The internal IDE Iomega CD-R/RW 16X/10X/40X drive is relatively inexpensive at AU$649. The drive's CD-R write speed of 16X begins to lose its appeal when one considers that 24X drives are beginning to make an appearance. But make no mistake: This is not a slow drive. You can shave off a bit of time with a new 24X burner, but you can also save some cash with this drive and still burn a disc in a matter of minutes.
To make the Iomega CD-R/RW drive's 16X CD-R speed more appealing while 24X drives begin to hit store shelves. If you are purchasing a CD burner so that you can make a lot of "backups" of your music CDs, the Iomega's 16X CD-R write speed is the number you should be looking at. (People interested in archiving data files for later retrieval will be more interested in the 16X/10X/40X drive's last two numbers: CD-RW write speed and read speed.) In tests, the Iomega internal IDE drive's CD-R write performance was just average, but you'll still be able to burn a 72-minute CD in under 7 minutes.
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Installing the drive couldn't be easier--even if you've never been bold enough to open your computer before. Iomega includes a quick-start guide and a CD-ROM with an instructional video that walks you through every step of the installation process. If you need detailed instructions, you'll have to read them from a large PDF file included on the installation CD-ROM. The software bundle includes the usual suspects: Adaptec Easy CD Creator 4.0, Iomega QuikSync, Adobe ActiveShare, and MusicMatch Jukebox Plus.
The CD-R write speed for this 16X drive clocked in at 1.67MB, which equates to 11.4X speed--about average for a 16X drive when taking lead-in and lead-out times into consideration. In terms of CD-RW write speeds, the Iomega drive posted a respectable score of 1.04MB per second, or 7.1X speed.
For comparison, take a look at TDK's 24X/10X/40X VeloCD drive. This 24X drive should, in theory, be 33 percent faster than the 16X Iomega on our CD-R write test. However, the TDK received a score of 2.25MB per second, which was only 26 percent faster than the Iomega's score of 1.67MB per second. CD-RW write scores should be the same on both drives, but the TDK had a 14 percent advantage.
The Iomega's CD-R and CD-RW read scores were a mixed bag. Its CD-RW read speed of 2.55MB per second was the fastest we've seen on our new CD burning testbed, but its CD-R read speed of 2.51 was the slowest of the four drives rated at 40x that we've tested.
If you want to be the fastest burner on your block, you'll need to bring home a 24X drive. Choose the Iomega 16x10x40x CD-RW drive, however, if you want to save a little cash and still have a quick drive for burning music or data to disc.
Iomega CD-RW 16x10x40 ATAPI Drive
Company: Iomega
Ph: 1800 466 342
Price: AU$649
Rating:
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