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Posted by Dennis
Posted on 05/04/02 19:19
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Scratched Disc Tests
 

It happens to all of us sooner or later: a disc is scratched and cannot be read properly anymore... In this test we took a CD-Recordable and scratched it with some fine sandpaper. We then did a surface scan with Nero CD Speed and you can see the results below. First off let's start with the ATIP information from the used CD-Recordable:

  • ATIP: 97m 15s 11f
  • Disc Manufacturer: Ritek Co.
  • Reflective layer: Dye (Long strategy; e.g. Cyanine, Azo etc.)
  • Media type: CD-Recordable
  • Recording Speeds: min. unknown - max. unknown
  • Nominal Capacity: 702.83MB (79m 59s 74f / LBA: 359849)

Now for the achieved results. We read the same disc with the Mitsumi CR-480ATE (firmware 1.0E) and a Toshiba SD-M1502 DVD-ROM (firmware 1012) for comparison. We'll let the figures speak for themselves. Please note that damaged sectors can still be read. The important percentage is the one of the unreadable sectors. Of course the less, the better:

TEAC CD-W540E Scratched Disc Test
TEAC CD-W540E reading scratched disc

Mitsumi CR-480ATE Scratched Disc Test
Mitsumi CR-480ATE reading scratched disc

Note that the Mitsumi writer doesn't report damaged sectors since the drive does not support this. It can only report if a sector is good (readable) or bad (unreadable).

Toshiba SD-M1502 Scratched Disc Test
Toshiba SD-M1502 reading scratched disc

Overall the Toshiba DVD-ROM could read the most part of the disc. The Mitsumi and TEAC achieve about the same results (one drive can read some sectors while the other one couldn't and vice versa) but the Mitsumi had just a little less unreadable sectors.

That concludes the reading part. Now it's time to see how the TEAC CD-W540E performs when writing discs...

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Reactions on this item
Oh crap, why did I let you get this drive?:c

I also want it!!!

Great review, hopefully my next review(whenever that will be....) will also reach this quality level, although I have my doubts about that.:o
Great review G@M3FR3@K!


How is it possible that the included Feurio 1.63 and 1.64 support Teac540E?

Is there any way to support this writer under Feurio already?

How many DAE speeds has to choose?
Noisy?

It seems my next writer.

Feurio does not support the TEAC CD-W540E yet so we didn't test this. However support will probably be added soon enough (CD-W524E is supported already) with a Feurio drive update. The Feurio software is just part of the TEAC 'For Your Information' disc included with many TEAC drives.

The noise the drive produces is not too much but don't think it'll be quiet ;) What can you expect with 40x writing and 48x reading?

Thanks for the compliments guys :) Oh and ps: sorry OC... :g
About the buffer in Nero: Teac actaully has 8 MB buffer, but part of it is used by the drive itself. Unlike other manufacturers, which report complete buffer size, TEAC only reports 'usable' size.
In the review there is a reference in the Features section under the Write Method that says " "which writing methods the Mitsumi use" Should that not be Teac?

Also the warranty period of two years is only available in Europe correct?
Thanks jernej and pcguy99 : updated the article.
Again great article GF! ;)
The Teac CD-W540E can be found on Pricewatch.com for $95-US as of 4-9-2002
:4
Great review:

How noisy is it compared to say the 24x plex or 24x lite-on? [both are
reportedly "quiet" and
I guess vibration free].

I'm considering all 3 of these drives. I'm also going to a 1-drive soln for read and write to save a slot for something else. [I don't care about 48x read - infact I'd prefer a quieter and slower reader]

Main desire is "quality writing" for data. I'm even planning to run it "below max speed" to help out with quality burns.

Main concern on the TEAC is that its claimed to be noisy. And maybe it also vibrates [most vibrate when they are noisy] which could lead to write errors.

Neg: on the lite-on is reading no-perfect CDs is a problem. and maybe it does not last as long as the plex and teac.

neg: on plex [no gaming safe disc >2.5]

All of these drives are
within 30 bucks of each
other. So considering w/o regard to cost which would you get. It seems the 40x teac has the blood-line to give better 40x burns, but I don't care about "speed, rather quality" and would downshift to lower speeds.
Vibration free is highly desired.
but I don't care about "speed, rather quality" and would downshift to lower speeds.
========
sorry that should have read
but I don't care about "speed" that effects "quality" and would probably downshift to lower speeds for important backups.

Thanks.
Well the TEAC drive is far from quiet but I can say its main focus is quality as you can see by the various techniques it offers (Running OPC, Fine Focus Control, see [url=http://www.cdfreaks.com/document.php3?Doc=71&Page=3]page 3[/url]). However when it comes to backing-up SafeDisc 2 and above the Lite-On drive comes recommended followed by the Plextor and TEAC gets the third place. The Lite-On is the only drive that can copy SafeDisc 2 without problems. The Plextor has correct EFM encoding but has problems with SafeDisc 2.51 and the TEAC has problems with all SafeDisc 2 versions and therefore needs help with CloneCD's AWS.

If you don't care about maximum speeds and you want a drive that's not too noisy I would say go for the Plextor PX-W2410A. If you want a drive that's fast, reliable and produces quality at every write speed go for the TEAC. It will however by noisier than the 24x writers of course.

The vibration of the TEAC drive is no more than 24x writers and 32x writers if you have properly attached the drive.
oh... Crap :c i gotta get a 2nd JoB to Keep up with you guyz!

-Peace & Love :p
:c Just bought Teac 24X. Should I have waited for 40X? Does CloneCD support both? Thanks.
The copy of Nero v5.5 I received with my W540E OEM drive didn't recognize the drive. I had to download v5.5.8.2 from nero.com but when it recognized the drive, I wasn't allowed to choose it. Instead I got an error message saying I had to use the recorder the program was bundled with. Does anyone know how to solve this problem?

Can't wait to use these two products together as they both seem outstanding....
To: etr2
I think the Nero dl is buggy. I dl'd v5.5.7.2 for my 24X. Records OK but now get sys lockup when using the Wave Editor. Try uninstalling & reinstalling Nero 5.5, then dl 5.5.8.2 again. Good luck.
:(It didn't read copy-protected audio-cd's at all.I'll return the unit and go for the Plextor 40x instead.I have already returned on W540,because it started to return my cd's in small pieces.Crap!!
Hello,

Is TEAC CD-RW drive model CD-W540E provided with an digital/SPDIF output, besides normal analog one? On the left side of the analog audio output connector from the back panel is another one named "Strap S1". Is this connector for digital/SPDIF output? In the manual it says that S1 is "factory reserved"!? Anyone tried it?

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