Kenwood 72X...

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otto56

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I've just finished reading some bad things about this CD-ROM drive. I am wondering if any of you have used this drive and what have your experiences been with it? Also along that same line of thought, I've also heard from friends that the 56X drives are breaking down and was advised to go with a 52X for reliability.

I am planning to sign up for a 'Build your Own Computer' class in august and thought I had better start doing my homework early.

I've never had a use for any kind of burner so I would appreciate not hearing about that as an option. I have played with the idea of a DVD drive of late, however they seem to be slower in my main mission of getting programs installed on my HDs.

I am intrigued by the slower RPMs required by the Kenwood 72X, but I've read several user reviews as well as forums that simply HATE this wonderful sounding addition to my plans.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge base with me...;-)


Otto Freischer


There once was a man from Nantucket...
 
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otto56

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Never mind fellas, I paged deeper into this forum and discovered two pages of stuff on this CD-ROM drive. I guess it's back to the reasearching again. BTW, anyone have a fast reliable CD-ROM they prefer of others?

p.s. How do I remove the 'stranger' monicur under my name on the left?

Thanks;

Otto Freischer

There once was a man from Nantucket...
 
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ath0mps0

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I always recommend the Pioneer 106S slotload (or the 116 trayload) 16x DVD (40x CD) drive. It isn't quite as fast as a 52X for CDs, but it is ATA66 instead of most drives that are ATA33 so it is fast with less CPU drain. You also get DVD support for movies and upcomming games, etc.

The monikers under the names define how many posts you have and give other forum users an idea of how long you've been around. Check the FAQ.

If the thought I thought I thought had been the thought I thought, I wouldn't have thought so much.
 
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juicebykurt

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I really loved my 72x while it worked. It was the quietest drive I ever heard. And it read any cd i could throw at it. However, about 10-11 months after i bought it, it started to smell funny, kinda like really hot plastic. I took off the case and felt the drive and it was very warm to the touch. After about a week I decided to take it back since the warranty was almost up. When I took it out of my box I heard a rattle in it. I opened the drawer and a tiny spring fell out. I was so pissed. It was a great drive while it worked and at one time was the highest rated cdrom. But i just had bum luck i guess.
 
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r2k

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Just don't buy an Acer. I had one (CD-640P 40x Max) and it was horrible: 90 percent of the time it read at 8x and then it broke down soon...I've even made the story into a post at this forum ;) I don't know about their DVDs though...

I bought an Asus 40x (CD-S400/A firmware 1.6K) as a replacement for the Acer recently and it's one great drive. It's quiet, fast (always from 18.5x to 43x with >600 MB CDs/CD-Rs in tests) and works with no fuss with any CD I throw at it. My Teac writer (CD-W524E 24x10x40) is also a very fast drive (it especially excells in seek time department) and also quiet enough and as such, I guess their CD-ROM drives should be fine too.
 
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ejsmith2

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I've never been 'keen' toward Acer. I remember their nightmare computers back in the mid-90's.

The Kenwood True-x's cranked hard. But too many people use H&K specials, which really limited their use. It's not to say H&K's are bad, it's just to say the Kenwood didn't work with them. They also didn't work well with CDRW, which single laser readers crank fairly well on (still not as good as a writer; AGC can only go so far).

So, they got snuffed out. Afreey has been dragging their heels on multiple beam readers/writers for so long, by the time they emerge, it's liable to be a blue-light special (which won't be writing IR cd's). They might have a seperate laser splitter for the IR beam, but I sincerly doubt it, which means a single laser and convential IR reads. 10K rpm is hard on the disk/ears/case cooling/knees (plastic splinters).

In the end, I just gave up the ghost on multiple lasers. The idea/technology was wonderful, but you'd have to revamp too many other things for it to take off...
 
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GhostKat

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I recently got a new computer that has an LG 52x drive in it, It's more quiter then the 48x from creative I got a long time ago.

GK

My daughterboard is becoming a motherboard
 
4Ryan6

4Ryan6

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The higher speed CDROM drives don't seem to have noticeable developing problems arising from them until they're put into machines running slower hardrives, which causes it to accelerate and slow down constantly to keep up the feed to the slower hardrive, so if you're looking at any 72X or 56X drives I don't care who makes them, but your hardrive is a 5400 Rpm you'd be better off with a slower running DVD drive you'll get cleaner installs with no file corruption.
 
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Clarentavious

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Yes, 7,200 RPM is the current max on IDE drives (hopefully things won't remain this way for long).

The KenWood True 72x was so fast because it used Pioneer's multi-laser beam technology which allowed it to illuminate multiple tracks at the same time (really increasing the read speed). I'm not truly sure about the rotational speed because they were able to keep it so quiet.

They had trouble reading scratched CDs, and it was almost impossible to read RW discs (of course, many CD-ROMs have the same problem, a UDF reader is almost always needed). They also broke down often.

Kenwood actually halted production on them in 2001 (they are only available used now, or left overs that haven't been sold). Or if you have one that is out of warranty, you can send it in, and they will give you another for $50 with their 6 month in shop warranty.

I wish we could get some better CD-ROMs in, and switch back to the CLV format (even if it takes 3 seconds for the spin up process before data starts to be transfered)
 
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mattburklund

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I read in the lastest issue of cpu magazine that maxtor plans to keep the speed at 7200 through out next year, but will add serial ata that would start out transfering at 166

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by mattburklund on 06/06/02 10:19 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
 
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cakecake

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That's a pity! I wish they would fix it and release a new version of the drives instead of completely discontinuing it. The TrueX thing was a work in progress... the 32x kenwood was decent and reviewers liked it... why? because they never used it and only tested one or two CDs probably: Audio and data. All they cared about back then was speed because everyone was sick of pure CAV drives that crapped out near the center of the disk and didn't deliver on speed promises. Then came the 52x but that still had compatibility problems. Then the 72x was released and wow the press loved it.

I even bought one myself, it's sitting around in a drawer now. The problem with mine was getting it to actually work. If it failed reading anything the first time, I would have to wait for a few minutes for the drive to cool down. Then I could try again. I think that's the problem, overheating. Perhaps I'll give it another shot but stick a ton of fans beneath it. If I ever get it working reliably I'll post my findings here.

Censorship makes us so much more creative.
 
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ejsmith2

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"overheating"

Never ever noticed mine doing that. I did have a cheapo dvd drive I bought, trying to support my local tax base. I think I singed the hairs on my fingers several times, when I went to fish out a cd.

I did notice my Kenwood doesn't like dust. Thank Gawd I have an air compressor. It did the trick, perfectly.

There's nothing like doing a minimum install on Diablo2, and watching that little monastary door friggin' fly open...
 
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