Possible Compusa deal on Sony 12x CD-RW drive for $150 after rebate

[bubba]

Anyone having problems copying disc-to-disc with the spressa tools (C Extreme)? I got two coasters trying to copy CD to CD with that, but burnt it fine using CloneCD. I guess that is because CloneCD writes to the harddrive first?

Anyone else have any good/bad experiences with the CD duping?

 

[Coki]

Get the software that's not related to the manufacturer.

CDRWin, DiscJuggler, Nero, CloneCD.

Proprietary software sucks all the time.

 

[Coki]

Anyone in NYC area that got in on this deal?


If I buy tomorrow is it too late? Should I get this drive? I still have my 4X Panasonic.

 

[nealh]

In order to write cd rom to cdr or on the fly...you need a cdrom that can provide and accurate fast stream of info to the cdr/cdrw or the you will get a buffer underrun unless the drive supports a burnproof technology...the Sony drive does not support burnproof or ricoh similar tech. justlink...so you will get a coaster unless the crom provides the data fast enough

 

[cremefilled]

I _think_ I've read through this whole thread, and I haven't seen anything about BlindRead. This is a program that seems to function identically to CloneCD: it "nibbles" off the CD a sector at a time, and then writes a complete copy, bad sectors and all (if the recorder supports that). I just burned off Rayman 2 on my Sony 12X with this program in 6 min. (wow!). Rayman 2 wouldn't copy under Nero or CDRWin with the Sony or my previous Acer, but it would with CloneCD on the Acer.

Here's a download link:
blindread

Scroll down the page--you want the 1.5 MB BlindWrite suite link. When you write, you want DAO PS mode, which luckily works just fine on the Sony.

 

[Milkyman]

this is a really funny comic about compusa check it out:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2000-09-20&res=l

really cracked me up when i saw it

 

[nealh]

Blindwrite is a similar program to clonecd but nowhere near as bug free and successful....blindwrite is new and still working out the kinks..clonecd has been around longer and is top-notch with right hardware.

 

[Fumiup]

Only 1 day left. They have a couple left here in Irving, Texas. I got one.

 

[cremefilled]

nealh, thanks for the info on blindread. They did just come out with a new version yesterday, if you didn't know already. Anyway, I am 1 out of 1 on copying success with it on my Sony Spressa 12X. I can copy almost everything I need with CDRWin and Nero, so I hope BlindRead can get me by until CloneCD comes out with a hardware update.

Anyway, with CDR blanks at $0.30 apiece or less, it doesn't hurt too much to try. One could also use a CDRW blank to be safe.

 

[bubba]

CloneCD worked fine for me on my new Spressa. Isn't it working for you?

 

[cremefilled]

I was going to add my thoughts on the Plextor 12X vs. Sony 12X debate that was in another thread, but it has been locked. Anyway, I wanted to say that for the $80 price difference, one could purchase the best CD reader in existence, the Kenwood TrueX 72X. This is way, way more than fast enough to dub any unscratched disc "on the fly." In fact, CDSpeed2000 (ref. earlier in thread) tested it at 68X Digital Audio Extraction! So, there's not even much of an incentive to dub disc-to-disc...it only takes 1 minute to create a hard drive image! And you get incredibly fast app installation as well.

For anybody who is using their CDRW drive to copy to HD->then to CDR, this would be a worthwhile upgrade.

 

[cremefilled]

bubba, thanks for the tip. CMV's earlier post indicated that it was not yet working with CloneCD, as did several posts in the other Sony12X thread, and Sony's website doesn't show it listed yet.

For anyone tuning in late on this, CloneCD can copy almost _anything_ on the market. If you've ever tried to copy a disc, only to have the process freeze up immediately with an "illegal operation" error, or have your copy program futilely start to count hundreds of disc errors, try CloneCD. Especially valuable for copying games. For more info on all sorts of copying issues, go to gamecopyworld.com.

 

[bubba]

I am trying a demo of Nero in the hopes of finding a better program. Nero seems to recognize the drive, but only says it can copy at 4x. This is with Nero 5.0.2.4. Are others getting the same behavior?

 

[sirsolo]

Hmm.. how much faster do you want to go?

 

[Spindler]

just thought you guys might find this table info helpful.

74 mins / 650 mb
1x
74 mins

74 mins / 650 mb
2x
37 mins

74 mins / 650 mb
4x
18.5 mins

74 mins / 650 mb
6x
12.34 mins

74 mins / 650 mb
8x
9.25 mins

74 mins / 650 mb
12x
6.17 mins!!

 

[jhassi]

<< I was going to add my thoughts on the Plextor 12X vs. Sony 12X debate that was in another thread, but it has been locked. Anyway, I wanted to say that for the $80 price difference, one could purchase the best CD reader in existence, the Kenwood TrueX 72X. This is way, way more than fast enough to dub any unscratched disc &quot;on the fly.&quot; In fact, CDSpeed2000 (ref. earlier in thread) tested it at 68X Digital Audio Extraction! So, there's not even much of an incentive to dub disc-to-disc...it only takes 1 minute to create a hard drive image! And you get incredibly fast app installation as well. >>



see cremefilled, i'm not worried about copying CDs, I'm worried about my computer not being able to keep up with the 2 megabyte/second for a full 6 minutes while I'm trying to do other things. I can stop playing games long enough to record a 6 minute CD, but I'm not sure if my PC could even keep up when i'm just surfing.

