AOpen Aeolus MX4000-V64

Advantages: Very cheap, intelligent electronics keep wasted disks to a minimum
Disadvantages: None so far. How long can something this cheap last?

...-RW and 24 speed read machine, was, as I’ve said, a good machine at the time of purchase, but it’s replacement, an AOpen CRW5224, is only costing me a shade over £30 (yes thirty!) from www.dabs.com, AND it’s got a maximum write speed to CD-R of 52x, making full CD copies possible in just a few minutes, and I do mean a few. AOpen may well be more familiar to you as the makers of motherboards. Even if this machine only lasts the 12-month guarantee period and no longer, it’ll only cost me 66p a week to own (as for the DVD player, the most that can cost me is 50p a week thanks to the 2-year warranty). Every month beyond the first year is a bonus for the AOpen, and if it lasts as long as the Yamaha, it’ll cost me about 22p a week. Anyway, that’s got the skinflint bits out of the way. What’s it like to install and use? A BIT OF THE OLD ‘IN OUT... Read review

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Advantages: Extremely quite, beautiful machine
Disadvantages: CPU Cooling fan & the floppy drive connector are placed

...instruction manual covers both the Intel and AMD XC cubes in brief detail. There's absolutely no mention of the BIOS, features or settings. It presumes a prior level of knowledge on the user's part. A fold-out installation guide simply refers to how one should plug the keyboard and mouse into associated ports! Leaving me to wonder if they are having a bit of a laugh. one of the most important things to consider when building a system is your choice of CPU. AOpen's, as we know, has opted for AMD's Athlon XP range. The performance blot arrives in the shape of a maximum Front-Side Bus support of 166MHz, thereby limiting the EZ18 to an Athlon XP3000+ processor. Which is not bad, but with other systems now being capable of taking AMD's Athlon 64 Model 3400+ and Intel's 3.4GHz Extreme Edition without issue, truly high-end performance is beyond the EZ... Read review

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Advantages: Good speed 56x max
Disadvantages: often does't read , slow access time

...well ! aopen has launched it's new boy 56x in town.... it is surely high speed of cd rom..... but often speed gets hard luck..... the AOPEN 56X cd rom doens not performs good according to its specifications and speed, that the company claims.... i come to few of its points, that may be useful to you before buying it... ** fist of all, the tray opens with a much speed, and after using it about 1 month or less.. the tray behaviour dramatically changes... like it opens in a loose shape .. means to say that the tray then moves left and right..... and i experienced one thing about this fact at my friends home... that the tray's this behaviour broke a small moving plastic part right back of the tray.... also it goes back even more speed and some time it feels that now the cd rom has got it's end.... :) ** Secondly, the 56x capable... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful