Burn Baby Burn (Sony CRX 160E -RP)

Member Name: kasgaroth

Product:	Sony CRX 160E -RP
Date:	16/10/01 (463 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: smart, easy to use, affordable

Disadvantages: not burnproof

Firstly the reason I picked this model was for value. I know there are cheaper Cd-rw writers out there but not all of them are as good as they seem, for instance they can't all read or write raw data(subchannel) but this one can, so you can back up a bigger range of your cd's. Plus with being a big brand name you are almost certain that it is going to be a quality product and not burn out on you after a few weeks.

In addition to outstanding performance, the CRX series offers a whole range of professional features. CD-RW allows you to change, edit or reformat your discs whenever necessary. Once recorded, a CD-RW disc will play just like a normal CD in a PC. With this CD-RW you can also write to CD-R media, and play the whole range of popular CD formats. CD-RW is the convenient way to make security copies of your hard drive. Then, if disaster strikes and you have to replace or reformat your hard disk, your CD backup will restore those important data.

Howerver owning this also opens up a contrevertial topic do you burn mp3's to disc or copy software. Well some people will say theres no harm in it but theres also the copyright facts, and thats simple you don,t copy stuff without permission - but thats not totally true because if you have legally bought a cd you can make a back-up of the cd to save wear and tear as long as you don't sell them. This is mainly the persons own choice who buys one. This writer is capable of producing backups of most cd's but if you are new to using a writer expect to make some failures till you get used to the settings etc.

The writer itself is black in colour - which I prefer, will also work with many other forms of recording software ie - Nero Burning Rom, Clone cd etc. Plus it will be capable of cloning cd's with the raw capability and supports Disc at once as well ascd-da, cd extra, cd-rom, cd text, and video cd. Which gives you a wider choice of writing
capabilities. You are capable of writing almost anything and is handy for saving any files that you download from the internet to keep vital hard disc space free, or just think you could take work home with you to finish off in the house. The cd-rom supplied has a whole host of features on it as well as Win on cd - pictures,video, data and music applications - earning the Sonys name - Go Create as you could play with these progs alone for hrs

Well I had to write a bit extra on this product because I have been even more pleased with it the more I use it. I have had a few Cd-Rw drives in my past but this by far has been the best , seeing how it can be picked up for as low as £89.99 in a retail store it's a bargain. The cd's that I have been making up for myself from my albums of my favourite tracks seem to play better with better quality sound than a lot of my origonals. With burning my favourite tracks as well there is no longer any need to go messing around programming the Hi-Fi to play the songs i want either. In my eyes this burner is worth every penny it costs.

Plus one other small fact so far i have never had a failed recording even though it is not burnproof as long as you are carefull, well it's worked everytime for me.


This is the exact contents of what's on the cd that comes with it,

Win on Cd , for burning CDR

direct Cd for Cd-rw

Liquid audio and Wavelab for playing with music

photostudio with Photobase as well, Photostudio lets you play with photo images and Photobase is to store and catalogue your pics.

datakeeper and drive image for Cdr to help you backup your hard disk files onto cdr

videoimpression so that you can play with mpeg movie clips etc


The kit comes as follows

1 Sony cd-rw writer
1 cd marker pen
1 blank cd-rw Sony disc
1 blank Sony cdr disc
1 cd recording software - Win on cd
1 ide cable
1
sound cable
4 screws to mount cd-writer
1 easy instillation guide

System requirements
IBM compatible pc
Pentium 200mhz or higher (or equivelant)
Win 95/98 Millenium
250 mb of hard disk space

Specs
Read speed - 32 times audio playback
<br>Write speed - 12 times audio playback
Re-write speed - 8 times audio playback
Connection - ide cable

Summary: