In the last couple of weeks there has been a number of threads about CDRW
(read write)  burners, the advantages of SCSI verses IDE, and the coaster
problems that everybody occasional runs into using a CD burner. A new
technology developed by SANYO may soon end the widely accepted < SCSI is
better > for burners rule and the < Buffer Underrun > problem that plagues
IDE devices.

SCSI is considered a better platform for burners because SCSI provides most
of it's own processing relieving your CPU of the chore.
The high level of bussmastering that SCSI provides helps to protect against
buffer underruns as well as the pops and clicks in audio CD burns that are
associated with an overworked CPU.

A buffer underrun occurs when your computer system cannot keep up the
steady stream of data required for CD recording. The CD recorder has an
internal memory buffer to protect against interruptions and slowdowns, but
if the interruption is so long that the recorder's buffer is completely
emptied, a buffer underrun occurs, writing stops, and most often the
recordable CD is ruined. This is the primary cause of coasters and
particularly a problem for IDE devices.

But a solution to this problem has emerged with Sanyo's BURN-Proof (Buffer
UndeRunProof) technology. When a buffer underrun occurs this new technology
first stops the burn, then it waits for the buffer to refill, finally it
locates the last written frame in the spiral track and resumes the
recording process.  The result is error free perfect burns at speed no
matter what you are doing. PCMAG tested this with an internal ATAPI
PlexWriter 12/10/32A by burning a perfect CD at 12X  speed while running
i-Bench in the background. i-Bench is a Web based benchmark that severely
taxes the CPU and hard drive.

The Pextor PlexWriter 12/10/32A CD-RW is presently the first and only
burner that offers this technology but expect that to change in a hurry. I
would think that in six months all burners will have this and if I was in
the market for a burner I would not buy a burner without it. I am hoping
that this will soon translate into an affordable and reliable DVD burner.
Wishful thinking on my part!

Mark Rode
The NOSPIN Group

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