This article has a comparative test of 13 different CD-ReWriters. Though it is in Dutch, below a small piece translated, and of course the conclusions:
What is taken into account? The first thing that we looked at when receiving the writer is the way it is bundled and with what. What is supplied with the writer; what software is included, what was our impression of the manual and what extras are supplied. Then we tested the writers on their maximum burning speeds as given by the manufacturer. For this speed test the program CD Speed 99 (v0.8) by Erik Deppe was used. The same program was used to test the reading speed of both data and audio disc. Although the reading of audio and data CDs is not the main purpose of the writer, but may be of importance to some users. The writers were also tested with a program called SCSI mechanic 3.0 by Micro Magic. This program tests data throughput of the drives. The results of this test are in a comparison table and can be found in graphs in the chapter 'Benchmarks'. A writer can make some noise both when burning as when reading, some more than others, so we measured the noise level at 2 feet distance of the drive. |
Benchmarks
Noise Level
The dark bar represents when burning, the lighter bar shows when reading.
Conclusions
Different burners have different pros and cons. Differences in quality are hardly there and you should look more at what came with the package. The LiteOn LTR12101B is a great buy. For only 565 Dutch Guilders you have a 12x burn proof writer and get 10 blank CD-recordables too.
If you want the best and fastest writer currently available, then the Plexwriter 16/10/40A is your writer. This writer is only 20 guilders more expensive than the Yamaha CRW2100E, but for that it is a Burn Proof writer and is able to burn the entire CD at 16 speed.
Benchmarks show that SCSI is hardly worth the extra money, since IDE (ATAPI) is almost as fast as SCSI (and especially when you don't have a SCSI adapter it is quite expensive). Waitec does have a Burn Proof writer, but for it is SCSI it is way too expensive.
When your writer doesn't have to have Burn Proof or Just Link because you don't plan to do heavy work on your PC while burning, the LG CED8120B is more than sufficient.
When you only plan to burn a CD occasionally, you are better off with a slightly older burner that often are on sale in the different stores.
For our mobile people we can recommend the Freecom Traveler. This writer is most interesting for his little weight and compact size. You have to buy the cable seperately, for it is not supplied. You can choose FireWire (iLink) if is available on your PC/Laptop, teh PCMCIA is a very good second choice. If you can't use either of these you can always resort to the USB cable, but whatever you do, don't buy the Parallel cable, that ouwld be a waste of your money. The Freecom Portable CDRW is only interesting when you don't have room to build one in your case, for it is larger than the Traveler and not very comfortable to take with you.
So, there are many writers on the market these days, each having its pros and cons. Think of what you really need from the writer and how much money you want to spend on it, the comparison table can help you make the right choice.
The comparison table part one can be found here
The comparison table part two can be found here
Now you can all go out and buy the burner that suits your needs best
Source: Hardwareinfo.net
