Looking for a QUIET CD-R/RW Drive

[Darkmatterx]

I've heard a lot of people meantion the Lite-On drives, but I've read in several reviews that they are very loud. I'd rather have something slightly slower but quiet, then top speeds and annoying. Any suggestions? 48Xetc is fine, I don't need 52X if its considerably noiser.
I'll be using this as a reader too, so something with half decent seek times would be nice too.

Thanks

 

[AMD_Man]

If you want a quiet CD-RW drive both 48X and 52X are way too fast. You need a good old 40X or even 32X to get a quiet drive. I agree that LiteOn is on the loud side (I own 3 LiteOn Drives). I would go with a Plextor 40X CD burner if you can still find one.

Intelligence is not merely the wealth of knowledge but the sum of perception, wisdom, and knowledge.

 

[phsstpok]

There is a new drive which you can lock at lower speeds, at any speed you want, both for reading and writing.

Not a bad feature if you are willing to pay the price.

I just can't remember if it was the new Plextor.

<b>[EDIT]</b>
It was the new Plextor, the PlexWriter Premium 52/32/52.

It has a "Silent Mode" where you can limit not only the read/write speed but also the drawer speed and access speed. Apparently the read/write speed also affects the motor acceleration (spin-up) which would eliminate that annoying pitchy sound that high-speed drives normally make.

There is a review at <A HREF="http://www.cdrlabs.com" target="_new">CDRLabs.com</A>.

<b>56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!</b><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by phsstpok on 07/01/03 12:38 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[basmic]

My Plextor 48/24/48 (IDE) is very quiet. It is significantly quieter than my old Plextor 16/10/40, even though it is faster!

My old Plextor 16/10/40 gave off a low, humming sound, sometimes causing my case to vibrate. However, my Plextor 48/24/48 gives off what I describe as a high-pitched, quiet, shrill - nothing alarming, though.

<font color=orange><b> I guess THG is a drug in it's own way, and potentially harmfull! </b></font color=orange>

 

[JP5]

one things that helps is to remove all CDs from the drive when not in use, since XP will access drive frequently even when not in use.

 

[darth_aldo]

i agree, xp keeps testing the drives when u access any thing from 'my computer' onwards. LG produce a quite 48x drive if it is available 2 u

:lol: <font color=blue>beware of Psychiatrists because they always have a silent 'P'!!!</font color=blue> :lol:

 

[Derek1970]

my LG 52x24x52 is very quiet, even with my case open (as it usually is)

 

[lunitic]

You can get some software to slow down the drive. The new Nero 6 has this feature for example. I'm using it to listen to MP3's on a CD without excessive noise and I'm satisfied. When I need speed I can set the drive back to max speed.

At low speeds (up to 8x) the CD-drive is real quiet but still fast enough for playing music.