>Hello all...
>
>I realize this may not be an appropiate message for this forum, but i want to get some opinions from the people i have come to trust for their advice, so here goes!
>
>I am currently shooping for a Cd-R or Cd-RW drive.
>There are so many makes , styles and types out there, would anyone who currently uses one please advise me?
>
>I am interested in quality, price ;) , compatibility with all other cdroms as far as reading goes, EIDE Vs. SCSI, ( also can one run a reg EIDE CDRom with another EIDE CD-Rx??).
>
>some models I am currently looking at are:
>
>ACER model CDW 6206A
>Phillips model CDD 3610
>Memorex (Memtek) model CRW-1622
>
>If anyone has one of these, please advise if you are satisfied.
>
>Also, any other makes, models that you might recommend and why.
>and if you have a favorite on-line retailer, please recommend.
>
I'm not familiar with any of those models; we use Ricoh and HP units at work, with Adaptec's CD Creator.

If your budget can stand it, a SCSI CDR/CDRW with a -good- PCI busmastering adapter will give the fewest problems in the long run; SCSI allows for more connected devices per cable, and more importantly, the SCSI busmastering HAs put less of a burden on the CPU, and demand less attention from the CPU, to perform transfers; as a result, there are fewer problems writing the CD, especially when doing something other than just burning the CD (not recommended in any case.) The biggest drawback is cost.

If you aren't willing to invest in a good PCU HA (my preference would be something like a BusLogic 930 or Adaptec 2940 family card), EIDE works, but make certain that the source and target devices are on separate IDE channels (not on the same cable) since unlike SCSI, an EIDE channel can't support multiple devices active simultaneously.