PERIPHERALS | ||||||||||
Name | Price | Rating | Comment | Additional Info | Supplier | Tel | Issue | Page no | Additional comments, notes | |
CD-ROM Drives (internal) | ||||||||||
Aztech CDA 268-03I | £88 | llllmm | Reasonable performance in a simple package. | 2x. | Aztech | 01734 814121 | 6 | 56 | ||
Aztech CDA 468-01I | £119 | llllmm | Well built and affordable. | 6x, 256k buffer. | Aztech | 01734 814121 | 14 | 98 | Value | |
Aztech CDA 668-01I | £149 | llllmm | Cheap though not fast 6 speed drive. | 6x, 256k buffer. | Aztech | 01734 814121 | 14 | 98 | ||
Aztech CDA 868 | £109 | lllmmm | Poor under Windows 3.11 but a decent performer with Windows 95. | 8x. | Aztech | 01734 820840 | 20 | 123 | ||
Aztech 1068-01I | £102 | llllmm | One of the cheapest ten speed drives, but few performance benefits. | 10x, 128k buffer. | Aztech | 01734 820840 | 25 | 108 | ||
Aztech 1068-01IE | £76 | lllmmm | Highly affordable and well built but a poor performer. | 8x, 256k buffer | Aztech | 01734 820840 | 25 | 108 | ||
Bluepoint ICD-300 | £99.95 | lllmmm | A good but basic drive, but assumes technical knowledge. | 2x. | Bluepoint | 01908 277007 | 6 | 57 | ||
Creative Labs CD 420E | £299 | lllmmm | Good build quailty, below par performance. | 4x, 128k buffer. | Creative Labs | 01743 344744 | 14 | 98 | ||
Creative Labs CD 820E | £119 | llmmmm | Simply too slow to be worth considering. | 8x, 256k buffer | Creative labs | 01734 344322 | 25 | 108 | ||
EliteGroup Vertos 300 SSD | £99 | lllmmm | Inexpensive, but under par performance for the price. | 2x | Panrix | 01132 444958 | 6 | 57 | ||
Goldstar GCD-R540B | £126 | lllmmm | Inexpensive EIDE drive. Beats many for performance. | 4x, 128k buffer. | LG Electronics | 01753 500426 | 14 | 100 | ||
Goldstar GCD-R580B | £99 | lllllm | Well built, well featured and a fast performer. | 8x, 256k buffer. | LG Electronics | 01753 500400 | 25 | 113 | value | |
Goldstar GC-R580B | £129 | lllllm | Fast access time and good transfer rates. Very good value for money. | 8x | LG Electronics | 01753 500400 | 20 | 122 | recommended | |
Goldstar R540B | £117 | lllmmm | Average performance but cheap and easy to install. | 4x, | Goldstar | 01753 691888 | 12 | 120 | ||
Hitachi CDR-6550 | £165 | lllmmm | Unremarkable performance, good build quality. | 2x, 128k buffer. | Hitachi | 0181 849 2067 | 1 | 113 | ||
Hitachi CDR-6750 | £220 | llllmm | Great overall performance, high price is justified. | 2x | Northamber | 0181 391 4100 | 6 | 58 | ||
Hitachi CDR-7930 | £110 | llllmm | Variable performance at a low price. | 8x | AGP Distribution | 01264 336991 | 23 | 152 | ||
Hitachi CDR-7930 | £110 | lllmmm | Poor build quality and features let down the speed. | 8x, 128k buffer. | AGP Distribution | 01264 336991 | 25 | 113 | ||
Media Force CDR-688 | £75 | lmmmmm | A low price for a ten speed drive, but an equally low performance. | 10x, 256k buffer. | Choice Peripherals | 01909 530242 | 25 | 113 | ||
Mitsumi FX 400 | £120 | lllmmm | Sluggish and poor documentation, but a good price. | 4x. | Mitsumi | 01276 29029 | 14 | 102 | ||
