detail information

Positive:

• Supports DVD±R/+R9 DL writing at 16x*/4x
• Can write DVD±R/+R9 DL certified media at higher speed
• Extracts CD-DA at full speed with EAC
• Excellent writing quality on CD-R's
• Ok writing quality on DVD±R media (with room for improvement)
• Good media support and compatibility
• Supports bitsetting for all types of DVD+R/R9 DL/RW (sets auto. booktype to DVD-ROM)
• Supports disc quality scanning
• 'Two sheep" writer
• Supports DAO-RAW writing
• Can read/write 99/100 minutes CD-R's
• Nice design
• Easy to install (Plug & Play)
• Good software package

* At least according to the official specifications

Negative:

• Does not support Mt. Rainier
• No 'Off-switch" to save energy
• Other drives offer 48x/32x writing on CD-R/CD-RW
• Other drives offer faster read back speed on CD-R/RW/DVD±R media
• Can't rip Cactus Shield Protected Audio CD's
• USB-Bridge need to be improved to allow real 16x reading/writing

Conclusion:

Let us summarize the most important positive and negative points below:

The main positive points: The first point we would like to mention is the DVD±R/+R9 writing support at 16x/4x, even though that is more like a standard nowadays. The drive can also burn DVD±R/+R9 DL media at higher speed than certified. Next point - the writing quality on CD-R's are excellent. The media support and compatibility on DVD±R is very good, but there is some room for improvement on the quality. DVD+R/R9 DL/RW media will be burned with the booktype DVD-ROM, which is an advantage concerning compatibility on i.e., DVD Standalone devices. Due to 'two sheep" burner and the DAO-RAW writing mode - the drive can be used to backup copy protected CD's. It also supports reading/writing CD-R's up to 99/100 minutes. And as a last point we would like to mention the nice design on the external case.

The main negative points: We would like to start with: The external cabinet is missing an 'Off-Switch" to save energy, when it is not used or needed. Further, other drives offer 48x/32x writing on CD-R/RW media, together with faster reading speed on DVD±R/DVD±RW/CD-R/RW media. Next point, the drive cannot rip Cactus Shield Protected Audio CD's. And as a last point the USB-Bridge need to be improved to allow real 16x reading and writing.

To sum it all up, this is what we would say: 'Overall an ok external DVD-Writer, but with some points that needs improving".

By using our price grabber feature cdfreaks.pricegrabber or getprice we didn't find any offers, but one online store got it listed at 139 EUR (March 2005).

You may discuss/comment this review below or in this forum thread.

Thanks to:

Conrexx Technology B.V./RITEK Europe - The Netherlands for providing the Traxdata DVD+R9 DL 2.4x, CD-R 52x and CD-RW 24x used in this review.

EMTEC (MPOTEC GmbH) - Germany for providing the CD-R 52x media used in this review.

E-Net Distribution - United Kingdom for providing the DVD+R 8x and DVD-R 8x media used in this review.

MMORE International B.V. - The Netherlands for providing the CD-R DA, CD-R 52x and DVD+R 8x media used in this review.

NewStar Digital - South Korea for providing the CD-R 52x and DVD-R 8x media used in this review.

Sky Media Manufacturing sa - Switzerland for providing the DVD+R 8x, DVD-R 8x and CD-R 52x media used in this review.

Verbatim GmbH - Germany for providing the DVD+R 16x, DVD+R9 DL 2.4x, DVD+RW 4x, DVD-R 8x, DVD-RW 4x, CD-R 52x and CD-RW 24x media used in this review.