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CD DrivesMaybe you just want to listen to some music while you're flying to the coast - or maybe it's music while you work (a big one for the folks here!) or perhaps sending a CD with documents, data or audio is just a more efficient way to get your message across to customers or business partners. In any case, you're on this page because you are thinking about - or know that you want - a CD drive for your computing system. But which CD (Compact Disc) drive is "right" for you, your business and your system? There is an abundance of type of drives that support a number of disk formats (CD-R 48x, CD-RW 1x-4x, CD-R 48x, CD-R Music, CD-R Printable Discs, CD-RW 10x-24x Ultra Speed, CD-RW 1x-4x, CD-RW 4x-10x High Speed). And that's just the beginning. So before you purchase that new CD drive for your system, here are some of the factors you should consider in your CD drive purchase:
So, ready to take a look at what is out there? We've tried to hit on the majority of CD drives and their manufacturers. In fact, the number was so large, that we had to build a separate document with all the choices on them (and relevant information). You can find this document at: CD Drives - Product Matrix.
Additionally, we've chosen our favorite drive from every manufacturer. Just look for the ณ symbols! Finally, after you've burned that CD, you might need a large number duplicated for your customers or business partners. If you're looking for a third party to burn them, check out: CD DVD Replication. CD Drives ReviewCD Drives* (Rankings - best, 5 symbols, worst, 1 symbol)
* A = Amateur, R = Rookie, P = Pro
Simple Start-Up - นนนน Addonics makes seven external CD drives and three CD duplicators. All use either USB 2.0, FireWire, Serial ATA or PCMCIA to integrate with your system. Software drivers are easy to install, and mastering software, where present is straight forward to install and set up. Cost - $$$$ Addonics external CD drives range in price from $99.00 to $129.00. CD duplicators are $199.95 (duplicator only), $185.00 (USB) and $229.00 FireWire). See our product matrix CD Drives - Product Matrix for all pricing and product information. Time Savings - นนนน We believe that the "burning" drives especially are big productivity boosts for small business owners. Burning CDs for customers with text, audio and/or video files can help enhance your business' corporate image and professionalism as well as make it easy for your business partners to access sales/marketing/training or other high value content. And, if you can simply do it yourself - you'll (in the end) save tons of time and money you would have spent using a third party and driving back and forth or sending edit after edit to your vendor for "burning". Addonics adds functionality with a number of external drive options as well as CD duplicators/burners. Ease of Use - @@@@ The
drives in themselves are easy to use, with extras like auto media detection.
Add on software is straight forward to use and will help you quickly begin
burning CDs. Although most of the add on software is not compatible with any other environment than Windows, the drives themselves (dependent upon their hardware interface) are compatible with a number of OS's including Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Sun Solaris. Support - ppp1/2 Addonics CD drives carry a one year warranty. The tech support area on their web site includes a FAQ, user guides and driver downloads. If you need more help you can email, fax or telephone them (no "800" number, you must pay long distance charges where they apply. After two years, Addonics supports owners via email only. Features - iiii Addonics' CD product portfolio includes some interesting permutations of external CD drives. FireWire, USB 2.0 support come on almost every iteration. Additionally, they make 3 CD duplicators for those of you requiring the ability to copy your CD's for distribution to customers or business partners, two of which are also CD burners and integrate with your computing system. Overall Rating - %%%% If you've decided on an external CD drive, there's a very good chance that Addonics has one that will meet your needs - in price, performance, form/factor (small form factors in the Pocket line) and features/functions. A diverse product set, competitively priced - especially when you add in the duplicators as well!
