Many were awaiting the release of the so-called (1.3GB) DDCD-R(W)'s. Here a test result which can be originally read at: http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,53087,pg,9,tk,pr071301x,00.asp

Before people start hoping to use these CD-R(W)'s in their DVD Players - it won't work. It's a different writer and different different media (however backward compatible). You can purchase the drive, use the media and save 148min VCD media on the disk and watch everything on your PC. Due to the fact that DVD-R(W) writers already exist and DVD+R(W) writers will be introduced later this year, I personally think that Sony (who developed this standard) are slightly late. Similar to the situation of Zip disks a few years ago, when CD-R(W)s were slowly coming down in price. Anyhow just to fulfil the wishes of some to give information on different media here the test results:

WHAT'S HOT: If 700MB isn't enough capacity for you, then the silver-hued, $220 Sony Double Density drive is worth a look. Performance when writing to ordinary CD-Rs and CD-RWs on the fly was equal to or better than that of other drives rated at similar speeds. And when we tried writing to Sony's Double Density media, the drive performed without a hitch.


We tested the drive's Double Density capacity by burning files from an image and also on the fly. We burned a folder with 1.28GB of files to test the drive's CD-R write speeds. Then we burned a folder with 1GB of files to test the drive's CD-RW write speeds. The drive did well, taking 13 minutes, 2 seconds to burn from an image, and 13 minutes, 2 seconds to burn on the fly, in both the CD-R and CD-RW tests. Also, it took 18 minutes, 16 seconds to write to CD-RW.


Sony created its 1.3GB media by modifying the format of conventional CDs; predictably, these discs can be used only on Sony's Double Density drive. There's no buffer underrun compensation technology; there is a large 8MB buffer, however, which proved effective in our tests.



WHAT'S NOT: Never mind the fact that ordinary 16X/10X/40X drives can be had for less; the Double Density drive's overall performance score on our tests was hurt by sluggish results for digital audio extraction and for installing Microsoft Office 2000 Small Business Edition. Also, Double Density media costs significantly more than ordinary CD media, selling for about $2 per DD-R and $3 for DD-RW (as compared with about 35 cents and $1, respectively, for standard CD media).

WHAT ELSE: The Double Density drive includes Sony's CD Complete Pro software suite, which has a handy all-in-one installer for its individual components: Sony CD Extreme, Sony abCD, Liquid Player, and Dantz Development's Retrospect Express. Sony provides a one-year warranty, and toll-free tech support for 12 hours on weekdays and Saturdays.

BEST USE: This drive is best suited for those who value additional capacity over performance.

Buying Information
Sony Double Density CD-RW CRX200E
$ 220
12X/8X/32X, IDE, internal, 8MB buffer, Sony CD Extreme and abCD 3.01; one-year warranty, toll-free support for 12 hours weekdays and Saturdays.

800/352-7669
http://www.sony.com/spressa