what's the best IDE CD-ROM?

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jonnyjack

Platinum Member
Oct 13, 1999
2,162
1
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ok maybe not the best but best bang for the buck? i'm looking to spend at least under $30...i'm just going to put it in a secondary machine mainly to play music cd's and must be able to read cd-r's and rw's...good DAE doesn't hurt either...

so what are good ones? mitsumi? toshiba? asus? teac? sony?

if someone can point me to a site that has reviews of these newer drives i'd appreciate it...Anand doesn't review them anymore and neither did cdrinfo.com...which is where i researched on a burner, TIAEDIT: thanks for the replies...i ended up getting a lite-on dvd-rom from dell small business for $46.88 shipped (saw in hot deals) because i couldn't find anything cheaper than $30 shipped or locally...
 
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John

Moderator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
33,944
1
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Afrey 56x....take a peek @ storagereview.com.
 
So

So

Lifer
Jul 2, 2001
25,923
17
81
The best... still the KENWOOD 72x - a bit out of your price range tho'

Lite On is always a good price/performance choice, however I feel that traditional IDE CD-Rom drives have become a commodotized, I personally would just buy the cheapest one I could find, if it dies 5 years down the road, it will probably be $10 by then. If it is DOA, as long as you bought from a reputable dealer you'll be fine anyway. If you want a cheap drive, just watch your local sunday electronics circulars. :D
 
Trader05

Trader05

Diamond Member
Mar 1, 2000
5,096
20
81
Toshiba 48x - reads cd-rs, not picky on media, cd-rw's too. Clone cd happy, fast and quiet.
 
PliotronX

PliotronX

Diamond Member
Oct 17, 1999
8,883
107
106


<< Teac. >>


I concur. The Teac CD-540E is one of the best CDROM drives for IDE interfaces. Similar to Plextor reliability and performance IMO. It can be had for around 40 bones.
 
grrl

grrl

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2001
6,204
1
0
The best... still the KENWOOD 72x - a bit out of your price range tho'

I've heard many horror stories about the Kenwoods. Some people love them, but there was a thread a while back and, hands down, the vote was against the Kenwood.
 
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LXi

Diamond Member
Apr 18, 2000
7,987
0
0
I see people vote for Kenwood and Toshiba. Neither of them are being produced right now. Kenwood quit the CD-ROM business last year, and Toshiba has moved full force to make DVD-ROMs. Toshiba 48x CD-ROMs can still be found, but the availability is very scarce; the Kenwood drives have all disappeared, the only way to get one is buy a 2nd hand. I also see TEAC being mentioned, while the 40x is an excellent drive of it's time, and still an very good drive even today, it is, however, not competitive when compared to the likes of Lite-On and Affrey, and the TEAC is over the $30 budget. For now, I would recommend the Lite-On or the AOpen CD-ROMs, they both make very fast drives, and very affordable. Other wise, spend $20 more and get a DVD-ROM.
 
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Jerboy

Banned
Oct 27, 2001
5,190
0
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<< The best... still the KENWOOD 72x - a bit out of your price range tho' >>



Kenwood 72x have had alot of issues with reliability and it absolutely sucks at CD-R and especially at RW performance.

Original poster: Afreey is very good at DAE rate, but can only do 8x reading on CD-RW. Pretty much everything else is built by Top-G(China) or BTC(Taiwan) under various names with a few excpetions such as Toshiba, Plextor and Teac.

 
P

Pauli

Senior member
Oct 14, 1999
836
0
0
LXi is on the money here. I have a Toshiba and Teac and like them both - the Toshiba is quiet and very compatible, the Teac is a speed demon and fast at DAE.
 
D

Dink

Member
Feb 24, 2002
30
0
0
I'll toss in my vote for the Afreey 56X. You can pick one up online for 25 bucks. I've seen em as low as 18 bucks as well. Like John said, check out the review at storagereview.com. It's one of the best out there, and cheapest.
 
C

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
5
0
Asus 52X or earlier.

I have Asus 50X's like mad at work, and they read everything, and are very reliable, with ZERO problems. They are the best IMO.
 
M

majewski9

Platinum Member
Jun 26, 2001
2,060
0
0
I dont see the point of owning just a CDROM drive anymore. A good DVD or CDRW has a lot more uses and reads CD's almost just as fast.

The Kenwood 72x is the best! Lite on's are good and cheap as well.
 
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htmlmasterdave

Golden Member
Jul 13, 2001
1,309
0
0
I agree, the Affrey 56x BLOWS THE DOORS OFF any other drive, I have it and it totally rules, it does everything you can imagine as fast as possible ;)



<< Afrey 56x....take a peek @ storagereview.com. >>

 
M

mztykal

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2000
6,709
48
91
Another vote for the Afreey 56x. That thing is LOUD though. But with 24x DAE, who cares. :D
 
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