Mitsumi FX 810 | £80 | lllmmm | Dependable, but not the best value drive. | 8x, 256k buffer | Mitsumi | 01276 29029 | 25 | 114 | ||
Mitsumi FX 120T | £120 | lllmmm | A lot of revolutions for your money, but there are faster drives. | 12x, 256k buffer. | Mitsumi | 01276 29029 | 25 | 114 | ||
NEC CDR-273 | £129 | lllmmm | Poor performance and documentation. | 4x, 128k buffer. | NEC | 0181 993 8111 | 14 | 102 | ||
NEC CDR 512 | £299 | llllmm | Performance benefits show when copying large files. | 6x, SCSI-2 card, caddy. | NEC | 0181 993 8111 | 11 | 124 | ||
NEC Multispin 4X4C | £199 | lllmmm | For those that want more than one CD available at a time. | 4x. | NEC | 0181 993 8111 | 14 | 100 | ||
NEC Multispin 4XI | £365 | llllmm | Perhaps the best featured CD-ROM on the market but at a price. | 4x, SCSI-2, caddy. | NEC | 0181 993 8111 | 6 | 124 | ||
NEC Quad-X | £199 | llllmm | High performance, attractive price. | 4x, IDE. | NEC | 0181 993 8111 | 6 | 125 | ||
Orchid CDS 3110i | £109 | llllmm | A four year warranty and two games come with this average performer. | 2x. | Multimedia | 01483 285000 | 6 | 60 | value | |
Panasonic CR-583B | £99 | llllmm | A quick performer but there are question marks over driver stability. | 8x, 128k buffer. | Panasonic | 01344 853913 | 25 | 114 | ||
Panasonic LF1004BK | £599 | lllmmm | Expensive price denotes optical disc capabilities. | 6x. | Panasonic | 01344 853508 | 14 | 106 | ||
Panasonic QuadPro | £139 | lllmmm | Solid and dependable. | 4x. | Panasonic | 01344 853508 | 14 | 102 | ||
Philips PCA42CR | £134 | lllmmm | Average performace at a low price. Unsure of itself under Windows 95. | 4x, 128k buffer. | Philips | 0181 689 4444 | 14 | 104 | ||
Philips PCA62CR | £135 | llmmmm | Not the fastest drive around, and not the cheapest either. | 6x | Philips | 0181 689 4444 | 20 | 122 | ||
Pioneer DR-A10X | £199 | lllmmm | The fastest 10 speed IDE/TAPI drive around, but at a price. | 10x, 128k buffer. | Pioneer | 01753 789789 | 25 | 116 | speed | |
Pioneer DR-U10X | £250 | llllmm | Not cheap, but the fastest drive you can currently buy. | 10x, 128k buffer, SCSI-2. | Pioneer | 01753 789789 | 25 | 116 | speed | |
Pioneer DR U124X | £220 | llllmm | Expensive but solid performer with a little extra speed. | 4.4x, 128k buffer. | Ideal Hardware | 0181 286 5000 | 14 | 104 | ||
Plextor PX43CS | £239 | lllllm | Sluggish data transfer, good seek times. Excellent manual. | 4x, 256k buffer, caddy. | Tekdata | 01782 577677 | 14 | 104 | ||
Plextor PX63CS | £349 | lllllm | Outstanding performance, though overpriced. | 6x, 256k buffer, caddy. | Tekdata | 01782 577677 | 14 | 106 | Speed | |
Plextor PX83CS | £349 | llllmm | Fast, but there are cheaper respectable drives around. | 8x, caddy | Tekdata | 01782 577677 | 22 | 152 | ||
Plextor PX83CS | £299 | llllmm | Delivers the best 8 speed performance on test, but expensive. | 8x, 256k buffer, SCSI-2, caddy. | Tekdata | 01782 577677 | 25 | 116 | ||
Plextor 6Plex | £469 | llllmm | Expensive but fast. | 6x, 256k buffer, caddy. | Tekdata | 01782 577677 | 8 | 118 | recommended | |
