... Now I'm not trying to be like that serial murderer blokey out of There's Something About Mary - you know, the one who goes on about his idea for the "8 minute abs video", only to be told "What if someone comes out with '7 minute abs'?" - cos I know that you're going to tell me there are faster ... Read review
Advantages: Cheap and comparable to the more expensive Plextor Disadvantages: Easy CD is maybe not as good as WinOnCD and support is vague
...this opinion about is the Memorex TwelveMaxx 1032. It is a 12 speed CD writer drive, which is also able to re-write at 10 speed and read at up to 32 speed (12x10x32). It has Burn-Proof technology, which I will not bore you with too many details about, as I've already explained it in reasonable detail in my Plextor opinion (titled 'Burn baby, burn'). Basically though, it means that with the use of a new CD Writer standard, cd's can be burned whilst ... ...compatibility.
The Memorex drive is easy to install, although the instructions and manual are a little sparce - in fact, they only explain the basics about installing the drive. Then again, I wouldn't advise anyone who hasn't fiddled a bit inside their PC before to install this, just incase you run into problems. I say this, because I tried to get the same model of drive to run properly at the place I work, but couldn't (although I ... more
Are you fed up waiting for that dodgy copy of you mates cd to burn? Tired of watching how slow your pathetic, unbadged, 2 speed cdwriter spits out those copies? Or maybe you're lukcy, and have a 4 speed cdwriter. Maybe even an 8 speed one. Now that's not bad now, is it - what is that, around 10 mins a cd? That's not bad.
Now consider what it would be like to burn cd's in around 6 minutes. Now I'm not trying to be like that serial murderer blokey out of There's Something About Mary - you know, the one who goes on about his idea for the "8 minute abs video", only to be told "What if someone comes out with '7 minute abs'?" - cos I know that you're going to tell me there are faster drive around, before you say it! ;-)
The drive I am writing this opinion about is the Memorex TwelveMaxx 1032. It is a 12 speed CD writer drive, which is also able to re-write at 10 speed and read at up to 32 speed (12x10x32). It has Burn-Proof technology, which I will not bore you with too many details about, as I've already explained it in reasonable detail in my Plextor opinion (titled 'Burn baby, burn'). Basically though, it means that with the use of a new CD Writer standard, cd's can be burned whilst doing other things in the background on your PC, without running the risk of getting those dreaded 'buffer underruns', which are caused when the PC cannot retain a sustained rate to the cdwriter during the burning stage.
The drive I bought is the retail pack, and come with the internal drive unit itself, manual, Adaptec (now Roxio) Easy CD Creator 4, Direct CD 3, limited edition version of eJay, audio cable, mounting screws, 1 years warranty where they will collect and replace if faulty; AND the best thing - 50 free CDRs! :-) In fact, although the retail pack I got says it comes with 50 650Mb *74 mins) CDRs, it came with 700Mb (80 mins) CDRs instead. bonus! Although I wouldn't want to guarantee that every retail pack would have 700 Mb CDRs included! The drive also supports all known CD standards, so you should be okay for compatibility.
The Memorex drive is easy to install, although the instructions and manual are a little sparce - in fact, they only explain the basics about installing the drive. Then again, I wouldn't advise anyone who hasn't fiddled a bit inside their PC before to install this, just incase you run into problems. I say this, because I tried to get the same model of drive to run properly at the place I work, but couldn't (although I didn't spend too long looking into why). The 'Quick Start' guide is a generic guide that Memorex supply to explain roughly how to fit a DVD or CDROM drive, and is not entirely accurate. It tells you to run the setup on the CD, when there isn't one. Instead there is an Adobe PDF file which acts at the menu for the CD. This doesn't autorun when you put the setup CD in the drive (obviously), and if you haven't got Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed, you have to go through a bunch of nested folders to get to the setup for it before you can load the Menu PDF file. A bit of a pain really.
Once you've managed to install the software, and after a reboot, you will find The Adaptec menu will guide you through whatever stages of the writing process, straight from inserting the CDR into the drive. Although I won't go into too much depth about the software, I will just be general by saying the following:
Easy CD Creator - a windows explorer-style disk authoring piece of software. With this you can create CDs containing files you've selected from your hardisk, or even select audio tracks from an audio CD which to cut onto another CD.
DirectCD - is an application which runs in the background and enables you to use CDRs or CDRWs as if they are removable disks, just like a floppy disk. You format the disk in DirectCD format, and can then use it like a normal drive, until you decide you want to use the CD in a normal CDROM drive, when you can 'close' the disk, ready for use in any drive.
You also get a free copy of eJay, which I'm afraid I haven't used, but I believe it's some sort of MP3 burning application, but has restrictions. You also get a CD jewel case creator with Easy CD Creator, which is handy. The CD copier that is supplied is also very handy, for... erm... copying CDs. But of course I didn't tell you that ;-)
Conclusion ==========
There isn't really much that can be said about a CD writer, although I've seemed to give it a go for the second time now! This drive performs well. Infact, the software seems to be pretty stable and comparable with WinOnCD which comes with the Plextor. Although time can only tell I suppose. I've only had this drive for a few days, so I haven't discovered any longterm problems. However, if there are any problems, I'll be sure to make use of the so-called 'stress free' guarantee! The drive seems to perform at it's 12 speed well, and I cannot visually see any performance difference between this drive and the Plextor. The CDs supplied with the drive were rated up to 16 speed, and so far I've made my way through over half of the 50 CDs without any errors.
The only issues I would have with this drive is the quality of the support. The instructions are a bit thin on the ground, and when you take a look at the Memorex website, it's a little sparce of information. For example, I wanted to find out a list of CDR software the drive was compatible with, but there was no mention of it on the site. The structure of the download page was also not very clear, and should've been split up into 'downloads per model', rather than a splattering of downloads and 'find the ones that suit you'.
Apart from these acceptable issues, the amount saved when buying this drive rather than the Plextor, is too tempting to ignore. Ith drive can be bought for nearly £130 retail, which should be saving you around £30 on the Plextor - and you get 50 'free' CDRs in the bundle. Not bad really, and worth a look as a 'budget' alternative to the Plextor.
UPDATE : If you were concidering the Plextor 12x instead, why not check out my opinion 'Burn baby, burn'. It should give you reasonable information to make a comparison.
This Memorex CD-RW drive is a multi-function device with the most advanced technology for storing, accessing and even rewriting information on CD disk media. It can be used as a CD-RW, CD-R, or CD-ROM drive. The CD mastering software allows for making CDs of your own as easy as dragging, dropping, and clicking. Multi-session, track-at-once, CD-copy, audio extraction, and other remarkable features are all possible.
