TEAC, a premier manufacturer of CD-ROM, CD-RW and DVD-ROM storage technology, recently announced the introduction of the CD-W552E, the company's newest and the world's fastest IDE ATAPI CD-RW Drive. Dramatically raising the bar in CD burning performance and flexibility, the TEAC CD-W552E is an internal CD-RW drive, capable of writing at speeds of up to 52x on CD-R formatted discs, 24x on CD-RW formatted discs, as well as reading at speeds of up to 52x. (52x write and 24x rewrite are currently the fastest speeds available.) "As the technology used to create digital photography and CDs becomes more advanced and easier to use, consumers are creating more and more sophisticated projects like video and multimedia CDs," says Les Luzar, Division Manager, TEAC America's Data Storage Products Division. "As such, consumers are demanding faster and faster speeds and TEAC's CD-W552E drive makes creating customized audio, data, and video CDs incredibly easy. This drive is an ideal solution for first-time users, as well as experienced computer enthusiasts."

Burning CDs is more reliable than ever with the TEAC CD-W552E drive, thanks to the advanced buffer underrun prevention technology. Delivering a fast 100ms average access time, the CD-W552E makes creating customized audio, data and video CDs quick and easy. The unit is compatible with extended capacity CD media and can record up to 700MB of data or 80 minutes of music ripping audio CDs at up to 52x speed.

Designed for both integration and upgrades, the CD-W552E drive is available in two basic configurations as either a bare drive or in a retail kit. In addition to the drive, the retail kit includes Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5, for audio and data recording, MusicMatch JukeBox for MP3 ripping and burning, and PhotoImpression for digital image editing. The drive in each kit is available with either a white or black bezel and is compatible with Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP.