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Yamaha Speeds CD-ROM

$449 SCSI drive writes CD-R discs at 6X, CD-RWs at 4X.

By Stan Miastkowski, PCWorld   

Yamaha claims its device is the first and only drive to combine a 6X CD-Recordable device with 4X rewritability. And it reads standard CDs at 16X, so you won't need a second CD-ROM drive for everyday use.

The CRW6416SZ uses a SCSI-2 interface and will be available initially as an internal unit only. It is scheduled to ship in June and is expected to sell for a relatively pricey $449.

With this release Yamaha joins Phillips and Verbatim in offering drives that record CD-RW discs at 4X; most other CD-RW drives record at 2X. The Yamaha drives, however, require CD-RW discs that are rated for 4X recording. These discs cost about the same as 2X rated blanks ($12 to $15 each) but can be more difficult to find.

With a CD-R write speed of 6X, Yamaha does the competition one better. The Philips and Verbatim 4X drives record CD-R discs at 4X. At the Yamaha drive's faster speed it takes about 15 minutes to create a fully loaded disc, and twice that time if you use a test cycle first.

Yamaha uses its proprietary RapidLinked packet-writing technology in the CRW6416SZ, so you can add files to a CD-RW disc one at a time by dragging and dropping. The drive is fully compatible with all available CD-RW software, according to Yamaha.

The drive ships with a software bundle that includes Adaptec's Easy CD Creator and Direct CD, Adobe's Pagemill and Photo Deluxe Business Edition, and software to create CD labels and jewel-case inserts.