Once, Disc at Once, Session at Once, Multi-Session, Packet Writing |
| Writing speed | (DVD+/-R, DVD+RW) 1x, 2x, 4x |
| Reading speed | (DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW) max. 6x |
| Data transfer rate | Max. 33MB/sec |
| Access time | (DVD) 160 ms (12X) |
| Data buffer | 2 MB |
| Disc loading | Tray (motorized) |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 148.6 x 41.8 x 193.3 mm |
| Weight | 1 Kg |
| Mounting method | Horizontal |
And here are the additional specifications for the added mediagear stuff:
- External USB 2.0 case with built in USB 2.0 HUB with 2 powered USB 2.0 ports.
- 9in4 flash reader built into the front supporting these flash card formats:
- Compact flash type 1 and 2
- IBM Microdrive
- Smart Media
- MultiMedia card
- Secure Digital
- Memory Stick
- Memory Stick PRO
- XD Picture Card
To us it seems like an ideal solution if you have a laptop with limited storage space and a digital camera or two. You may transfer the images from the flash card with this drive and when the hard drive fills up you may just write them to a CD or DVD. But let us continue and see how it really performs by putting it through several extensive tests.
Test
machine:
For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:
Hardware:
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-8KNXP with Intel i875P chipset
- Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2,8GHz 800MHz FSB with Hyper Threading support
- RAM: 1Gb PC3500 DDR
- GFX: ATI Radeon 9800 pro
- Sound: SB Audigy 2
- Hard disks: 2 x Seagate Barracuda ATA IV 80Gb in RAID 0
System set-up:
The Mediagear drive was connected on the USB 2.0 interface and identified itself as DVDRW IDE1004. The flash readers were just identified as 'Generic STORAGE DEVICE" as the picture show.
Software:
Windows XP professional is installed on the computer along with Service Pack 1 for windows XP. We will be using the following software in this review:
- Sonic DLA 4.5
- Ahead Nero Burning ROM version 6.3.0.2
- Ahead Nero CD/DVD Speed v2.11.4
- Ahead Nero InfoTool v2.07
- Slysoft CloneCD v4.3.1.9
- Exact Audio Copy v0.95 prebeta 3
- K-Probe v1.1.28
The bundled programs will be installed and evaluated as well, but may not be used for the performance testing part of this review.
Head on to the next page and find out what the box we got contained…
Conclusion
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