The overburn master: the new LG GCE-8160B has a maximum burn speed of 16x. The absolute highlight - 90-minute CDs can be created with an 8x burn speed.

Complete LG burner package.

To sum up our position on these CD-burning devices: our comprehensive tests show that the CD burner from LG (GCE-8160B) and the Mitsumi CR-4805 TE are best suited for burning oversized CDs. We also included the other CD writers from the last tests - the AOpen CRW 1232A, the TDK CDRW 241040X and both Yamaha models, the CRW 2100E and the CRW 2200E. The overburn category is particularly useful for showing which manufacturers offer good quality and which ones merely bank on speed. TDK puts all of its money on maximum burn speed with specially made blank CDs that can be burned at 24x. Anyone interested in details of the most recent test with the latest burners up to 24x speeds can read about them by clicking on Serious Burn: Copying CDs In Just 3 Minutes .

In our tests on overburning a CD, only the Mitsumi CR-4805 TE and the LG Electronics GCE-8160B could write to blank CDs beyond the 90-minute limit. Both Yamaha models - the CRW 2100E and the CRW 2200E - and the AOpen CRW 1232A managed to burn the CD media with a maximum of 89:59 minutes - although the appropriate blank CDs used (see the tables for details) had a guaranteed capacity of at least 90 minutes. The media known as CD-R99, which still cost $1 each, were all a waste of money, except when we ran them on the LG and Mitsumi models that we discovered. In a test of the largest blank CDs (CD-R99) the Mitsumi and the LG managed exactly 99 minutes and 4 seconds.

Generally we were able to establish that most CD burners are capable of recording a maximum of 89 minutes and 59 seconds on suitable blank CDs, so it makes sense to buy CD-R80 and CD-R90 types.