1. Package - Installation
Freecom FC-1-
Page 1
The
Freecom FC-1 52x32x52 CD-RW burner with 7-in-1 card-reader is a new
device that combines an ultra fast CD-RW with an integral 7-in-1 card-reader.
The FC-1 is available as an internal version for PCs, and is connected via
the IDE and USB interface. It
writes
CD-R media at 52x speed, and rewrites CD-RW media at 32x speed. The built-in
buffer underrun prevention technology ensures reliability when writing
or rewriting CD blanks. The card-reader supports CompactFlash,
MicroDrive, Smart Media, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Secure Digital and
MultiMediaCard.
- Specifications
Product specifications |
52x32x52 |
Tray type |
Electrical load / eject, with emergency eject |
Supported Memory cards |
CompactFlash/MicroDrive/SmartMedia/Memory Stick/Memory Stick Pro/
Secure Digital/MultiMediaCard |
Supported CD Media |
CD-R, CD-RW, MiniCD, CD-DA, CD-XA, CD-I, PhotoCD, VideoCD, CD-Text |
Recording mode |
Orange-Book part 2,3
Packet writing
Disk at once
Track at once
Multi Session |
Interface |
Optical Drive: Standard IDE Interface
Card Reader: USB interface (Internal USB connector on motherboard or at
the
back of the PC) |
MTBF |
50.000 hours |
Safety standards |
Application Standard UL1950 CSA950 EN60950 HHS Class1 EN60825-1 Class1
Radio Interference EN55022 EN61000-3-2 EN61000-3-3 ENN50082-1 |
Physical specifications |
Height 4,2 cm x Width 14,7 cm x Length 19,5 cm - Weight 950 gr |
Environmental specifications |
Operating +5° to +45° C
Storage -30° to +60° C
Gradient 11 °C /hour (max.)
Humidity 8 - 80 % (no condensation)
Gradient 11 %/hour (max.) |
Package includes: |
• Freecom Internal CD-RW Recorder with 7 in 1 Card
Reader
• Roxio Easy CD Creator version 6/VCD editon
• Freecom CD-R 80 min 700MB
• Manual in 7 languages (D, GB, F, I, E, NL, T)
• Quick Install Guide
•
Cables & Screws
• Free helpdesk support
• 2 years manufacturers warranty |
System requirements |
The minimum system requirements for the drive and complementary software:
PC with Pentium II 350 MHz or higher with Windows 98SE/ME/
2000Professional/XP, 400 MB free harddisk space, 128MB RAM, one free IDE
controller connector and one free USB connector on the motherboard or at
the back of the PC.
This drive can play the following formats: Video CD, Photo CD, CD-DA, CDROM,
CD-ROM XA, CD-I, CD-TEXT, CD-Extra, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-UDF. This drive
can not play or record any DVD media. |
The Freecom FC-1 uses a 2MB buffer store. The drive also
supports Mount Rainier and RAW DAO 96 writing (CD).
- The drive
The
Freecom retail package includes the drive, a CD with the manual and Roxio CD
Recording Software (with Easy CD Creator). Thus there is a quick
installation
guide and the warranty.
The IDE and the audio cables, the mounting screws and a blank CD are also
included. Finally, there is a cable/adaptor, for connecting the USB output cable
onto our PC's USB connector instead of straight on the motherboard.
Below you can find the detailed description regarding the front and rear panels:
Removing the screws and opening the drive's cover voids the drive's warranty.
For reference reasons, we post the following pictures. For a larger view press
on the photo.
The drive is based on the chipset shown below from Mediatek.
- Installation
The Freecom FC-1 was connected to our test PC and was identified
as "FREECOM CRW52K" under
WinXP operating system.
The following pages include the test results of the Freecom drive in comparison
with two other drives, the Plextor Premium and the AOpen CRW5232.
2. Data CD reading Tests
Freecom FC-1 - Page 2
Data CD Reading Tests
- Pressed CD results (Click for
CDSpeed results)
According to the specifications, the Freecom FC-1 supports a maximum reading
speed of 52x. Our tests confirmed this and moreover the drive reached a final
speed of 53.64x, which was the highest in our comparison. The reported average
speed was at 40.43x.
For all seek times the Freecom drive returned good times where it was only
slightly slower than the Plextor Premium for 1/3 and full seeks, but had the
fastest random seek time at 85ms.
- CD-R Media results (Click for
CDSpeed results)
In this reading test, the Freecom drive was again the fastest among the three
drives. Notice that the final speed reached was 54.18x, which is a high speed.
However the average speed was the same for all drives.
As in the previous test with the pressed CD, the Freecom drive once again
had low seek times although not as good as the Plextor Premium.
- ReWritable Media (Click for
CDSpeed results)
For this test we used 32x High Speed rewritable media from Mitsubishi Chemicals.
Due to the Freecom drive's specified 32x US-RW reading speed, it was only
logical that the drive would be slower than the other two which support 52x.
3. CD Error Correction Tests
Freecom FC-1 -
Page 3
Error Correction Tests
In the following tests we check the drive's behavior when reading
scratched / defective audio discs. The test discs used were the ABEX series
from ALMEDIO.
- ABEX TCD-721R
Errors total
|
Num:
3425293
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num:
105650
|
Avg:-72.2
dB(A)
|
Max:
-5.2 dB(A)
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num:
7405
|
Avg:
1.0 Samples
|
Max:
9 Samples
|
Skips Samples
|
Num:
0
|
Avg:
0 Samples
|
Max:
0 Samples
|
Total
Test Result
|
75.2
points (out of 100.0 maximum)
|
As can be seen from the graph above, the drive read the contents of the defective
disc returning a total of 3425293
errors, which is a little on the high side. In spite of the fact that the maximum
error loudness reached was -5.2dB, in general the level was well below the
"alert" limit, which means that the possibility of any audible clicks is very
unlikely. There were no skipped samples and the drive recorded a score of
75.2
out of 100. In the same test, the Plextor Premium had 66.7 and the Aopen 67.
- ABEX TCD-726
Errors total
|
Num:
40
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num:85
|
Avg:
-75.8 dB(A)
|
Max:-64.7
dB(A)
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num:
0
|
Avg:
0 Samples
|
Max:
0 Samples
|
Skips Samples
|
Num:
0
|
Avg:
0 Samples
|
Max:
0 Samples
|
Total Test Result
|
91.2
points (out of 100.0 maximum)
|
The Abex TCD-726 test disc is much easier for drives in general to read, and
as such, the Freecom drive managed a better score with this disc than it did
with the 721R test disc previously. No muting or skipped samples were reported.
The score was 91.2 for the Freecom which is a good score, while the Plextor
and Aopen drives had 81.4 and 66.8 respectively.
- CD-Check Audio Test Disc
The CD-Check Test Disc is a very useful tool for evaluating the Sound Reproduction
/ Error correction capabilities of a CD player. The disc offers a signal combination
with disc error patterns to rate the drive's abilities to read music and reproduce
it completely. Five tracks on the disc contain a sequence of progressively
difficult tests. These tracks are referred to as Check Level-1 through Check
Level-5.
The
tracks are reproduced (played) through a software multimedia player (i.e.
Windows Media Player). Each level is considered as passed, if the tone coming
from the speakers is smooth, continuous without interruptions, skipping or
looping. The higher the Check Level passed, the more reliable the sound reproduction
of the tested drive.
Error Level
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
Freecom FC-1
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
The Freecom drive managed to play flawlessly all the levels of our test disc.
This behavior reveals excellent CD error correction capabilities.
- Summary
Test Disc
|
Reading Speed
|
Score
|
ABEX TCD-721R
|
Max
|
75.2
|
ABEX TCD-726
|
91.2
|
Average Score
|
83.2
|
Combining the two scores from the ABEX tests gives an average total score of
83.2 points out of 100, which is a very good score.
