CompuServe Thread

Burr: >>Which is better CD CREATER or GEAR. Or is there a better low cost one<< Why not try out whether or not there is a better one. We have a demo of WinOnCD ToGo! in our CompuServe Forum (GO CEQUADRAT). And you get ToGo! at a low price as well. If you are interested call CeQuadrat at 1-800-330-MPEG. Best… Monika Lutkemeier CeQuadrat

Hi Burr, Here are some answers to some of your questions….. <<Are the 1,500 to 2,000 dollar unit good for backup, audio only cd, Mix mode { data & audio }, Multisession. The number per month is less than 50 disk. >> As far as data is concerned, most recorders do there job well. Check out some threads to hear some of the (horror) stories. If you want to write audio however, for good quality you will want a drive that can write "Disc At Once". This will keep you from getting clicks in between the tracks and will also allow you to set the pause inbetween the tracks. Recorders that can do this are the Sony recorders, Philips CDD2000 and the Yamaha PDS301. There may be more but these are the ones I am sure of. << Which is better CD CREATER or GEAR. Or is there a better low cost one. >> To give you a totaly biased answer to that question the answer would be GEAR of course (altough I doubt that the guy's from Corel would agree) GEAR can create all the types of disc's you mentioned and more. It supports all recorders and is available for Windows, Mac, and most major UNIX platforms. OS/2 and NT will also be supported soon. Why don't you GO GEAR and try one of our demo's. << Do you really need SCSI or will a fast EIDE of <10ms in the 800mb or better range do? >> There is no technical reason why you can't use the EIDE. I have even burnt discs from regular IDE and from network drives. Just make sure it's fast and there are no drivers, caches, or recalibration that could interrupt a read action on the disk. << The system uses will be a P90 with 32mb of ram using a Plato Motherboard. >> Wish I had one! << What type of ram is use with the drive that can be upgraded? >> I know the Philips recorder family (Philips, Kodak, Plkasmon) could be upgraded using regular SIMM's. However most of the new recorders do not seem to be upgradable but have a standard buffer of 1MB with the exception of the Ricoh (512Kb). << How are the new Sony new write drive working. Can you read audio data across its data connector >> As far as I know the Sony CDW-920S works well. However getting one may be a problem. There have been a lot of threads about the low production and large amount of back orders. In any case the recorder can read audio tracks. Hope I has some help. Feel free to send me a mail if you have any more questions, or visit our section in the CDRomVendorsB (GO GEAR). Good Luck, Paul Deckers Elektroson

Burr, First, it sounds like you want a CD Recorder for premastering, not mastering. Mastering is an entirely different process and costs a lot more. <<ONE: Are the 1,500 to 2,000 dollar unit good for backup, audio only cd, Mix mode { data & audio }, Multisession. The number per month is less than 50 disk.>> Yes. Within limits. Not all recorders will record every type of CD so you need to check the specific recorder with your needs but 50 discs per month is well within their abilities. One brand in particular has had many reports posted in this forum for problems and poor service. They say their trying to fix the problem (of course) but I think a strong dose of caution is needed. <<TWO: Which is better CD CREATER or GEAR.>> Software is really a personal choice. It used to be that packages had major differences between them. Today it's more like choosing a word processor. You find the one you like best. Request a demo of each and try them out. <<THREE: Do you really need SCSI or will a fast EIDE >> If you're building image files first it doesn't matter what you use. If you're burning live both fast EIDE and SCSI have been reported with good results when using a recorder with a reasonable RAM buffer. <<FOUR: The system uses will be a P90 with 32mb of ram using a Plato Motherboard.>> More than enough. <<FIVE: What type of ram is use with the drive that can be upgraded?>> Not all recorders can upgrade the RAM used for buffering. If you're considering a larger buffer check the recorder before you buy it (see #1 above). <<SIX: How are the new Sony new write drive working.>> I've not had one to play with but again the reports posted here so far look good. Jerry Warner CD Solutions, Inc.

Dear Mr. Chambless, You may want to have a look at Easy-CD BackUp; there's a text file describing it in Incat's library (GO INCATS). Best regards, Deirdre' Straughan Incat System