Simple Start-Up - นนนนน All of Alera's CD Duplicators are stand alone - you won't need a computer to copy CDs. The Digital Photo Copy Cruisers (Flash Memory to CD writer and Flash Memory to CD Writer, DVD Movie/VCD/SVCD/JPEG/MP3 player), do however, include USB 2.0 connectivity and Ulead, Nero and NTI Dragon Burn software that allows you to burn CD's from your PC on it as well (acts as a regular CD-RW drive). Cost - $$$$ Alera's duplicators (1:1 to 1:11) range in price from $269.00 to $1,379.00. The Digital Photo Copy Cruiser (Flash to CD) is $149.00 and the CD Digital Photo Copy Station for burning photos directly to CD (Compact Flash Type I/II, Secure Digital, MultiMedia Card, Smart Media, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro and Micro Drive support) is priced at $299.00. See our product matrix CD Drives - Product Matrix for all pricing and product information. Time Savings - นนนน We believe that the "burning" drives especially are big productivity boosts for small business owners. Burning CDs for customers with text, audio and/or video files can help enhance your business' corporate image and professionalism as well as make it easy for your business partners to access sales/marketing/training or other high value content. And, if you can simply do it yourself - you'll (in the end) save tons of time and money you would have spent using a third party and driving back and forth or sending edit after edit to your vendor for "burning". Alera adds functionality with CD duplicators and a Flash Memory to CD writer that are "stand alone" and do not require a computing system to operate. Ease of Use - @@@@ The stand alone duplicators are very simple to
use incorporating a basic LCD-based menu system. The Digital Photo Copy
Cruisers includes software from Ulead and Nero or Ulead, Nero and NTI that will allow you to leverage
the device as a CD-RW burner from your computer (Windows only). The duplicators are OS independent (they're stand alone after all). The Digital Photo Copy Cruiser is Windows oriented - especially in the area of applications software - but is stand alone as well and can work as a Flash Memory to CD writer without a computer. The "Plus" version supports Macintosh OS as well as Windows environments. Support - ppp1/2 Alera's drives and duplicators carry a one year warranty. The tech support area on their web site includes a FAQ and driver downloads. If you need more help, you can contact technical support via email or telephone (no "800" number, you must pay long distance charges where they apply). Features - iiii+ If you need to copy CD's , you'll get good speed and functionality in the Alera stand alone duplicators 40 and 52x. We especially like the functionality in the Digital Photo Copy Cruisers and CD Digital Photo Copy Station - Flash to CD plus CD-RW for your PC (you can burn photos from your flash memory cards directly to a CD without your PC!), or Flash to CD, DVD/VCD/SVCD/JPEG/MP3 player with 52 key remote control. Overall Rating - %%%%+ If you are looking for a way to duplicate CD's or burn photos directly from flash cards to CD, we recommend you take a close look at the products from Alera. They are competitively priced, fast and don't require that you hook them up to your computing system (you save the cycles on it for editing your audio or text!).
Simple Start-Up - นนน1/2 AOpen makes two internal CD/RW drives. The internal drives require that you open up your desktop and install them in an empty drive bay. Software drivers, where necessary, install easily. Cost - $$$$ AOpen's CRW5232L is priced at $38.38 the CRW5232/AAO is $23.25. See our product matrix CD Drives - Product Matrix for all pricing and product information. Time Savings - นนนน We believe that the "burning" drives especially are big productivity boosts for small business owners. Burning CDs for customers with text, audio and/or video files can help enhance your business' corporate image and professionalism as well as make it easy for your business partners to access sales/marketing/training or other high value content. And, if you can simply do it yourself - you'll (in the end) save tons of time and money you would have spent using a third party and driving back and forth or sending edit after edit to your vendor for "burning". Ease of Use - @@@@ AOpen's CD drives are straight forward to use. Works With - YYY AOpen's drives are designed for the Windows environment. Support - pp AOpen's drives carry a one year warranty. The technical support area on their web site includes just the basics - downloads, FAQ, user manuals. If you need more help they suggest you contact the store at which you purchased the device. You get what you pay for here - low cost, no support. Features - iii AOpen's CD drives provide just the basics. A drive, cables and manual. No software is included, so you'll have to purchase applications to use the CD drives effectively yourself. You can get an idea of what is out there by viewing our page on Audio Editing and CD Burners - CD Burning and Audio Editing Software. Overall Rating - %%% AOpen makes inexpensive CD-RW drives. However, you'll get just that - basic drives, no application software and almost absent support.
