Posted: August 23rd, 2003
Written by: Justin "The Sheriff" Woods

Introduction

I remember my first CD player; It was a mind-numbingly fast 4x. Though readily availabble, I still wasn't buying games on CD for my PC, I used the tried and true floppies, I just wasn't ready to make the transition, then Doom 2 was released; the quicker access and transfer rate of the CD over the floppy made me a convert overnight. Who doesn't have a CD recorder these days? Hell, even my grandfather can burn photo CDs, and he barely uses his PC. Remember the first time you saw or used a CD-R? I think I burned through more coasters than a hooters bar; ah yes, my 2x burner got a lot of use. Today, we may very well be at the pinnacle of CD-RW technology, meaning that you're not going to see CD-RWs getting faster. I've heard rumors of a 56X, but haven't seen anything, so for now the top speed is 52X.

Mad Dog's current lineup, we'll be benching them against each other...

The CD-RW in many ways has revolutionized the PC. People not connected to a network can move somewhat large files between PCs with relatively no effort, and look at the advances in music quality, specifically MP3s. Some day, we're going to get one of those cheesy, "I remember when" emails, "I remember when MP3s didn't exist" will be listed; right after, "I remember a time when you couldn't make your own CDs in less than 3 minutes". CD-RWs are now one of the few pieces of hardware most people cannot live without.

That being said, the number of CD-RWs available through retail channels is mind boggling, almost every company that sells PCs has a drive. I've been told that there are only four, (yes four) manufactures that produce all the drives, and that's just amazing. Also amazing is the variation in price. I've seen the newer internal high-speed drives costing anywhere from 30 to 130 dollars, and the only thing I could see as a difference was the company logo on the box.

Today, I'm looking at two drives from a relatively new player in the hardware arena, Mad Dog Multimedia. The philosophy at Mad Dog is to provide the best products at the best price, so you'll generally find their products at low prices throughout the retail channel. Mad Dog also offers a small range of sound cards, and video cards based on the Nvidia GeForce 4 chipset, currently its flagship is a 128 meg GeForce FX 5600. You'll see a review on that a little later, and a giveaway as well. Speaking of giveaway, the guys over at Mad Dog Multimedia are sponsoring a contest to go along with this review. I'll explain the details a little later, and rest assured you'll want to check it out.

Next Page: Drive Specs.