« Return to: Top 10 CD-RW Drives
| Rank | CD-RW DRIVE | Street price (10/10/01) | Overall rating | Performance/support policies | CD-R write speed for 650MB/CD-RW write speed for 100MB (min:sec) | Comments |
| 1 | Best Buy TDK 24/10/40 VeloCD ReWriter | $150 | 86 | Outstanding/ Very good | 4:12/1:20 | FEATURES: 24X/10X/40X,1 IDE, internal, 2MB buffer, buffer underrun protection, Ahead Nero Burning ROM 5.5 and InCD 2.12, one-year warranty, 10.5-hour daily toll-free support. SUMMARY: One of the fastest drives we've tested, this inexpensive model holds fast to the number one spot thanks to seven-day-a-week tech support. ( Oct 01) |
| 2 | Best Buy, New Philips PCRW2010 | $150 | 82 | Outstanding/ Very good | 4:31/1:19 | FEATURES: 20X/10X/40X,1 IDE, internal, 2MB buffer, buffer underrun protection, Ahead Nero Burning ROM 5.5 and InCD 2.22, one-year warranty, 11-hour weekday and 8-hour weekend toll-free support. SUMMARY: A fast CD-R burner for its speed class, this sharp-looking drive is bolstered by daily tech support and helpful documentation. |
| 3 | New Samsung SW-216 | $100 | 82 | Very good/ Good | 5:29/1:19 | FEATURES: 16X/10X/32X,1 IDE, internal, 2MB buffer, buffer underrun protection, Ahead Nero Burning ROM 5.5 and InCD 2.11, one-year warranty, 10-hour weekday toll-free support. SUMMARY: This unit joins our chart because of its low price and solid all-around performance--it's one of the best models we've seen among 16X drives.  |
| 4 | CenDyne Lightning 24x10x40 | $150 | 81 | Outstanding/ Fair | 4:11/1:19 | FEATURES: 24X/10X/40X,1 IDE, internal, 2MB buffer, buffer underrun protection, Ahead Nero Burning ROM 5.5 and InCD 2.26, one-year warranty, 9-hour weekday and 4-hour Saturday support (calls are not toll-free). SUMMARY: Excellent performance and a competitive price ($30 off this month) make this 24X drive a great choice. ( Dec 01) |
| 5 | Yamaha LightSpeed CRW2200EZ | $190 | 81 | Very good/ Very good | 4:49/1:16 | FEATURES: 20X/10X/40X,1 IDE, internal, 8MB buffer, buffer underrun protection, Ahead Nero Burning ROM 5.5 and InCD 2.11, one-year warranty, 12-hour weekday toll-free support. SUMMARY: This speedy drive logged the fastest time on our CD-RW tests; it also has a terrific software bundle. Price drops $30 since last month. ( Oct 01) |
| 6 | LG Electronics GCE-8160B | $130 | 79 | Very good/ Very good | 5:32/1:31 | FEATURES: 16X/10X/40X,1 IDE, internal, 2MB buffer, buffer underrun protection, Adaptec Easy CD Creator 4.03 and DirectCD 3.03, one-year warranty, 12-hour weekday toll-free support. SUMMARY: LG's inexpensive drive is a strong all-around performer and a fast CD-ROM reader for its speed class. ( Dec 01) |
| 7 | Sony CRX1611/82U | $130 | 79 | Very good/ Very good | 5:36/1:21 | FEATURES: 16X/10X/40X,1 IDE, internal, 2MB buffer, buffer underrun protection, BHA's B's Recorder Gold 1.99 and Clip, one-year warranty, 12-hour weekday and Saturday toll-free support. SUMMARY: Ranks as a good overall performer--in spite of sluggish times for installing Office and writing an image to CD-R. ( Oct 01) |
| 8 | QPS Que Internal 24x10x40x CD-RW | $165 | 79 | Outstanding/ Good | 4:12/1:20 | FEATURES: 24X/10X/40X,1 IDE, internal, 2MB buffer, buffer underrun protection, Ahead Nero Burning ROM 5.5 and InCD 2.23, one-year warranty, 11.5-hour weekday support (calls are not toll-free). SUMMARY: First-rate CD-R and CD-RW write performance plus a reasonable price keep this no-frills drive in the Top 10. ( Dec 01) |
| 9 | New Lite-On 24x10x40x LTR-24102B | $150 | 78 | Outstanding/ Fair | 4:31/1:19 | FEATURES: 24X/10X/40X,1 IDE, internal, 2MB buffer, buffer underrun protection, Ahead Nero Burning ROM 5.5 and InCD 2.26, one-year warranty, 9-hour weekday support (calls are not toll-free). SUMMARY: This unit's performance ranks it with the best 24X-class drives we've seen, but lackluster documentation and support hold it back. |
| 10 | Iomega 16x10x40 Internal CD-RW | $175 | 76 | Good/ Very good | 5:37/1:45 | FEATURES: 16X/10X/40X,1 IDE, internal, 2MB buffer, buffer underrun protection, Adaptec Easy CD Creator 4.03 and DirectCD 3.03, one-year warranty, 12-hour weekday and 7-hour Saturday toll-free support. SUMMARY: This drive features easy installation. It remains expensive compared with other 16X models, however. ( Oct 01) |
How we test: To gauge CD-ROM read performance, we time how long the drive takes to install Microsoft Office 2000 SBE (disc one). To determine CD-R write performance, we burn data to CD-R discs from an image file and on the fly. We evaluate digital audio extraction speed by extracting 320MB of musical tracks from an audio CD to our hard drive. We measure CD-RW performance by copying 100MB of files to a CD-RW disc, then rewriting the same data to the same disc. Overall ratings are based on performance (35 percent), price (25 percent), features (20 percent), tech support policies (10 percent), and ease of installation (10 percent). For more details, see "A Guide to PC World's Star Ratings."
1Vendor's speed ratings, listed in order: CD-R write/CD-RW write/CD-ROM read.