De mensen van Digit-Life kwamen met het geweldige idee om eens een roundup te maken tussen verschillende SCSI CD-RW spelers. In deel 1 gaan ze aan de slag met de Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32S en de Teac W512SB. In de tests worden ook de resultaten van de IDE-versies van beide branders er eens bijgepakt en op sommige punten worden de SCSI versies zelfs verslagen. De strijd tussen de Plextor en de Teac is echt stuivertje wisselen; de één belast je CPU minder, terwijl de ander je CD'tje net even iets eerder heeft afgemaakt:
As showed the testing, we have seen two practically identical CD-RW drives. The both can boast of good speed results, high reading speed of the CD-RW discs, quality recording of the discs, high-speed and correct extraction of the audio tracks.
But there arises a question why in some tests the SCSI-devices were slower than the analog IDE ones? There is no a simple answer: all depends on the usable controller, software, OS. But the fact is that with the given computer configuration, with the given software under the control of the Windows 98 the SCSI-drives were slower. For a wider statistics we also tested the recorders with the Tecram DC-315U controller which is one of the most popular solutions for the systems with a SCSI recorder. The results obtained with the BusLogic MultiMaster were not in favor of the Tecram.
But speaking about the performance do not forget many shortcomings of IDE devices as compared with the SCSI-devices. They are: inability of the simultaneous work of the IDE-devices, higher CPU utilization in case the IDE-drive doesn't support the DMA mode or realizes this support incorrectly. Besides, note a wide range of application of the SCSI interface.
So, what's the conclusion? If you have a SCSI-controller or you may invest into it, if you need the ensured stability and reliability while recording, then, when purchasing a recorder pay a closer attention exactly to the SCSI-drives. After you have defined an interface, you are to decide what speed set it should dispose of. The models in question will give you the maximum possible performance of a system based on the SCSI interface together with high quality. Which one of the considered drives should be given a privilege to? A user must decide whether $40-50 are worth a brandname manufacturer, higher performance and quality of recorded discs.