Simple Start-Up - นนน1/2 Six of the eight ASUS drives are internal (you'll have to get that PC open!), the external drives use USB 2.0 to integrate with your system. Driver software is easy to install and implement as is the bundled "add on" software supplied by ASUS (Nero Express). Cost - $$$$ ASUS' CD-RW 52x32x52x internal drives are $26.95, $31.00, $46.99 and $52.34, the external 52x32x52x drives are $35.00 and $59.00 and 52x CD-ROM's are $17.00 and $21.50. See our product matrix CD Drives - Product Matrix for all pricing and product information. Time Savings - นนนน We believe that the "burning" drives especially are big productivity boosts for small business owners. Burning CDs for customers with text, audio and/or video files can help enhance your business' corporate image and professionalism as well as make it easy for your business partners to access sales/marketing/training or other high value content. And, if you can simply do it yourself - you'll (in the end) save tons of time and money you would have spent using a third party and driving back and forth or sending edit after edit to your vendor for "burning". Ease of Use - @@@@ The ASUS drives are easy to use and the add on burning software from Ahead (Nero Express) is simple to set up and use. Works With - YYYY The 52x32x52x internal drives and the external drives are designed for Windows only, the CD-ROM drive support Windows, SCO UNIX, Linux, OS/2 Warp and NetWare. Support - ppp1/2 ASUS drives carry a one year warranty. The technical support area of their web site includes a FAQ, downloads and technical reference. If you need more help, you have to go to their web site and get an incident number before you email or telephone technical support (no "800" number, you must pay long distance charges where they apply) during the hours of 5:30 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific. Features - iii1/2 ASUS CD-RW drives deliver all the capability you'd expect in a CD-RW drive. They've bundled in Nero Express to help you get the most from your drive quickly and easily (more experienced users will want more powerful burning software). CD-ROM drives deliver standard CD reading capabilities. Overall Rating - %%%1/2 We believe the 52x32x52x internal drives are well priced and deliver all of the capabilities most users will need in a CD-RW drive.
Simple Start-Up - นนน1/2 BenQ makes two internal CD-RW and one internal CD-ROM drive. The internal drives will require you to open up your desktop and insert them into an open drive bay. After you've accomplished that task, the software drivers are easy to install. There isn't a lot of bundled software, but, where applicable, the included Ahead's Nero Express software is easy to install and set up for use. Cost - $$$$ The CD-ROM drive is priced at $22.95, the CD-RW drives at $18.99 and $27.36. See our product matrix CD Drives - Product Matrix for all pricing and product information. Time Savings - นนนน We believe that the "burning" drives especially are big productivity boosts for small business owners. Burning CDs for customers with text, audio and/or video files can help enhance your business' corporate image and professionalism as well as make it easy for your business partners to access sales/marketing/training or other high value content. And, if you can simply do it yourself - you'll (in the end) save tons of time and money you would have spent using a third party and driving back and forth or sending edit after edit to your vendor for "burning". Ease of Use - @@@@ The BenQ drives are easy to use once installed. Add-on software (where applicable) is well known in the industry - Nero Express. Works With - YYY BenQ drives are designed for the Windows environment only. Support - pppp BenQ offers a 1 year warranty on their drives. Their web site includes an online knowledge base, FAQ and downloads area. If you need more help, technical support is available via email and telephone ("800" number available) from 6 AM to 6 PM Pacific, Monday through Friday. Features - iii+ Basic CD-ROM, CD-RW drives. Some bundled software is included. Overall Rating - %%%1/2 If you are looking for a basic CD-ROM or CD-RW drive, the BenQ drives will more than meet your needs. Basic technology at a competitive price.
