Philips JackRabbit4 DVD+RW recorder - Page 15

Conclusion

The drive generally performed very well. As a CD/DVD reader, it is very fast achieving high speeds. Our confirmed speeds of 40x, 12x and 8x for CD-R/RW, DVD single layer and DVD dual layer respectively are similar to those achieved by an internal drive.

The writing speeds of the Philips JR4DVDRW are also very good, exhibiting excellent writing quality for both CD and DVD. All the measurement that we carried out showed low C1 and PI/PO values while no C2 error were reported. The 4x and 2.4x for DVD+R and +RW are normal. On the other hand, we would like a higher speed for CD, since the supported 16x and 10x are barely acceptable.

The JR4 drive's error correction capabilities are good for CDs and very good for DVD's. The drive managed to read accurately all of our defective DVD test discs, overcoming even the 3mm wide defective area. With the CD test, while the drive performed well, it could have been better, especially with the Abex test discs.

The Philips drive can easily handle SecuRom v2 and SafeDisc v2.51 games protections. However the latest's version of SafeDisc are not supported by the drive which is a minor problem.

The drive can also handle Key2Audio and CDS200 protection schemes for audio CD's, as well as ripping and playback of 90/99min discs.

Another commendable feature of the Philips drive is its ability to operate as a stand alone player. Every media we tried, pressed DVD, DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW played successfully from the drive without any problems occurring. Add the remote control and you have a complete player.

One feature missing is the firewire interface connection to go along with the USB.

We feel that the JR4 recorder is a good purchase and it will cover the needs of buyers for both home and office. The price has not been currently announced since the drive is not as yet available on the market. We believe that at a good price, it will be a very attractive purchase.