With the current trend of
Small Form Factor PC's nowhere near its end, space, or lack there of in a
PC can be a real problem. Combo drives help alleviate this problem by combining DVD and
CDR/RW functionality into one. They are note quite as convenient for doing CD-to-CD copies,
but combo drives like the X48 only occupy one 5 1/4" drive bay.
Any SFF PC user will tell you that real estate inside the PC can
sometimes also be a problem, which is why we're happy to see the MSI X48 is nice
an compact, length wise. To top things off, you can also change the front bezel of
the drive from white to black.
The MSI X48 is not the fastest CD-RW on
the market, with only a 48x CD-R, 24x CD-RW burn speeds but
I doubt you'd notice the difference between 48x and 52x anyway. The X48 supports
all the popular writing methods including Mt. Rainier.
For DVD enthusiasts, the X48 can read
DVD-ROM/RAM and DVD-R/RW discs at a maximum of 16x which is as fast as
conventional DVD-ROM's. Please not though that the drive does
not read DVD+R/RW discs.
From the
tests PCstats ran, the performance of the MSI X48
drive was generally very good. Both data and audio transfer speeds were in line
with low access times. We did experience a peculiar problem burning CD-R/RW discs, but I
chalk that up with buggy software as Nero had no problems burning media
at 48x. DVD playback was as expected too. With a retail price of $65 CDN ($48 US) the MSI X48 Combo Drive is actually a pretty good value;
buying a standalone DVD-ROM and CD-RW can easily cost you $40-50 CDN
more.
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52x24x52x16 CD-RW/DVD Review
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