Simple Start-Up - นนน1/2 BUSlink makes an internal CD-RW drive, internal CD-ROM drive and an external CD-RW drive. The internal drive will entail getting the case off your PC and installing it in an open drive bay, the external drive uses USB 2.0 or FireWire to interface with your system. Software drivers are easy to install (IDE internal drives do not require drivers) and add-on software is straight forward to set up. Cost - $$$$ BUSlink's internal CD-RW is priced at $50.00, the internal CD-ROM at $30.00 and the external CD-RW drive is $80.00. See our product matrix CD Drives - Product Matrix for all pricing and product information. Time Savings - นนนน We believe that the "burning" drives especially are big productivity boosts for small business owners. Burning CDs for customers with text, audio and/or video files can help enhance your business' corporate image and professionalism as well as make it easy for your business partners to access sales/marketing/training or other high value content. And, if you can simply do it yourself - you'll (in the end) save tons of time and money you would have spent using a third party and driving back and forth or sending edit after edit to your vendor for "burning". Ease of Use - @@@@ All of the BUSlink CD drives are easy to use. Packaged software includes industry "name" applications including Nero Express and Toast (for Mac users). Works With - YYY BUSlink's CD drives are designed for the Windows environment. Support - ppp1/2 BUSlink CD drives carry a one year warranty. The tech support area of their web site includes software drivers to download, a FAQ and manuals. If you need more help, you can email them or call tech support (no "800" number, you'll pay long distance charges where they apply) Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5:30 PM Pacific. Features - iii+ Everything you'd expect in CD-RW drives. Nero authoring software included. CD-ROM speeds are 52x, write and rewrite on burner is 52x/32x. Overall Rating - %%%1/2 Capable CD drives at a competitive price.
Simple Start-Up - นนนน CD Cyclone makes four CD duplicators and two external CD-RW drives. The duplicators are stand alone and don't require any type of computing system to function. The external drives use FireWire to connect to your system. Cost - $$$1/2 CD Cyclone's 1:1 stand alone CD duplicator is $549.00 and the 100 disc capacity, auto-loading CD duplicator is $1,462.95. Two stand alone "systems" including a Windows 2000 based PC are priced at $4,999.00 and $9,949.00. The external CD-RW drives are priced at $137.67 and $159.00. See our product matrix CD Drives - Product Matrix for all pricing and product information. Time Savings - นนนน We believe that the "burning" drives especially are big productivity boosts for small business owners. Burning CDs for customers with text, audio and/or video files can help enhance your business' corporate image and professionalism as well as make it easy for your business partners to access sales/marketing/training or other high value content. And, if you can simply do it yourself - you'll (in the end) save tons of time and money you would have spent using a third party and driving back and forth or sending edit after edit to your vendor for "burning". CD Cyclone adds functionality with CD duplicators that are "stand alone" and do not require a computing system to operate. Ease of Use - @@@@ CD Cyclone's CD drives and duplication systems are straight forward to use. Works With - YYYYY CD Cyclone's stand alone duplicators are OS independent. The external CD-RW drives support both Macintosh and Windows-based systems. Support - ppp CD Cyclone duplicators and external CD-RW drives carry a one year warranty. The tech support area on their web site includes a FAQ and driver download area. If you need more help, your only recourse is email. Features - iiii If you need to do volume CD duplication, the auto-loading AT100 duplicator (100 disc capacity) is an interesting device that could save you tons of time. The CD-RW drives are standard implementations that do include extra audio jacks for speakers and headphones. Overall Rating - %%%1/2 The 1:1 duplicator is a bit "under powered", but the AT100 auto-loading duplicator is an interesting device for business owners who need to copy moderate amounts of CDs. Just set it up and let it run while you do something else (maybe even while you sleep!).
Simple Start-Up - นนน1/2 All of Dell's CD drives are internal and require you to "open up" your system and install them inside. Drivers install easily where required. Cost - $$$1/2 Dell makes sixteen CD-ROM drives priced from $17.00 to $89.00 and four CD-RW drives priced from $36.99 to $99.00. See our product matrix CD Drives - Product Matrix for all pricing and product information. Time Savings - นนนน We believe that the "burning" drives especially are big productivity boosts for small business owners. Burning CDs for customers with text, audio and/or video files can help enhance your business' corporate image and professionalism as well as make it easy for your business partners to access sales/marketing/training or other high value content. And, if you can simply do it yourself - you'll (in the end) save tons of time and money you would have spent using a third party and driving back and forth or sending edit after edit to your vendor for "burning". |
