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| Posted by | Dennis |
| Posted on | 28/03/03 20:11 |
| Number of views | 7476 |
The TEAC CD-W552E supports ultra-speed re-writing (24x) and on this page of our review we'll see what this speed means when writing a normal 650MB data compilation. We'll also check how well the drive performs with packet writing (using Ahead's InCD software) and the drive's Mount Rainier performance.
Re-Writing Data:
For our data re-writing tests we simply set up a new compilation of 650MB using the Nero Burning Rom software. We again used the DAO (Disc At Once) writing method. The disc we used was a Plextor US-RW disc manufactured by Mitsubishi. In the screenshot below you can see the burn process completed successfully:
Our data compilation was written in 3 minutes and 39 seconds. As a comparison we wrote the same compilation with a Plextor PX-W4824TA drive and a Lite-On LTR-52246S drive. The Plextor was faster than the TEAC (3m:25s) while the Lite-On was a lot slower due to its CAV writing method (4m:51s).
Packet Writing:
For our packet writing tests we fired up Ahead's InCD and inserted an empty Plextor Ultra Speed CD-ReWriteable disc in the recorder. The InCD option to 'Format disc to CD-MRW' (Mt. Rainier) was disabled since we'll do the CD-MRW tests later on this page of our review. When formatting was complete we measured the time it took for the drive to write our test folder of data (containing 400MB (419.791.239 bytes)). In the table below we've summed it all up for you:
| Packet Writing | InCD Formatting 650MB | InCD Copying 400MB | Average Write Speed |
| Plextor PX-W4824TA | 7m:32s | 2m:23s | 19.11x |
| TEAC CD-W552E | 7m:32s | 2m:19s | 19.66x |
| Yamaha CRW-F1 | 6m:50s | 2m:19s | 19.66x |
From you table above you can see that we had a bit of a strange result. When formatting the US-RW disc the TEAC drive needed exactly the same time as the Plextor drive, but when writing our test data the TEAC needed exactly the same time as the Yamaha drive!
Mount Rainier:
When we reviewed the TEAC CD-W540E writer, it was one of the first drives that supported the Mount Rainier format. The TEAC CD-W552E is no exception and also supports it. Let's see how well the drive performs when using InCD. If you want to read more on the CD-MRW format please read our Mount Rainier article.
| Mount Rainier | InCD Formatting 650MB | Manual Eject While Format in Progress | Copying 400MB Data while Format in Progress |
| Plextor PX-W4824TA | 0m:32s | 0m:34s | 3m:09s |
| TEAC CD-W552E | 0m:40s | 0m:52s | 4m:15s |
| Yamaha CRW-F1 | 0m:40s | 0m:32s | 8m:21s |
| Mount Rainier (continued) | Copying 400MB Data to Formatted Disc | Reading 400MB Data While Format in Progress | Reading 400MB Data from Formatted Disc |
| Plextor PX-W4824TA | 3m:07s | 3m:26s | 2m:21s |
| TEAC CD-W552E | 4m:14s | 3m:21s | 3m:21s |
| Yamaha CRW-F1 | 3m:53s | 4m:46s | 1m:58s |
Although the TEAC CD-W552E recorder was not the fastest drive we've reviewed, it showed decent performance in our Mount Rainier tests. For the TEAC drive it didn't matter if the formatting process was still being done or if it already had been completed since copying and reading data almost took the exact same time in both cases.
Now that we've finished our normal tests, let's do some advanced testing...
Write Tests
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While it is true that many recorders have a difficult time getting Phthalocyanine dyed media, when the data finally gets put on there, it will last longer.
Mitsui/MAM-E - 48x certified - 48x write
So the discs were certified for 48x recording and were also written at that speed. The TEAC simply didn't like these discs at all. Edit, ATIP information on the used discs:
Manufacturer: Mitsui
Code: 97m27s58f
Disc Type: CD-R
Usage: General
Recording Layer: Dye Type 8: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
Capacity: 79:59.74 703 MB
[edited by G@M3FR3@K on 29.03.2003 16:01]
The first (40X) Unit works perfectly, but the CD-W548E thrashed a month ago (only 2 months after buying it). Anyhow, I was not sure whether I should keep buying Teac units (cos the 48/16/48 unit was baaad), but this article definately eased my decision. A such great unit is a must-have!!!
Actually, I don't care very much about the drive's incapacity of reading copy-protected audio CDs, so my opinion is that it's not a flaw.
Also, the existence of a 52X certified CD-R in the package is not really really necessary. Such media will appear more often in the next 2 or 3 months, I guess. And concerning the 24X CD-RWs, I already have bought 25 of them @ 1.5 USD per piece, so I'll test them as soon as I get this great unit!
Found 1.09 on a japaneese teac site, updated it and wow. I can burn any quality brand disk at speeds of 52x all day long even if the disk doesnt support 52x.
I DO recomend that you update the firmware to 1.09, and maybe that the site re-reviews the cdrw with updated firmware.
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