Serious Burn: Copying CDs In Just 3 Minutes

In Detail: Accessories And Features

Summary: TDK For Speed-Mongers, Aopen For Bean-Counters

This test of four high-speed burners clearly shows that the TDK, with its maximum burn speed of 24x, is definitely the favorite when it comes to speed and short burn times. In just 3 minutes, a complete CD-ROM can be written - none of the other test subjects can do this. However, the write cache that comes with the device shows deficiencies: 2 MB are decidedly too scant for a burner in this speed class. But with maximum use of the available resources (24x) it has a sustained data flow of 3.6 MB per second. The cache is thus emptied in less than one second.

Those who place less importance on burn speed and are looking for a good all-around burner should go for the AOpen CRW 1232A. It combines short access times with very good error correction. However, it makes less points for the features offered: There is no laser calibration and no burn-proofing function. But on the other hand, the burner can be had for $ 85.

Both Yamaha writers offer by and large equally useful features - but regarding error correction, they are less attractive. The CRW 2200E shows anomalies when writing to certain CD-Rs: In operation, the device shifts down from a 20x to an 8x burn speed.