WELL, I was worried I just bought a Promise UDMA/66 Card I'm going to hack to a RAID controller, and I have two 20 gig hard drives to RAID. Hopefully together they'll provide 30+ MB/sec sustained transfer rate, so now i'm looking for that Sony 12x

is the $150 deal on the 12x8x32x Sony drive still good?? If so, when is the deal over?

 

[nealh]

Clonecd should work now with this drive one of the mods at cloneclinic has this drive and really likes it although it will create coasters when multitasking not seen with burnproof drives...aka Plex 12/10/32

Check out welcome.to/cloneclinic...very useful site for clonecd info

Blindwrite does have a new version ...but bug reports are just being reported as expected in this situation where the author is trying to improve his product...but as with all new versions...problems crop up.

My personally choice for cdr software:

Mastering program:
WinOnCD 3.7

Copying
CloneCD...nothing right now is better

Audio
Exact Audio Copy

I am not saying these are the best(except clonecd) but the work easily and very well...I have not used Nero or Hotburner

 

[attention]

I am so disgusted with Compusa!
On the phone they tell you that they have the special items, but when you get there, they are magically gone just minutes before.
The managers in charge are VERY rude and insulting.
They do not offer ANY compensation or even a similar product for your wasted time (and their mistake), no they say you heard wrong!

This is not a correct way to do business.
Purposely misleading customers, then insulting them is not right.

 

[cremefilled]

jhassi: the $80 difference between Plextor/Sony will buy 400 blanks (probably more as prices continue to drop). That's a lot of &quot;wiggle room&quot; for burning the occasional coaster.

My favorite software is CDRWin. I can be copying a game, a data disc, or a music CD within 5 sec. of booting it up. In any case, it can't be beat for Playstation games.

Looking at the list of burn speeds above, it makes me wonder who is going to value their time so incredibly highly that they will spring for a 16X recorder later this year (saving maybe 1'30&quot; per CD).

 

[PwAg]

Attention: I know...they are a bunch of animals. I used to work there for a Christmas vacation part time job, and I quit 2 day's earlier than I anticipated because of the bull sh*it conniving methods we were supposed use to sell products to customers. CompUSA salesman/managers/techs are the most obnoxious, rude, and f#cking ignorant people I've come across in any &quot;high-tech&quot; (if that) retail store. They are pathetic f#cks. But this only a judgement of those that work in the Albany NY regional store. But I assume they are like this throughout the country. Well I just had to get that out. I hate CompUSA with a passion. I can't tell you how many frustrated people we had come in on weekends looking for an advertised products in the Sunday flyer but when they arrive there is no product left. This is often because they advertise products with no stock. For example 2 hot video cards will be in stock, and they put in the Sunday ad that they have a hot deal. So in response about 30 people throughout the day come down, all dissappointed when they leave. But then the CompUSA has the nerve to be nasty to them about it. So go f*uck yourself COMPUSA.

Good luck on the burner. Excellent choice.

 

[cremefilled]

My anecdote: I had been buying the CompUSA branded CDR blanks. After having gone through maybe 6 stacks of 50 without any problems, the 7th stack produced 5 coasters for the first 5 CD's. So I took it back to the store. Apparently customer service is instructed to argue vehemently with any customer. After waiting in line for 20 minutes and seeing several other customers getting pissed on, I was told that I had &quot;no proof&quot; that I had bought the CD's from CompUSA! They only said CompUSA on them! After 30 more minutes, and going to the CSR's supervisor (who told me it must be my burner), and then _his_ manager, I was told that &quot;just this once&quot; they would allow an exchange. The original CSR then very slowly and sarcastically counted off every CD on the spindle, pulling them off one at a time to make sure all 50 were there. Meanwhile, the customers behind me in line are of course getting pissed off at me and at the store. Never again.

One more thought on the Plextor vs. Sony debate. The $80 difference will also get you a brand-new hard drive, in the 20-30 GB range. I assume that the most common cause of buffer underrun would be because the hard drive heads are having to shuttle back &amp; forth to meet the demands of different programs. Set the CD recorder and your new hard drive on their own IDE channel(s), and partition off 750 MB that is dedicated solely to recording CD's (so there's no problems with defragmentation). Enjoy the extra 29.25 GB's you bought with the money savings.

Btw, using a second hard drive to hold a dedicated partition for Windows' virtual memory is a good idea for similar reasons (significantly better performance on the 1st hard drive, lack of defragmentation, better utilization of multiple IDE channels).

 

[jhassi]

cremefilled



<< the $80 difference between Plextor/Sony will buy 400 blanks (probably more as prices continue to drop). That's a lot of &quot;wiggle room&quot; for burning the occasional coaster. >>



you're right, but I'm not worried about wasting a 20 cent cdr, I'm annoying by wasting the time making the CD and that I have to start all over and then i get mad at myself for trying to do two things at once, etc.

16x CD-Rs are already out

 

[cremefilled]

Help! I can't find my rebate form, and the store doesn't have any left. Does anyone have a rebate form that they can scan or mail to me? 5 days left to get this postmarked. Thanks. bdleslie@mail.sunflower.com

 

[Freekylink]

I have been trying to send you the rebate, but this email address you gave doesn't work for some reason. Send me an email and I will reply to it with the rebate.

 

[cremefilled]

Thank you, Freekylink. For all the complaints from newbies, I find the Hot Deal forum to be full of helpful people. Witness the several people in this thread who were offering to mail rebate forms to others, or the people who offer to pick up merchandise locally and ship it at no profit.