Spin City

Spin Doctoring

The actual speed attained by the DVD-ROM drives we tested depended on what part of the disc they were reading. Most of them spin the disc at a constant angular velocity, maintaining the same rotational speed no matter where the read head is positioned. Consequently, these drives transfer data faster from the outer part of the disc than from the inner part ( most CD-ROM drives are CAV mechanisms, too). Many manufacturers list only the unit's swiftest DVD-ROM speed. The Panasonic SR-8585-B was unique among the ten DVD-ROM units we tested in using constant linear velocity, an arrangement in which the drive varies the disc's rotation speed according to the position of the read head, so the device maintains a constant data transfer rate.

We ran several tests to gauge the real-world performance of the drives in this review. Since people often use DVD-ROM drives to play CD-ROMs, we examined how the drives handled several relevant tasks: copying a file from inside and outside portions of a CD, installing Microsoft Office 2000, and displaying a slide show on Corel Professional Photo. We also tested DVD-ROM performance by measuring how long the drives took to map a trip using DeLorme's Eartha Global Explorer. We ran the same five read tests on the DVD-RAM drives, and we also measured the time each drive took to write and rewrite a 100MB file.

The X-Philes

It's cool to own the newest, fastest, most powerful device on the market. But how much does state of the art matter with DVD? Our read tests revealed that as with CD-ROM drives, DVD drives with larger X-ratings don't always out-perform the competition. Rated at a maximum speed of 16X DVD-ROM/40X CD-ROM, the Pioneer DVD-115 was the fastest drive overall, with top finishes in copying a file from the inside portion of a CD-R disc (just over 32 seconds) and installing Microsoft Office 2000 from CD-ROM (a scant 3 minutes 49 seconds--17 seconds faster than its nearest competitor). The DVD-115 also completed our DeLorme Eartha Global Explorer DVD-ROM test in a scorching 2 minutes 22 seconds, though the 10X-rated Hi-Val drive was just as fast in that test.

Among DVD-RAM drives, the 2X/20X-rated Panasonic LF-D102U and the 2X/20X-rated Hitachi GF-1000 traded first- and second-place finishes in our two file copy tests. The Panasonic took 65 seconds to copy 100MB from the inside track of a CD and 36.5 seconds from the outside track. The Hitachi's times were 66 seconds and 35 seconds for inside and outside reads. The same units also shared top honors in the Microsoft Office 2000 install (5 minutes 16 seconds for the Panasonic and 5 minutes 46 seconds for the Hitachi). At the other extreme, the Pinnacle and QPS drives posted slow Microsoft Office 2000 install times of 10 minutes 15 seconds and 8 minutes 43 seconds, respectively. The Creative Labs PC-DVD RAM 5.2GB was swiftest at displaying a Corel Professional Photo slide show, finishing in less than 62 seconds--almost 4 seconds better than the Hitachi and almost 11 seconds ahead of the Panasonic. But the latter two returned to the top on our DeLorme Eartha Global Explorer test, with times of 2 minutes 24 seconds for the Panasonic and 2 minutes 43 seconds for the Hitachi.

Most of the drives turned in similar DVD-RAM write performance. The exception was the QPS Que DVD-RAM. It wrote our 100MB test folder in only 2 minutes 29 seconds, while Pinnacle's Micro Flex Cinema PC DVD-RAM took a whopping 4 minutes 13 seconds--that's 672 KBps to only 395 KBps. But as noted earlier, the Que is the only drive we reviewed that came with write verification disabled. When we switched verification on, the QPS performed approximately the same as the other drives--writing a 100MB file in 4 minutes and 15 seconds.

Creature Comforts

All of the DVD-ROM drives we tested are solidly built devices with IDE interfaces, but we saw some notable differences in their features. For example, the AOpen DVD-1040 Pro and the Utobia DVD-Motion are both slot-fed drives, which gently pull in the discs when you insert them. We liked the servo-operated slot feeds, with their disc-cleaning pads, and admired the drives' ability to operate in any orientation. We missed the emergency eject machinery (basically a small hole into which you can poke a straightened paper clip or similar object to eject the disc in case of drive failure) that most tray-loading drives provide, however. All of the eight other DVD-ROM drives in this roundup use tray mechanisms with emergency eject.

Two other basic features on almost every DVD-ROM drive are a volume control and a mini-stereo headphone jack. Alas, both are absent from the Creative Labs PC-DVD RAM 5.2GB, the Panasonic DVD-RAM LF-102U, and Toshiba SD-M1402 DVD-ROM. And surprisingly, the newest DVD-ROM drive--Pioneer's DVD-115--omits the digital output that other drives use to send direct signals to the computer's sound card or to a set of digital speakers.

An important distinction among the DVD-RAM drives is how they connect to your computer. Three (Panasonic's DVD-RAM LF-D102U, Pinnacle's Micro Flex Cinema PC DVD-RAM, and QPS's Que DVD-RAM) are external SCSI units. Creative Labs' PC-DVD RAM 5.2GB uses an internal SCSI connection, and the Hitachi GF-1000 connects via an IDE interface. (Only the QPS kit supplies a SCSI card.) The best drive for you may depend on how much space you have inside your PC--or next to it.

Spinning Into the Future

CenDyne's CDI CD 00042 is our top overall pick among DVD-ROM drives, although every model we reviewed has the speed and features to satisfy you for years to come. On the DVD-RAM front, Creative Labs' $300 PC-DVD RAM is a bargain among first-generation drives. But if you crave speed--and are willing to pay for it--you may do better to save your money for the coming second-generation DVD-RAM drives.