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The AOpen RW5120A is one of the latest DVD+RW drives to hit the market and is a rebadged version of the Ricoh MP5120A. As such, it shares the same specification, as well as the advantages, of the DVD+RW format.
The rear panel contains the familiar collection of analogue and digital audio, E-IDE and power connectors, while the front is a light grey fascia that contains a 35mm headphone socket and thumbwheel volume control.
Like all DVD+RWs, it uses constant linear velocity operation with a maximum write speed of 2.4-speed for DVD+RW media, equivalent to 3.32Mbps, while constant angular velocity is used for reads, allowing the AOpen RW5120A to reach 32-speed on CDRoms.
Our tests showed erratic performance at higher speeds, which is probably due to the different firmware of this drive. High-speed CD-Rs can be written at up to 12-speed, with CD-RW rewrites up to 10-speed.
A 2Mb internal write buffer works with JustLink buffer underrun prevention during CD writes to avoid data corruption.
As the RW5120A is a DVD+RW drive, it uses a higher frequency track wobble than DVDRam and DVD-RW formats. This allows for data positioning to within 1nm and quick formatting (where only a portion of the disc is formatted) without losing compatibility. By comparison, DVD-RWs need to be formatted entirely before use.
One 24-speed CD-R, one 10-speed CD-RW and one 2.4-speed DVD+RW are supplied.
Bundled software includes CyberLink's PowerDVD and PowerDirector for video editing and DVD-Video playback, Nero 5 and InCD, as well as Ulead System's DVD PictureShow.
AOpen's RW5120A is an attractive product with a good collection of utilities, but its shaky CDRom read performance takes the edge off an otherwise strong product.
Price: (as reviewed, ex. VAT) £388.99
Contact: Dabs.com (distributor) 0870 429 3010
www.aopen.com
See also:
With support for both DVD recording formats, this is a truly flexible rewriter. 28 Jan 2003
A complete solution for capturing, editing and DVD authoring at an attractive price. 18 Jun 2002
As a DVD rewriter, the DVDR 1000 does a very good impression of a VCR. 23 Oct 2001All Optical Drives (CD/DVD Drive)
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