4. Protected Disc Tests
Freecom FC-1 -
Page 4
Protected Disc
Tests
- Reading Tests
We created an image of various protected titles to the hard disk, using
Alcohol v.1.4.8.with the appropriate settings, according to the protection
type of the inserted discs. Below are summarized the capabilities of the Freecom
FC-1 drive as presented by the CloneCD program.
The game titles used and their respective protection schemes are illustrated
in the following table :
Game Title
|
Protection Scheme
|
PSX "NBA Jam Extreme"
|
Lybcrypt
|
Serious Sam The Second Encounter v1.07
|
SafeDisc v.2.60.052
|
VRally II
|
SecuROM v.2
|
Lybcrypt
The Freecom FC-1 was the fastest, among the drives when it came to creating
an image of the PSX game disc. The drive ripped the disc contents at 1922.66
sectors/sec, a result that is more than 50% higher than the other two drives.
SafeDisc v.2
Ripping the contents of Safedisc v2 protected disc is not the strongpoint
of the Freecom drive. It was about one third the speed of the Plextor.
SecuROM
For the SecuROM protected game disc the Freecom drive returned the highest
transfer rate.
- Writing Tests
The Freecom drive supports the DAO-RAW writing mode.
For checking the drive's EFM correction status, we used 3 different game titles
with different SafeDisc 2 versions and the latest software patches installed.
After creating images of the various titles to the hard disk, we
burned them (maximum speed) with Alcohol 120%. Two different discs were created
for each
title; one with the "Bypass EFM error" enabled and one with
the
function disabled.
In the table below can be seen whether the produced backups were working
(game installed / played normally), or not.
Drive |
Game Title |
SD2 Build |
Settings |
Bypass EFM error Off |
Bypass EFM error On |
Freecom FC-1 |
Max Payne |
v2.51.020 |
Yes |
Yes |
Serious Sam - The Second Encounter
v1.07 |
v.2.60.052 |
Yes |
Yes |
The Sims Unleased |
v.2.8 |
Yes |
Yes |
The Sims Superstar |
v2.9 |
Yes |
Yes |
At the end of the writing tests we can see that the Freecom FC-1 was able to
make working backups of all protection schemes, even Safedisc v2.9, which is
quite rare. Under both settings, Amplify weak sectors on and off, the drive
made working backups. The working backups were playable even in old CD players
such as the Teac CD-540E and Creative 5233E.
5. CD-DA - DAE Tests
Freecom FC-1 - Page
5
DAE Tests
- Pressed and CDR AudioCD results
The
Freecom FC-1 uses 40x CAV strategy for CD-DA. Below is a screen shot from the
CDSpeed transfer rate test with a pressed audio CD.
The average speed of 30.95x, according to CDSpeed, is a good one while the
seek times were also good.
We then ripped the contents of the same audio disc to the hard disk with
CDDAE software.
According to the graph above, the Freecom drive was the slowest among the
drives.
The same pressed audio disc was copied onto a CD-R and was read again with
CDspeed. The Freecom FC-1 returned virtually the same ripping speed as with
the pressed AudioCD.
- Advanced DAE Quality
After the end of the CDSpeed Advanced DAE Quality test, the software results
are presented in the following screen shot:
The test showed us that the drive had an average speed of 26.84x, while no
data or sync errors reported. The quality score is the absolute 100. The drive
can read CD text and subchannel data but not leadin and leadout.
- Support of 90/99mins AudioCDs
Supports 99min disc
- Reading/Ripping Protected AudioCDs
For the test procedure we used two audio discs with different
audio protections schemes. The tasks we tested for are recognition and ripping
to the hard disk. The software we used is Exact Audio Copy.
* Pressed Audio disc protected by Sony Key2Audio (Celine
Dion - New Day
Has Come)
* Pressed Audio disc protected by Cactus Data Shield 200 (Natalie
Imbruglia - White Lilies Island)
|
Key2Audio |
CDS200 |
EAC |
Freecom FC-1
|
cannot recognize disc
|
Recognize the disc but cannot play
or rip the contents
|
Plextor Premium
|
OK
|
OK, with few errors
|
Aopen CRW5232 |
OK |
OK |
Unfortunately the drive failed in both cases to playback or rip the contents
of our test discs. In the case of the Key2Audio, it was not possible to recognize
the disc, whereas with the CDS200, the Freecom drive recognized the disc but
could neither rip or play its contents. The Plextor and AOpen drives had both
managed to read both audio discs.
6. CD Recording Tests
Freecom FC-1 - Page
6
CD Recording Tests
- CD-R Writing Tests
The AOpen drive supports 8x, 12x, 16x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 48x, and the maximum
52x CAV writing speeds. Below you can see the CDSpeed writing simulation graph
with
Taiyo Yuden
48x
CD-R
media.
The
drive starts writing the disc at 23.01x and reaches a final writing speed of
52.06x. The average writing speed was 39.38x. This test confirmed the manufacturer's
specifications of 52x CD recording.
- Recording Times
For the burning tests we created an 80min data compilation using Nero Burning
Rom and recorded the data on a 700MB disc. The Freecom FC-1 finished the writing
process in 2:38 minutes with selected writing speed of 52x.
Below you can see the best writing times of the Freecom FC-1 for 8x, 16x,
24x, 32x, 40x, 48x and 52x. In each case, the Buffer underrun protection feature
was enabled:
The following graph illustrates the recoding times for various media.
As it can be seen from the graph above, the drive burned at 40x
many of the tested discs. In the following table we can see which of the discs
recorded at 52x and which did not. Also, some media reported 52x recording,
such as Creation, but were actually much slower.
Disc
|
ID Code
|
Capacity
|
Burned |
Taiyo Yuden 48X
|
TaiyoYuden 97m24s01f
|
79:59:72
|
52x |
CMC 48x
|
CMC Magnetics 97m26s26f
|
79:59:71
|
52x |
MAM 52x
|
Mitsui 97m27s58f
|
79:59:74
|
40x |
HiSpace 48x
|
97m25s07f
|
79:59:00
|
40x |
Creation 48X
|
Plasmon 97m27s18f
|
79:59:74
|
52x |
Ritek 48x
|
Fuji 97m26s45f
|
79:59:73
|
40x |
Maxell 48x |
Ritek 97m15s17f |
79:59:70 |
52x |
We should mention that on several occasions the following message appeared
while recording:
- US-RW Writing Tests
The
Freecom FC-1 supports the 32x P-CAV maximum rewriting speed for the US-RW format.
Below are the results of the CDSpeed writing simulation test with blank 32x
HS-RW media from Mitsubishi Chemicals. CDSpeed reported that the maximum writing
speed was 32.25x while the average speed was 28.95x. Once again the manufacturer's
specifications are confirmed.
We also used Nero Burning Rom in order to burn a 32x US-RW data disc from
MC. The data compilation burnt had a size of 651 MB and the duration of the
recording process was 3:07 minutes. The following graph illustrates
the time that each drive needed to burn the specific compilation.
- Packet Writing Tests
InCD
We used InCD and Mitsubishi Chemicals 32x US-RW media for all Packet Writing
tests. Quick formatting of the media took 30sec. The formatted disc had
530mbs of free space. We copied a 403 MB file (412.822 KB) from the hard disk
(on the same PC as the CD writers) to the formatted RW media via Windows
explorer (drag and drop).
|
Duration
|
Average speed
|
Read
|
6:18 min
|
7.2x |
Write
|
3:28 min
|
13.2x |
The test result summaries are given in the above table.
MountRainier
|
Duration
|
Average speed
|
Read
|
3:07 min
|
14.7x |
Write
|
5:35 min
|
8.21x |
According to the specifications, the Freecom FC-1 supports MountRainier
packet writing. Just as we did with InCD, here too we used
a 32x HS-RW media form Mitsubishi
Chemicals.
- Other features
Overburning
|
Up to 99min
|
CD text reading/writing
|
Yes
|
7. Writing quality - 3T Jitter Tests
Freecom FC-1 -
Page 7
Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests
In this test we burnt an audio compilation onto several media brands, in order
to check the drive's compatibility with different media brands. In all cases
the compilation was exactly the same and the burning software was Nero Burning
Rom.
- 3T Pit results
As can be seen from the graph above, TY 52x, CMC 52x and Maxell 52x media all
exceeded the 35nsec limit, mainly towards the end. From the rest, MAM 40x had
very good levels with Creation 52x close behind.
The average 3T Pit Jitter table below simply confirms our conclusion from above,
MAM and Creation having the lowest values.
- 3T Land results
The 3T Land Jitter results don't really present a very different picture from
the Pit Jitter results. Here too, TY 52x and Maxell 52x media again over step
the limit of 35ns. All other media had very good levels.
Media Brand
|
Average 3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
Average 3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max 3T jitter values (ns)
|
Maxell
|
33.17 |
31.41 |
Yes
|
40 Pit, 38 Land
|
Ritek
|
30.12 |
26.17 |
No
|
35 Pit, 30 Land
|
Cmc
|
32.27 |
28.68 |
Yes
|
38 Pit, 31 Land
|
HiSpace
|
29.83 |
27.95 |
No
|
34 Pit, 30 Land
|
Creation
|
28.27 |
25.49 |
No
|
34 Pit, 30 Land
|
Mam
|
27.78 |
28.02 |
No
|
30 Pit, 31 Land
|
Taiyo Yuden
|
34.41 |
|
Yes
|
37 Pit, 33 Land
|
- Summary
The Freecom FC-1 in general did not provide high jitter levels. Apart from
Maxell, CMC and TY media which exceeded the 35ns level (mainly in the pit
jitter),
the remaining brands performed quite well.
On the following page we examine the C1 and C2 error rates.
8. C1 / C2 Error Measurements
Freecom FC-1 -
Page 8
Writing Quality Tests - C1 / C2 Error Measurements
We measured the C1 / C2 error rate on the recorded discs burnt at the
maximum supported writing speed for each media. The software we used is UMDoctor
Pro and KProbe and the drives for each software was Optorite DD0203
and LiteOn LDW-811S respectively.
The charts below present the resultant C1/C2 error measurement graphs produced
when reading various manufacturers media, previously recorded at the indicated
speeds with the Freecom FC-1 drive. Just for comparison reasons we have put
together both graphs from UMDoctor and KProbe.
Due to the high C2 error, that we had from UMDoctor measurements,
we checked the disc with CDSpeed. As we can see, there is a speed drop at
the same spot that the C2 error appears. We burnt a second disc from the same
manufacturer but the results were the same.
-
Creation 48x recorded at 52x
-
Ritek 48x recorded at 40x
-
Maxell 48x recorded at 52x
- Summary
As we can see from the screenshots above there were two cases
where C2 errors were reported. We consider this to be a matter of compatibility
and not bad writing quality of the drive. However KProbe measurements made
things more complicated. The figures we recorded from both applications
did
not coincide. This was expected, since we are talking about two different
chipset, in the reading side. The results from a Sanyo reader (DD0203) are
not comparable with those coming up from Mediatek's (LDW-811S).
We believe
that Freecom FC-1
with TY
media is not a good combination. Perhaps with a
new
firmware
upgrade
things
might
improve.
Below is presented information on the CD-R media used in
the error measurement tests.
Disc
|
ID Code
|
Capacity
|
Taiyo Yuden 48X
|
TaiyoYuden 97m24s01f
|
79:59:72
|
CMC 48x
|
CMC Magnetics 97m26s26f
|
79:59:71
|
MAM 52x
|
Mitsui 97m27s58f
|
79:59:74
|
HiSpace 48x
|
97m25s07f
|
79:59:00
|
Creation 48X
|
Plasmon 97m27s18f
|
79:59:74
|
Ritek 48x
|
Fuji 97m26s45f
|
79:59:73
|
Maxell 48x
|
Ritek 97m15s17f
|
79:59:70
|
9. Flash Memory card reader
Freecom FC-1 -
Page 9
7 in 1 Flash
Memory card reader
Flash Memory cards are very popular nowadays, being used
in several devices such as digital cameras, MP3 players etc. For our convenience
the drive is capable of reading/writing almost all the memory card types currently
available on the market. All the supported cards are summarized below :
- Compact Flash / Micro Drive
- Secure Digital
- Memory Stick / Memory Stick Pro
- Smart Media
- MultiMediaCard
Only the XD card reader is missing from the drive!
As soon as we connect the unit on our PC, from "My Computer",
we will see the following icons :
If we take look at the drive's front panel, we will see that
there are four slots for memory cards. So for each slot there is one independent "Removable
Disk" icon. So, Freecom FC-1 offers nothing more than a convenient build-in
card, and its operation as a "card reader" is independent to the
operation of the IDE drive. This means that you can use it as a card reader
without
connecting the IDE and power cables on your PC. The USB cable connection is
enough to power up the reader.
As we mention in the first page of this article, user can either
connect the USB cable directly to the corresponding pins on the motherboard,
or use the provided adapter to connect it to the USB slot on the rear panel
of the PC.
10. Conclusion
Freecom FC-1 -
Page 10
Conclusion
Pros
|
Cons
|
- 52/32/52 CD-RW
- 7 in 1 flash memory card reader
- Fast CD-R read, low seek times
- Creates working backups of SafeDisc v.2.90
- Overburning up to 99min
- Supports CD-Text (reading/writing)
- Supports 99min audio discs
- Supports writing CD+G
- Supports MountRainier PacketWriting
- Very good CD error correction
|
- Cannot play/rip Key2Audio and CDS200 protected
audio CD's
- Reading LeadIn and LeadOut are not supported
- Questionable writing quality with specific
media
- CD-RW reading could be faster
|
The Freecom FC-1 came with an excellent retail package, including a very helpful
CD installation guide, manual and Roxio's burning software. The drive is a good
CD reader, with high speed and low seek times. However the US-RW reading speed
could be higher than 32x.
In the CD error correction tests, the drive had very good performance. It managed
to play all the tracks of our CD-Check Audio Test Disc, where the last track
includes a defect of size 1.5mm. Also it managed to playback both of ABEX test
CD's (TCD-721R and TCD-726) yielding good scores in comparison with other drives
such as Plextor Premium and Aopen CRW5232.
The Freecom drive is also a good unit for creating working backups of protected
game titles. It managed to backup successfully all of our test games including
SafeDisc v2.9 although we would like faster ripping times with SafeDisc, as
it had with PSX and SecuRom v2.x games discs.
The drive unfortunately failed to playback/rip our protected original AudioCD's,
with Key2Audio and CDS200 protection schemes. It supports 40x AudioCD reading
speed.
In the CD recording tests, the supported 52x speed is high. The jitter measurements
showed acceptable levels for both
Pit and Land jitters. However, the writing
quality of the drive is not always high, and it seems to be dependant on the
media you are using. We assume that with a firmware upgrade the writing quality
can improve, while more media brands will be supported.
At €79.00 it is a good buy, since the unit combines a CD recorder with
a multi-card reader. If you need these two devices in one unit, then the Freecom
FC-1 is your solution. The problem is that nowadays, affording the reader
(drive) is cheaper than buying a 512MB flash memory card!