Jet-Setting CD-RW Drive

Until recently, burning CDs at faster than 8X meant dressing for a SCSI affair. Having a CD-Rewritable drive able to write to CD-Recordable discs at 12X may still be a SCSI-only party, but thanks to the 10X/4X/32X CD-Writer Plus 9310i from Hewlett Packard, users who want an IDE drive can now revel in their own high-speed capabilities. The drive sells for $299--$90 more than the lowest-priced 8X/4X/32X writers, and $50 less than 12X drives.

Performance Screamer

In our tests, the 9310i performed exceptionally, with surprisingly fast CD-R write speeds. The drive took 5 minutes, 51 seconds to write our 430MB test image--a mere 57 seconds slower than the fastest 12X writer tested by PC World, the Smart and Friendly CD Rocket Mach 12. The 9310i was also faster than the speediest 8X burner we've tested by 1 minute, 13 seconds. And it wrote CD-RW with aplomb: Packet-writing 100MB to disc took only 3 minutes, 23 seconds, the fastest time we've seen from a 4X-rated CD-RW writer.

The 9310i also features a friendly out-of-box experience, topped off by a helpful video that describes the physical installation process. The generous software bundle includes Adaptec's Easy CD Creator 3.5 (for creating and copying CD-ROMs and audio CDs) and DirectCD 2.5 packet-writing software (for dragging and dropping files to CD-RW discs). HP Simple Backup provides capable disaster recovery functionality, while the Neato CD labeling kit and its nifty applicator tool is relief for those who find plain-faced CD media boring. Rounding out the package is Sonic Foundry's Acid loop-based music creation software. HP also sells a nearly identical model, the 9300i, with Corel's Print Office replacing Acid in the software bundle.

If we have any complaint about the 9310i, it's that HP's menu interface, while user friendly, insulates you a little too much from direct access to Easy CD Creator. To its credit, however, the menu system will help you get started. HP provides a one-year warranty on the 9310i, and telephone support (not toll free) is available for 12 hours on weekdays.

The 9310i is a boon for users who want an IDE drive. Compared to 8X CD-R writers, this drive will shave a minute or more off major CD-R writing tasks. And if you shop around, you might even find the drive for considerably less than HP's stated street price.