YAMAHA CRW-F1 IDE CDR-W - Page 2

- The package

The package included the bare drive among with the essential media for the tests and the CDR software. We got 40X CD-R CD-R media from Fuji-Film, two pieces of 24X HS-RW media (from Mitsubishi Chemicals) and several media especially for the DiscT@2 'print' tests (Mitsubishi Chemicals).

The price of the retail package (MSRP) for the US market is around $179 and for European users is Euro 199 (CRW-F1 ATAPI version). The actual retail price probably would be even lower.

The Japanese retail package will include burn software from Ahead: Nero (5.5.8.13), InCD 3.32, Nero Toolkit, Nero Cover Designer with DiscT@2 function as well as the owner's manual , software guide for Nero, standard E-IDE 40-pins flat cable, audio cable, mounting screws , jumper cap (shunt), one blank CD-R disc and one blank CD-RW disc. The initial package will include 24X HS-RW media.

There will be several other CRWF1 versions with different connection interface:

• CRW-F1UX (External USB2.0/1.1)
• CRW-F1DX (External USB2.0/1.1 + IEEE1394)
• CRW-F1SX (External Ultra SCSI)

The CRW-F1 external models will be available in August 2002, beginning with the USB 2.0 model. The dual interface FireWire/USB 2.0 model and the SCSI models will follow shortly.

The US retail package will include: Ahead Nero 5.5.8.13, InCD 3.32, NeroMix, Nero Toolkit, Nero Cover Designer, MusicMatch Jukebox 7.0 (Yamaha edition), Dantz Retrospect Express, Adobe PhotoDeluxe and Adobe ActiveShare, 1 blank CD-R, 1 blank CD-RW (24x), a Quick Start Guide, installation map, IDE cable, and hardware kit (screws, washers, audio cable).

The US codenames are slight different:

- CRW-F1ZE (Internal E-IDE w/ Platinum White faceplate)
- CRW-F1ZEN (Internal E-IDE w/ Black faceplate)
- CRW-F1ZS (Internal SCSI w/ Platinum White faceplate)
- CRW-F1ZSN (Internal SCSI w/ Black faceplate)
- CRW-F1ZUX (External USB 2.0)
- CRW-F1ZDX (External FireWire/USB 2.0)
- CRW-F1ZSX (External SCSI)

In the front panel of the YAMAHA CRW-F1 is white and you can find the "YAMAHA" logo, the headphone jack, the volume selector and the eject button. The drive continues to include the special "intense blue" LED that lights up when recording. The LED will change to a purple-white (fluorescent) colour when the drives are idle. There aren?t any logos of the drive's features, since YAMAHA wants to keep the design of the drive "classic". Lastly the drive has a black tray, similar to the previous CRW3200E series:

In rear panel, you will find the power connector, the IDE cable connector, jumpers for setting up the MASTER/SLAVE/CABLE select status and finally, the analog/SPDIF connectors

Below are the full specifications of the Yamaha CRWF1-E:

Interface	E-IDE / ATAPI (Internal)
Data Capacity	700 MB (80 min.), 650 MB (74 min.)
Write Speeds (CD-R)	44x (19x-44x Full CAV); 16x, 12x, 8x, 4x, 1x, (CLV)
ReWrite Speeds (CD-RW)	24x, 10x (Full CAV*); 24x (Partial CAV); 16x, 12x, 10x, 4x, 2x (CLV)
Read Speed	44x (Full CAV)
Digital Auto Extraction	44x(Full CAV)
Data Buffer Size	8 MB (3176 sectors)
Data Transfer Speed	150 KB/s ~ 6600 KB/s (44x)
Access Time	130 ms (Average Random Access Time)
Disc Loading Type	Front Auto-Loading Tray
Writing methods	Disc-at-Once, Session-at-Once, Track-at-Once, Packet-Writing, Advanced Audio Master Quality Recording, CD-MRW
Supported Formats**	CD-DA, CD-TEXT, CD+G, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-Bridge (Photo CD), Video CD (VCD), CD-I, Mixed Mode CD-ROM, CD EXTRA, CD-MRW (Mount Rainier)
Buffer Underrun Protection	Yes, SafeBurn
Operational LED Colour	Ice Blue
Dimensions / Weight	146 (W) x 41.3 (H) x 193.1 (D) mm / 0.9 kg (drive only)
Minimum Hardware Requirement	PC: Pentium II-Class or higher, 300MHz or faster, 64MB RAM (Windows XP: 128MB)
Supported Operating System	Windows 98/ 98 SE/ Me Windows 2000 Professional / XP

- Installation

The YAMAHA F1 was installed as a Master in the primary IDE BUS. The drive worked in UDMA-33 model. After booting, it identified itself as a "YAMAHA CRW-F1E". WinXP activated DMA without our interference.

The drive is a June 2002 model and came with initial firmware revision v1.0a. YAMAHA send a newer version (v1.0b) that was used for all reading/recording tests. Lastly, we used Nero v5.5.9.2b, CloneCD v4.0.1.9 and Ahead InCD v3.32 for the recording tests.