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CD-RW drive makers may be hurting right now, but buyers are feeling no pain. Technology changes over the past year that have prompted vendors to unload older products--and changes among the vendors themselves--continue to yield a good selection of drives at super prices for buyers.

The top CD-R write speeds have nearly tripled, from 12X to 32X. Buffer underrun technology (which helps prevent ruined discs during CD-R burning) has become de rigueur in new CD-RW drives. And typical prices for leading-edge drives have fallen from $300 to $150 in a matter of months, with second-echelon 24X CD-RW drives now down to a record low of $90.

Why such steep drops? Vendors have excess inventories because of the weak economy, which lowered user demand and decreased PC-bundled sales. Some industry experts had predicted prices would stabilize by the end of 2001, but that has not yet occurred because drive production continues to be strong.

Edward Meadows, president of CenDyne, which markets both drives and media, says, "Manufacturers have bought the parts, so they have to go ahead and build and sell the drives." But then they'll sell at cost, or below, to unload the existing inventories, he adds.

You'll see several similar drives on store shelves. For example, Philips Consumer Products has released a 20X/ 10X/40X CD-RW drive, and is about to ship a 24X unit, with a 32X due soon. Why? Stores want drives to hit the $79, $99, $129, and $149 price points to attract a wide variety of users.

Speed Bumps

Drives capable of 32X CD-R write speeds have only recently become common, and already there's talk of drives with top-end 40X and 48X write speeds to come later this year. No announcement has been made, but 40X drives are expected by as early as April.

A caveat: As drives become faster, the additional user benefit shrinks, says Wolfgang Schlichting, an IDC analyst. Write speed is not uniform across a drive surface. Most 24X CD-RW drives use the Zone CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) method to achieve top speed. They divide the disc into inner, middle, and outer zones and write data at a constant speed--16X, 20X, and 24X, respectively--within each zone. A 24X CD-RW drive should have an average transfer rate of about 3.3 MBps (or 22X), which more accurately reflects its speed. A 32X CD-RW drive should perform at a rate of about 3.9 MBps (27X).

Extras

In today's market, vendors are eager to distinguish their drives. Sony plans to release a second CD-RW drive with a Memory Stick slot, to simplify the task of copying photos taken with a Sony digital camera to disc. Other vendors use longer support hours, faster interfaces for external drives (for example, USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394), or more robust software, among other attractions, to lure customers.

The bottom line: If you want one, now is a good time to shop for a new CD-RW drive.

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