Are 40X CD-RWs Worth It?

Once upon a time, a big jump in CD-R write speed ratings for CD-Rewritable drives meant that new drives could reduce the time needed to write a disc by as much as one-third. We tested two shipping models of the new 40X generation--CenDyne's Lightning III 40x12x48 and Plextor's PlexWriter 40/12/40A--and found that they cut only about 16 seconds off the average time that a 32X drive needs to burn a 650MB disc.

The diminishing return on speed is attributable in part to the new drives' use of Zone-CLV technology for writing to CD-R media, which divides a disc into three write zones. At the outset of each, the drive speed jumps up, but then it plateaus. Although the maximum is 40X, these drives won't write at 40X until they reach the disc's outer third.

In our tests, CenDyne's 40X drive (priced at $140) took 3 minutes, 23 seconds to write a 650MB CD-R on the fly, beating out its 40X Plextor rival (at $160) by just 3 seconds. The packet-writing results were not as close: CenDyne's 40X drive took 1 minute, 6 seconds to write a 100MB folder of files to CD-RW, while Plextor's required an additional 14 seconds. The 40X CenDyne was also slightly faster in our tests of digital audio extraction and application installation.

Both drives installed easily, but Plextor includes a detailed fold-out installation poster and well-written manual.

CenDyne's drive comes with Ahead Nero Burning ROM 5.5.7 and Nero Music Player. Plextor's ships with Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5.1, Plextor Manager 2000, and the label maker program from Stomp.

If you have a 20X or slower drive, the speed boost that 40X models provide is definitely worth considering.

SUMMARY

CenDyne Lightning III 40x12x48 Excellent performance and a good price make this drive stand out. Street: $140

SUMMARY

Plextor PlexWriter 40/12/40A Great CD-R write performance, plus excellent documentation. Street: $160