Media Test Results (Writing Quality)

   To verify writing integrity, I ran Nero CD Quality test on all the burned CD-Rs and shown below are some screenshots of errors detected during the last 5-10mins of every burn (the rest of the discs produced similar results). We can see that current CD-Rs on the market ain't really capable of 48X speed even when Smart-Burn deemed them capable. However, the Ridata 40X media fares pretty well and is my current favourite for burning at 48X (very low error rate as compared with the rest) and should also be on your shopping list.

    Using Nero Scandisk, the detrimental effect of the 'slow down' toward the end of the burning process is evident as shown below. 

Conclusion

    Is the 'overclocking' a success? To a certain extent, a resounding yes. I would give a big thumb-up for pure value too as you can't get more than this bundle of joy at this price point! However, I have my reservation (for 48X) till I get my hands on a spindle of 48X rated CD-Rs for further testing (it's already on the way to the airport ... and to my house soon). Yup. It's working perfectly at 40X (and I know I shouldn't complaint) but my objective is to obtain the fastest drive at the lowest cost with reliable writing strength and in part, I have achieve that. At this moment, I can only pray that I can see a lower timing than this one by Ridata :)

Pros

- Low price (should be phasing out soon)

- Very good writing quality at up to 40X

- P-CAV / CAV recording strategy

- Mt. Rainier support

- Smart-Burn (Media-check + Buffer Underrun Prevention)

Cons

- Noisy

- Very picky with certain CD-Rs (especially with Imation)

- Lack of 48X media

* All trademarks, software and part or actual screenshots are properties of their respective registered owner.

(C) Copyright 1998-2009 OCWorkbench.com