40x CD-RW Roundup Vol. 3

Review Pages

1. Introduction - CyQve4048
2. Introduction - Philips PCRW4012P
3. Data Reading Tests
4. CloneCD Reading Tests
5. DAE Tests
6. CDR Tests
7. Writing Quality of CyQve 4048
8. Writing Quality of Philips PCRW4012P
9. RW-Packet Writing Tests
10. Conclusion

40x CD-RW Roundup Vol 4 - Page 10

Conclusion

CyQve 4048
Positive (+)	Negative (-)
- Faster reader due to its 48x (CAV) speed - Supports JustLink and JustSpeed technologies - Supports "Perfect Write" Suite - Very good DAE ripping quality - Can"handle" some protected AudioCDs - Supports DAO-RAW - Supports reading/writing of SubChannel Data - Supports CD-Text (reading/writing) - Supports Overburning (reading/writing up to 99mins) - Supports Ultra-DMA 33 connection interface - Complete retail package contains Nero/80min HS-RW media	- Lower DAE performance than expected - Doesn't support 'Mt. Rainier' format - Low CloneCD reading performance - Doesn't support hardware EFM correction - Competition offers 2 years of warranty

Philips PCRW4012P
Positive (+)	Negative (-)
- 4MB Buffer - Supports "SeamLessLink" anti-buffer underrun technology - Supports "Thermo Balanced Writing" - Mt. Rainier would be supported with future firmware upgrade - Very good DAE speeds - Supports DAO-RAW - Can "handle" some protected AudioCDs - Supports reading/writing of SubChannel Data - Supports CD-Text (reading/writing) - Supports Overburning (up to 93mins) - Supports UDMA33 connection interface - Retail package comes with Nero and offers two years of warranty	- Drive is noisy - RAW writing is performed only at 16X - Low CloneCD reading speeds - Cannot recognize written 99min CDs - Didn't recognized our BAD DAE disc test disc - Supports only software EFM correction (SD2)

After the second roundup in the 40x recording speed, we compare two more drives from CyQve and Philips. Previous roundups showed that the competition is very strong. Lets see each drive positive and negative points.

The CyQve CQ4048 is the faster reader in this roundup for Mode1 discs. The DAE ripping speeds don't seem to reach the 48x and the average DAE speed stays lower than competitor drives. The recording speeds are also slower than other drives and the writing quality is good only with specific media. In some cases we got un-readable discs, even with JustSpeed enabled. The good news is that with the latest firmware (v1.06), CyQve offers the Perfect Write software utility in order to support more media. The utility improved the writing quality of the drive when we used non-40x certified media for high-speed recordings. Lastly the competition offers 2 years of warranty for Europe, where CyQve doesn't.

The PCRW4012P is another proposal from Philips for high-end recording. The drive has superb DAE ripping speed but the increased rotating speed produces high noise while reading. The recording speed is not the best you can find, but the quality level is high. In addition, we had some problems with our test discs, and RAW writing was performed only at 16x. Lastly, the Mt. Rainier format is expected to be supported with a new firmware. After all, Philips was one of the founders of Mt. Rainier.