Samsung SCR-830 | £129 | lllllm | Excellent performance and very good value for money | 8x | Samsung | 0181 391 0168 | 22 | 150 | recommended | |
Samsung SCR-830 | £129 | llllmm | Good performance and build, but some compatibility problems. | 8x, 128k buffer. | Samsung | 0181 391 0168 | 25 | 118 | ||
Sony CDU 76E | £139 | lllmmm | Mediocre performance. | 4x, 256k buffer. | Sony | 0181 760 0500 | 14 | 115 | ||
Sony CDU 76S | £169 | llllmm | Good performance at an excellent price. | 4x, 256k buffer. | Sony | 0181 760 0500 | 14 | 115 | Value | |
Sony CSD-88EE | £115 | llmmmm | Average performer with a high street price. Good, not great. | 8x, 256k buffer | Sony | 0181 760 0500 | 25 | 118 | ||
Teac CD 56E | £229 | llllmm | Fast data transfer at 900Kbps, and well built. | 4x, 128k buffer. | Teac UK | 01923 225235 | 14 | 115 | Speed | |
Teac CD-55A | £229 | lllmmm | High performance, and easy to install. | 4x, 64k buffer. | Teac UK | 01923 225235 | 7 | 109 | ||
Teac CD-58E | £129 | llllmm | Good performance, but not spectacular. | 8x | Teac UK | 01923 225235 | 22 | 153 | ||
Teac CD-58E | £129 | lllmmm | Top performance, but expensive and not as sturdy as it could be. | 8x, 128k buffer. | Teac UK | 01923 225235 | 25 | 118 | ||
Toshiba XM3501B | £400 | llllmm | Needs full processor support. | 4x. | Optech | 1 | 112 | |||
Toshiba XM-5602B | £129 | llllmm | Well featured, with reasonable performance. | 8x, 256k buffer. | Ideal Hardware | 0181 286 5000 | 25 | 119 | ||
Wearnes CDD-120 | £119 | lllmmm | Better packaged than many bare drives, competitive price. | 2.5x. | Wearnes Peripherals | 01256 333570 | 6 | 61 | ||
CD-ROM Drives (external) | ||||||||||
Aiwa ACD-300 | £249 | llllmm | A good drive, but LED on front panel does not justify the price. | 2x. | Aiwa | 0181 897 7000 | 6 | 56 | ||
Cyberrom CD Quad | £399 | lllmmm | High performance, though setup can be tricky. | 4x, PCMCIA type II. | Innovative Communications | 0181 953 0948 | 18 | 106 | ||
MediaVision ReNo | £255 | llllmm | Good documentation, engineering, and performance. | 2x. | MediaVision | 6 | 58 | speed | ||
Nakamichi MBR-7 | £299 | lllllm | Ideal for multiple CD-ROM access. | 2x, 7 disc capacity autochanger. | CD Revolution | 01932 562000 | 4 | 134 | recommended | |
Panasonic CD/P-525SP | £199 | llmmmm | Poor documentation and performance. | 2x. | Datrontech | 01252 303333 | 6 | 60 | ||
Panasonic KLX-D720 | £299 | llmmmm | Barely adequate performance, a notebook users compromise. | 2x, CD-ROM/CD audio, PCMCIA Type II. | Panasonic | 01344 853508 | 11 | 125 | ||
Toshiba CD400-A | £360 | llllmm | Some quirks detract from a simple, otherwise elegant design. | 2x | Toshiba | 01932 785666 | 6 | 61 | ||
Toshiba CD400-A | £360 | lllmmm | Adequate performance, but large which limits portability. | 2x, SCSI-2 interface. | Toshiba | 01734 845995 | 3 | 137 | ||
Multimedia Upgrade Kits | ||||||||||
Diamond Multimedia Kit 8000 | £450 | llmmmm | Has been rushed out without adequate testing. | 8x CD-ROM drive, Yamaha YST-M5 6 Watt speakers, 16 bit, 32 voice wavetable card. | TalkData | 0171 404 1001 | 15 | 104 |
Last Update: 14/10/96
Name: PC Pro