CDR Tests - Page 2

- 80min CD-R Tests

In our normal burning tests the 80min CD contains slightly more than 80min data (80:01:47). With 80min CDs, LiteOn LTR-40125S gets the first place. TEAC CD-W540E needs four more seconds to end the task:

At the 20x, 24x and 32x (Zone-CLV) writing speeds, the faster recorder again comes from LiteOn. The TEAC drive comes second with a 4-5secs difference in performance:

At the maximum writing speed, TEAC CD-W540E comes first. It ends the task at 3:04 and is currently the faster recorder. LiteOn follows with 195secs and both PleXWriter/ASUS drives are much slower:

- Recording performance comments

Viewer may be troubled from the recording results. Despite the fact that TEAC CD-W540E has the highest average recording speed of the four tested drives, the recording times, with an exception in the maximum recording speed (40x), are higher than LiteOn LTR-40125S. How could this happen?

The answer can be found if you read the LiteOn LTR-40125S review. The posted recording times are the lower we had with "Smart-Burn" Off. In that mode, the drive doesn't take the same time, in start; to calibrate the media as would happen with "Smart-Burn" enabled. Many users will turn-off "Smart-Burn" enabling the 40x recording speed with lower quality media. This way, user can have the lowest recording times but with questionable recording quality.

With the TEAC CD-W540E you can't turn off the quality media detection system. That means that in any case you will have the maximum available recording speed, with the highest writing quality.

- Comparison between recording Technologies

Let's now compare the faster recorders for each category. TEAC CD-W540E is the faster drive at the 40x recording speed, at least for now, and its time differences from other recorders are:

With 74min CDs:

- 46secs faster than PleXWriter PX-W2410A
- 41secs faster than Yamaha CRW3200E
- 19secs faster than CyberDrive CW-058D

With 80min CDs:

- 56secs faster than PleXWriter PX-W2410A
- 47secs faster than Yamaha CRW3200E
- 25secs faster than CyberDrive CW-058D

Even if the most of users expected very big differences, the test results reveille the truth. The 40x recorders offer significant performance boost only compared to the 20x/24x Zone-CLV recorders. We can call "significant" a gap of 56secs with 80minCD compared to the Plextor 2410A drive. Again remember that in such high recording speeds, 40x certified media would give you the absolute performance.