Will Asus CRW4012A work with these CD media?

Blank Media
#1

Hi. I’m currently weighing up between possibly getting an Asus CRW4012A, or the LiteOn 32xCDRW drive. I’ve been leaning towards the Asus drive due to the positive posts about them here, & if I understood the reviews of the lite-on’s 32x speed & upwards CDRW drives their minimum write speed is 8x vs. the 4x of the Asus 4012A.

And I’ve read here some posts indicating the Asus 4012A might be a better “all-rounder” for playing/reading Audio CD’s as well as coping wit the latest protections.

But if I understand correctly the Asus drives aren’t as good compatibility wise with CDR/RW media brands. At the moment the most common CDR & RW media I can access are as follows…

CDR: Kodak Ultima 80min Silver & Gold 12x
Mitsui Gold 74min 650Mb 12x
TDK 650Mb 74Min 12x
Verbatim 650Mb 12x I think-Only used once

CDRW: Kodak CDRW 650Mb/74Min 1-4x
Verbatim 650Mb 1-4x (haven’t tried yet).

If I end up getting the Asus CRW-4012A (& I’m leaning towards that.),what’s it’s compatiblity like with those CDR/RW media listed above?

I’d appreciate users thoughts,I want to make an order soon, this is amongst the deciding factors of which way to go-:
a pity the Liteon’s don’t seem to burn lower than 8x speed, something which I prefer for home VCD creation’s & audio stuff…& the audio protection issues too I guess.
:confused:

#2

ASUS recomends using Sony, TDK, Ricoh, Kodak, Mitsubishi Chemical, Ritek, Taiyo Yuden, Yamaha, Philips, Prodisc, AMT, Princo, Hitachi Maxwell, MaxMax, or CMC CD-R’s and Sony, TDK, Ricoh, Yamaha, Mitsubishi Chemical, Ritek,
Prodisc, AMT, or CMC CD-RW’s

Some of the media that you mentioned is made by these companies. Try using CDR-Identifier to find out what company makes your media. However, if your media isn’t on there then don’t worry. Most drives will still do a decent job on most media even if it isn’t “recommended”.

#3

I’d directly recommend the Mitsui Gold 12x and Kodak S&G 12x (In this order) CDRs and the Kodak RW, they will probably work the best with the asus, since TDK’s quality may vary, and if they’re the TDK Dark blue discs (Made in USA) they will perform poorly at high speeds, as will the Verbatim Azo.

#4

Thank you for the replies guys!:slight_smile:
The TDK disk’s are marked as being from Taiwan actually, & yes one of the burnt one’s I have actually does give off a blueish tinge in the light now you mentioned it.
Actually, have seen a couple more CDR’s in the past few days as well that have mnade me wonder.
In the TDK range there’s a 40x CDR’s in the shops, but haven’t looked closely to know if they’re blue, or where they’re from yet. Also seen a TDK Gold 5pack CDR’s that are merely listed on the packaging as being “Multi-Spin compatible”, with no speed rating given which I regard as odd-has anyone tried these?
They look gold on top, unlike the normal TDK’s which have a white front covering.

The other brand I’ve seen has been Emtec/BASF which I think were 12X CD-R’s. There was also a CDRW version of these too, anyone tried these?:confused:

#5

I wouldn’t touch the tdk golds since they’re not prepared to recommend a max speed. Tdk silvers, sold on spindle here in oz, though rarely available, simply as tdk “for data” 24x, are actually quite good but I don’t know what their real max speed is. Emtec/BASF also have a poor reputation so I’d steer clear of those too.

#6

the writer should will work fine with all your available media. what speed do you plan to write at? if it is a slower speed than i would reccomend those TDK and Verbatim cdrs, these cds work really well at slow speeds and the quality of the burn is very good. also did you say the TDK were blue and said “made in tiawan” ? They may be tayo yuden cdrs which are aparrently excellent cdrs.

if you want to burn at high speeds and get good results, kodak are meant to be good, even if they are only 12x speed rated they will work at more than triple the speed!! the 40x TDK are not blue, they are that silver green sort of colour, the same as kodaks colour, anyway they work at high speeds also.

for cdrw, verbatim are the way to go. Overall, if you want a durable good quality cdr Verbatim or tdk. if you want fast speeds, TDK 40x and kodak are the way, but the durablility of both kodak and tdk 40x are questionable.

good luck;)

#7

Kodaks and Mitsuis will last much longer than Verbatims and/or Taiwan blue TDKs, no doubt about it. ESPECIALLY the ones in the 12x generation.

#8

Originally posted by Fallen
Kodaks and Mitsuis will last much longer than Verbatims and/or Taiwan blue TDKs, no doubt about it. ESPECIALLY the ones in the 12x generation.

cant say much about the mitsuis cause i never heard of them, but kodak are not as durable to my experience. they might last longer if you never touch them and keep them archived but i havent got much trust in them after my personal experiences. could it be possible that a different company makes these cdrs as well as kodak? i think i live in a different country to you so that may explain things.

Fallen, could you possibly post a reply with a picture of what the kodak cdr looks like from both sides.

:slight_smile: