CD-RW Drive For Under £100 (LG CDRW 8x4x32)

Member Name: cindy1

Product:	LG CDRW 8x4x32
Date:	18/03/01 (610 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, reliable and fast.

Disadvantages: Not one

I actually wrote this opinion a while ago, but I posted it in the wrong category, so it was taken off.
However, now that there is a proper category for it I've posted it back on.

The Review.

I've been after a CD-RW drive for ages now, but most of them seem to be really expensive.
So I thought to myself say I could use my dooyoo miles, and a bit of cash to purchase one.
The first thing I did was visit the Dixons and PC World website. Guess what?
They sell LG CD-RW drives for under £100, well I was really excited and couldn't wait for my vouchers to come. The big day come last week, and I drove straight to Dixons to get my drive.

The drive seems pretty good for most peoples needs, it has.
4X record.
4X Rewrite
32X Read.
It requires an IDE interface, and you need a 233mhz processor and 32MB of ram, you also need to be running Windows 95/98.
You are also supplied with the necessary cables and wires.

The only problem is that I've never done any upgrading to my computer, I've never even taken the back off. Therefore, I was a bit nervous about fitting the drive.
I followed the books instructions, it said I could connect two drives.
Nevertheless, after turning the computer on, nothing happened, both drives had disappeared from Windows. At this point, I was wishing I never bought the thing.

Then I had an idea, say I took out the old drive and connected the new drive, in exactly the same way as the old drive. I did this, and bingo it worked first time.
Personally, the instructions for this drive are rubbish.
This CD-RW drive will still run games and photo CD's etc, so I would recommend taking out your old drive.

I haven't had the drive long enough to comment on reliability.
But I have burnt two CD-R's and I've used a CD-RW disk to store data. On all three occasions the drive performed efficiently, and I didn't e
xperience problems. To record a 74-min CD it took approximately 20 minutes, which is fairly fast for a budget drive.

The drive is also supplied with Adaptec Easy CD creator. This software is really basic but has quite a few good features, such as jewel case templates, an audio and data wizard. The only downfall is that it doesn't decode MP3's to Wav.
You can combat this problem by downloading a freeware version of cool decode. Which is available from the Znet library and only takes 5 minutes to download.

For £99, this is real bargain, and I would urge you to hurry down to PC World or Dixons and get yours now, before they run out.

Update.

I've had this drive for approximately three months now, and in that time I have made lots of music CD's, I've stored data, and I've even compiled my own Sega megadrive and ZX Spectrum emulaters with tons of games to go with it.
Not once had any CD ever gone wrong, I don't bother with the test facility and just press the create CD button, and my CD's come out perfect everytime.

This is one fantastic CD-RW, I would highly recommend to to anyone who is considering buying a drive.

Also PC World have reduced this drive to a mere £89.99. What a bargain.

Summary: