Mitsumi CR-4808TE IDE CDR-W - Page 1

- Introduction

is a well known peripheral manufacturer that also ships optical storage products. Mitsumi's previous models have been well known, since CR-4804TE was the first recorder that supported 99min CDs. However Mitsumi failed to follow the fast-recording race. When 16x recorders came out, Mitsumi released an 8X writer and nowadays when 20x and 24x recorders are a fact, Mitsumi releases a 16x writer. How succeful Mitsumi's attempt will be in the 16x writing race and could it really compete the existing best selling 16x recorders from Plextor, LiteOn and Teac?

- Features:
The drive supports 16x writing (CLV) speed -max- among with "ExacLink" as the main anti-buffer underrun technology. The exact writing speeds are 2x, 4x, 8x, 12x, 16x (CLV) and re-writing speeds 2x, 4x, 8x (CLV). Mitsumi released two versions of the CR-4808TE. The first batch of drives had 8MB of buffer, as our sample unit, but the massive retail drives will only have 2MB of Buffer. Finally, it supports all available writing modes (TAO, DAO, Multisession and Packet Writing).

- The new features:

ExacLink, and not ExactLink, technology was developed by OAK Technologies and has been used by Yamaha, LG and Mitsumi as an anti-buffer underrun solution. Yamaha's 2200X series was the first recorder that used OAK's "ExacLink" anti-buffer underrun technology but with a different name "SafeBurn" , due to increased 8MB of buffer and the monitor writing quality system. We can call "ExacLink" a light version of "SafeBurn", which's destiny is for medium level recorders...

Let's now see how OAK describes ExacLink : "....allows trouble free creation of CD audio and other disc types under the most difficult conditions. The ExacLink feature allows high speed, high quality writing of discs on the first try, regardless of the computer performance and drive buffer size. Buffer under-runs are no longer a problem with ExacLink since the drive automatically responds to the condition and continues writing as soon as more data is available without causing a buffer under-run error.

The ExacLink feature allows the drive to pause the write operation when data flow to the drive is interrupted due to other computer activity. When the drive receives enough data to continue, it begins writing again at the exact point where the previous write was stopped and with the exact power level and frequency used during the previous write. In this way, it appears to a reading device as if the writing operation had never been interrupted. This feature is valuable for writing CD audio discs since without the ExacLink feature, the drive would not be allowed to stop and re-start writing at random times since the resulting disc would be unreadable or contain errors..."

- The package:
The package in which the drive arrived was the retail European version. This included: The drive itself, a quick starting guide in 14 languages, 1 piece (24x certified) of Ricoh 80min CD-R blank, 1 piece of Mitsumi 74min (4x only) RW Blank, data/audio cables and mounting screws. The software supplied with the drive was Nero Burning ROM v5.5.2.4 OEM and Ahead InCD v2.2.3 (for packet writing use). There is also an electronic PDF manual included in the attached CD among with 3 games.

The front of the drive is what we can call "generic". The drive doesn't have the Mitsumi logo in the front of it, while it has the "High-Speed RW" logo which indicates its RW speed. You will also find only one led, the eject button and the headphone input jack/volume selector:

At the back of the drive we will find the usual connectors (IDE interface, power), the jumpers for assigning the drive as a Master/Slave, the SPDIF output connector and the analog/digital output connectors:

- Installation:
The Mitsumi CR-4808TE was installed as a Master in the secondary IDE BUS. The drive worked in UDMA33 mode and after booting, identified itself as the "CR-48X8TE". We unchecked the Auto Insert notification, checked DMA and rebooted.

The drive was a June 2001 model with firmware revision v1.1b installed. We used the Nero (5.5.3.5), InCD (2.26), CloneCD (3.0.5.1) and Padus DJ (3.50.799) for the recording tests. In case your Mitsumi CR-4808TE doesn't have 'ExacLink" activated you can use this utility to enabled it.

- Test Machine:
WinMe OS
Soyo 7VCA
Celeron II 566 over clocked to 850 MHz
128MB SDRAM PC 133
WD 18GB UDMA 66
Quantum Fireball EX 6.4 GB UDMA 33
DAWI 2975 - PCI (ULTRA) SCSI Host Adapter
ATI AIW 128
Mitsumi CR-4808TE firmware v1.1B
PleXWriter PX-W1610A firmware v1.03
TEAC CD-516EB firmware v1.0A
LiteOn LTR-16101B firmware vTS0N