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CD Write Tests
The
NEC ND-3540A doubles as one speedy CD writer as well. It is capable of
writing to CD-R media at 48x. Now, I normally provide just one
screenshot of the write process in Nero's CD-DVD Speed. However, while
testing the drive, I came across something a bit interesting. The
drive does not write to all supported high speed media at 48x. The
screenshots below are an example...
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**click to enlarge** |
**click to enlarge** |
The screenshot to your left were the results
using a Ridata branded 48x CDR. While Nero did show 48x as its max
write speed, writing maxed in at about 44x. Using Verbatim 52x media,
the drive was able to hit is rated 48x write speed. Those results are
shown to your right above.
Actual Write Tests
In our actual write tests, the ND-3540A was
able to write a full 695MB of data is just under 3 minutes. This is
about as fast as it gets for CD-R writing. We did test the drive with
a variety of other media as well. The results are shown in the table
below.
|
CDR Brand |
Write Speed |
Write Time |
| Verbatim (super
Azo) 52x |
48x |
2:59 |
| Verbatim (Super
Azo) 48X |
48x |
2:59 |
| Philips 40X |
40x |
3:38 |
| Ritek 48X |
48x |
3:11 |
| Imation 24X |
40x |
3:21 |
| FUJI 32X |
32x |
4:12 |
| Sony 32X |
32x |
4:11 |
Media compatibility was very good.
You'll notice a slight difference in write times with the Ridata media.
This was a result of the slightly slower write times we showed you in the
Nero tests above. Regardless, the drive was able to write to all other media
at their rated speeds and even wrote to my trusty Imation "Music" 24x CDR
media at 40x.
2. CD-DVD Speed - CDRW Media
**click to enlarge**
One very impressive feature of the new
ND-3540A is its ability to write to CD-RW media at 32x. This media is
quite difficult to acquire at this time and not available at your local
store just yet. Fortunately, I was able to get a hold of some quality
Verabtim 32x CDRW media for proper testing. The results shown below...
The drive uses the Z-CLV method of writing to
this media. The high speed 32x writing zone is reached at about the
22min mark.
I gathered up exactly 645MB of data and burned
it on to both a 24x and 32x Ultra Speed disc. The results are shown
below.
|
CDRW Brand |
Write Speed |
Write Time |
| Verbatim (Ultra
Speed) 32x |
32x |
3:20 |
| Memorex (Ultra
Speed) 24x |
24x |
4:17 |
Writing at 32x was roughly about a minute
faster. It took only 3:20 minutes to write a full disc. A full
disc erase took under 3 minutes using Nero.
3. CD-R Write Quality
With CD media, this is measured by the number
of C1 and C2 errors. All discs will report a certain number of C1 errors,
but what you should be more concerned with is the number of C2 errors
reported. If using Nero's Disc Quality Test, I recommend you perform the
test using either 24x or 32x speeds.
The ND-3540A did well quite well in our
quality tests. While the number of C1 errors were higher than most
other drives I've tested, there were no C2 errors reported.
4. Over-burning and 99min CDR Media
NEC drives do support slight over-burning.
Unfortunately, anything above 92min would fail. Also, it would only
write at 16x to my trusty Melody branded 48x 99min discs.
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