Need Help Choosing a Good CDRom

[Mike89]

I have a CDRom and also a burner.

Kenwood 72X
Plextor 12/10/32 IDE

For those who own a Kenwood 72X, you probably already know that while the drive is very fast, it needs to be on its own cable all by itself to run at its rated speed. Now who can actually do that these days with all the stuff people have hooked up?

Anyway I have it hooked up with the Plextor as master and Kenwood as slave on IDE 2. That was the way Plextor said to hook it up.

I have been having some problems with copying some CDs with this set up. Some work, some don't. Also sometimes when installing a game from the Kenwood I have problems and end up using the Plextor to install them.

I recently went on the Kenwood site and I find out that the Kenwood 72X and 52X has been discontinued and no longer supported. I also find out that astonishingly neither of these drives is compatible with Windows 2000 or XP. I kept reading that line shaking my head thinking my eyes were failing me!

I am running XP Pro and I guess that could explain these problems I was having.

I don't want to use just one drive because I just don't like the idea of copying a CD to hard drive first and then back to the blank CD.

So now I am looking for a good regular CDRom to use with the Plextor. I have looked around a bit and am surprised how little information is available for the ones I have seen spec wise. I want to make sure I get one that reads all forms and has no shortcomings.

What's a good choice and why? Thanks

[JMan]

I've heard very good things about Afreey CD-ROM drives, but they aren't easy to find. Lite-On and Pioneer make the best DVD drives IMO. It may be worth it to go for a DVD drive, as they are not too expensive these days.

JMan

[PreDatoR]

First off some of your problem copying on the fly would be that both drives are on the same channel... To Copy on the fly effectively its better to have them on seperate channels... So if you can put one of them on IDE1 with the hard drive do it... If you have another hard drive on that channel put the other hard drive with one of the cd drives... Most programs if you copy to the hard drive then to cd deletes the stuff after its copied to the cd... I've got 2 drives and that is how i do it... Only takes about 2 min to strip a cd and another 4 to burn it...

[Mike89]

Predator. Your comments confused me big time. I have heard just the opposite. I had heard the the CD's should be on the same channel. I had also heard that if you have two HDD's (which I have) and both are either 66 or 100 (mine are) that if you put one of a channel with another device like a CD rom, that the speed would drop to 33 for the HDD.

[EvilHorace]

I also have the same cd-rom and burner combo as you do and they both run great in Win2K (done with XP) but there have been a few instances where for some odd reason, a program or game isn't (easily) recognised in the Kenwood so I'll then use the Plex and NP. I've experienced that issue with other cd-rom/burner combos so I don't think it's a specific problem with the Kenwood only but it's never bothered me enough to research a total cure either as it doesn't happen very often. I never have any problems burning cdrs unless I'm using a very cheap cdr (usually will say it can't copy due to insufficient space or something similar, not making a coaster), then cured by simply installing a better quality cdr. I will never buy those volume pack cheapo cdrs again, not worth the hassle to me.

[Mike89]

Do you have yours hooked up the same way as I do? Do you have 2 HDD's also hooked up the same as I do? (master & slave on IDE 1 using 80 wire cable). I'm really tripping on Predator's comments. Now I'm wondering if I do have mine set up correctly.

After reading Predator's comments, I even emailed WD tech support asking about this.

I am also still tripping on Kenwood's site saying this drive is not compatible with 2000 or XP! I mean how could that be?

[JMan]

Actually Predator is right. If you want to make on-the-fly copies, the two should be on separate channels.

JMan

[PreDatoR]

The whold ata33/66/100/133 thing is a myth... U could put a ata33 CDrom with a ata133 hard drive and the hard drive will still transfer at 133... Someone started a good rumor a long time ago and has everyone paraniod... If you use Nero for CD to CD it will tell you that the 2 CD devices need to be on seperate channels to function properly.

[Mike89]

Well hell, all this time I have been thinking something entirely different based on a lot of comments I have read.

I guess it can't hurt to go ahead and try it.

[Executioner]

PreDatoR is correct. Do perform on the fly copes, the IDE devices have to be on seperate legs. If you have SCSI (like I do ), then it does not matter. Actually, my HD is IDE, while my Plextor combo (reader and burner) are SCSI. I've never had a problem burning any game or making any copies using this Plextor combo on SCSI.

If you want to keep the reader and burner on the same IDE leg, then you will need to copy the contents to the HD first. Most burning software will give you this option. Nero is actually intellegent enough to warn you if you try and copy on the fly with the same IDE leg.

If you want to make on the fly copies, then simply move one of the devices to another IDE leg.

[Mike89]

Well after just opening my case I see this won't be quite as easy as I first thought. The way the HDDs are positioned (at bottom), the cables won't be long enough to hook up each HDD as master and CDroms as slave on same cable especially the way the red stripe is positioned and being the HDD (master) is supposed to be at the end of the 80 wire cable. I will have to wait for my round cables that I ordered to come in. Then I can make it work being it's more flexable to turn the middle connector to go on top of the end connector.

I knew there was a good reason for ordering those cable besides better air flow.

I am assuming that with the round cables (80 wire) the master (ATA 66 or 100) is still supposed to be at the end of the cable like the flat ones?

[tunis5000]

I forget, didn't Plex 12's have Burn-Proof? If so, it doesn't matter what device is where. I have a Plex 16 and it's on the same channel as my CD-ROM and I can burn on-the-fly no problem... yeah it's probably slower, but I don't do it often enough to worry about it...

[Mike89]

Well to complicate matters, here is an email from Western Digital that I received after asking about this:




Hello Mike,

Thank you for giving us a chance to answer your question.

You will get differing answers on this. When setting up a system I would recommend doing it the
following way.

Hard drives on same primary port unless you have more than 2 drives. In your case both drives on
primary and bot CDs on the Secondary. I would run a CD R/W as Master if you have one, and DVD or CD
as slave.

If I can be of further assistance, please notify me.

[EvilHorace]

My HDDs are SCSI and the cd-rom, cdr share the same cable.

[VidmanII]

Best config I've found is either having every device ( hdds and opticals ) on their own channel as masters ( e.g. hdds on an o/b RAID controller whether you're using RAID or not). Or... if you don't have that option, having the cdrom slaved off the hdd with the burner mastered on it's own IDE channel.

As far as good cdroms, you can't beat those Afreey's as previously mentioned. I had a 56x and it was the best cdrom I ever had. I had a 40x Kenwood/Hi-Val truex cdrom and it was the worst POS you could ever want. In fairness tho, I heard the later ones were better but I wasn't gonna be the one to find out.