Philips JR32RWDV

Review Pages

1. Data CD Tests
2. Introduction
3. CD Error Correction Tests
4. DVD Reading Tests
5. DVD Error Correction Tests
6. CloneCD Reading Tests
7. DAE Tests
8. Recording Tests
9. Writing Quality Tests
10. HS-RW Writing Tests
11. Conclusion

Philips JackRabbit32 CD-RW/DVD drive - Page 09

Conclusion

Positive (+)

Negative (-)

32/10/40/12X portable combo drive
CDRW/DVD combo and stand alone DVD player
USB2.0/1.1 supported interface
Complete retail package
Good DVD ripping speed
Fast CD-R/RW reading
Supports DVD-R/RW, +R/RW, DVD-ROM formats
High writing quality
Low seek times for CD format
Overburning up to 89min
Supports CD-Text (reading/writing)

Average error correction capabilities
Does not retrieve C2 error information
4x DVD +R/RW, DVD-R/RW reading
High seek times with Dual Layer DVD discs
Possible reading problems with defected Dual Layer DVD media
DVD error correction needs improvement
Slow CloneCD reader
Does not support 96 bytes of SubChannel data
Cannot create working SafeDisc v.2 backups
Does not fully support audio protected discs
Z-CLV implementation leads to increased recording times

Philips JackRabbit 32 is a fast portable CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive with a unique feature for its category: It can be used either as a fast CD-RW/DVD combo attached in your PC/notebook or just as a separate stand-alone DVD player connected straight to your TV set. The device is fully remote controlled and offers nothing less than your home DVD-Player, allowing navigation and easy setup of the player through a smart Menu on your TV screen.

The package is complete and includes all the essential connection cables and manuals for PC-based or stand alone operation of the drive. PC connection is achieved through the USB2.0/1.1 interface.

The JR 32RWDV supports the 32x Z-CLV maximum recording speed for the CD-R format. Our tests showed that the current implementation of the Z-CLV technology does not allow the drive to achieve the lowest writing times among the 32x category drives. However, the writing stability is very good and no writing problems occurred while writing on various media. In addition, the Jitter measurements on the recorded media showed a high writing quality.

In the reading part, the drive is fast and the reading speed reached the supported 32x, both using pressed and CD-R media. The seek times for the CD format is low, but the ability to correct possible faulty bits on defected and scratched media (Almedio Abex) could definitely be higher. The drive also cannot retrieve any C2 error information while reading.

The supported average DAE speed is approximately 22x but it could be higher. The drive can also handle Key2Audio protected audio discs but does not read accurately the tracks of a Cactus Data Shield 200 disc. The reading /writing of CD-Text on audio discs is also supported.

CloneCD users will not be satisfied by the lack of the drive's ability to create working backups of SafeDisc v.2 protected titles, and the reading speed is generally low. Reading of 96 bytes of SubChannel data is also not supported.

As for the DVD format, the drive supports reading of DVD-ROM (single layer) at 12x CAV, and also supports reading of DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW discs at 4x on the average. However, the DVD error correction tests with ABEX test media showed that the drive had some problems with scratched and defected DVD-ROM discs, producing some read errors. The problem seems to be more serious with the ABEX dual layer DVD-ROMs, where the drive stopped reading the disc and refused to continue the test. Seek times on Dual layer DVD-ROMs were also higher .

The Philips JackRabbit 32RWDV left us with a positive overall impression. Although the drive did not gave perfect results in all the tests, it performed adequately in the basic benchmarks, with an exception in the reading of dual layer DVD-ROMs. The retail package is available at a street-price of about $235.