Product ReviewsCD/DVD drives
Pioneer's DVD-RW/CD-RW drive has started to appear in many external devices following Apple's adoption of it in its SuperDrive. However, rather than just release a drive based on this mechanism, LaCie has gone one step further and launched a combined DVD-RAM and DVD-R drive as well. LaCie's DVDRAM/R drive, based on a Matshita mechanism, reads DVD-ROM, CD-ROM, DVD-R and DVD-RAM and writes to DVD-R and DVD-RAM. This combination will appeal to users attracted to external SuperDrive devices, but who already have a CD-RW. When used as a DVD-R device, the DVDRAM/R drive has the same capabilities as the Pioneer drive - for example, it can be used with DVD Studio Pro to author DVD Video discs for use in domestic DVD players. When used as a DVDRAM drive, inserted DVD-RAM discs mount on the desktop giving you 2.6Gb, 4.7Gb, 5.2Gb or 9.4Gb of additional storage. The drive is encased in LaCie's Studio enclosure - a silver and midnight blue slab that is robust and designed to be easily stacked, although it's not as pretty to look at as some drives. Setting up the drive is easy, requiring only the connection of the power supply lead and supplied FireWire cable. We were at first confused and disappointed by the apparent lack of DVD-RAM drivers. However, mounting the drive on the Desktop is just a matter of installing the supplied version of Toast (5.0.2). Drag queen Files are copied to and from a DVD-RAM disc by dragging and dropping, just like any other mounted volume. However, convenient as this is, DVD-RAM is extremely slow. We were only able to achieve a sustained transfer rate of 0.95Mb/sec in our benchmark tests, which is less than a tenth of the speed of copying to and from a hard disk. To be fair, though, DVD-RAM isn't designed to be a replacement for hard disk-based storage, but a relatively
The DVDRAM/R drive can be used with DVD Studio Pro in two ways. First, projects can be written to DVD for General media as if the drive were an internal SuperDrive. The resulting DVD can then be watched in any compatible DVD video player or DVD-ROM drive. Secondly, you can save the project as an image file on a DVD-RAM disc. This is an excellent way to test a project without wasting a DVD-R disc. It may also be used to author projects in DVD Studio Pro for replication, as long as you can find a production house that will replicate from DVD-RAM. We were able to save an image file to DVD-RAM and also to copy the 'Video_TS' folder (the folder that holds all the video information for the authored DVD) from our Mac's hard drive to a DVD-RAM disc. We then removed the disc from its caddy and put it into a DVD-ROM drive on an iMac. The Apple DVD Player then played the DVD as if it were a DVD Video. The combination of a DVD-RAM and DVD-R drive in one is excellent and is an ideal solution for anyone who wants both a DVD-R drive and a way of backing up large amounts of data. It also saves those who already have a CD-RW drive from acquiring a second, redundant drive. Write stuff If you have no need for a DVD-RAM drive but do want a CD-RW, then the DVD-RW/CD-RW model is the way to go. This device is LaCie's version of the SuperDrive and is housed in the same style enclosure as the DVDRAM/R drive. It's easy to set up and use, and comes with Toast 5.0.2. The prime function of the DVDRAM/R is for use with a DVD authoring package, such as DVD Studio Pro, to author DVDs. However, using Toast, you can burn data on either DVD-R or DVD-RW media just as you would with a CD. The one drawback with the DVD-RW/CD-RW is that, like all devices based on the Pioneer mechanism, it's limited to writing CDs at 8x and rewriting at 4x. If you need to burn several CDs a day, it may be worth investing £200 in a 24x CD-RW and going for the DVDRAM/R drive. Both these devices are excellent. They're easy to set up and use and perform well. And at £499, they're the lowest-cost drives of their kind on the market. On balance we would go for the DVDRAM/R drive as it offers greater flexibility and buying an additional CD-RW if necessary isn't a great burden. By |
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