Digital Trends

TDK AID+440BX June 29th, 2003 | by Ian Bell

Performance and testing

In our tests the TDK 440N beat out the Plextor PX-504A in about every read and write test we did. SiSoftware Sandra showed the Plextor drive as having better results than the TDK transfer wise and the Nero DVD Speed CPU utilization test showed the Plextor as using less of our precious processor cycles. What is odd is that at the TDK 440N's max speed, CPU utilization shot up to 19%, more than 8% higher than the Plextor drive. This is not good to see, but at the same time we experienced no read or write errors with the drive while in use. Both the TDK 440N and the Plextor PX-504A showed to be neck and neck for most of the benchmarks, neither winner won by a sizable margin. Please click on the performance tab above and below this review to see complete testing results for the TDK 440N. Unfortunately DVD-R write times were dramatically longer that DVD+R write times in our tests. Since the Plextor 504A does not write to -R/RW media we were not able to compare the TDK 440N to a compareable drive although we suspect the 440N is on the slow side when writing to the -R/RW media.

*Edit 7/25/03 - We have had a few complaints about the 440N having trouble reading older 2X and 4X CD-R/RW media as well as some regular retail CD media. Please check TDK's site for any firware updates which may fix this issue. As of this writing, nothing has been acknowledged by TDK. - IanBell

Conclusion

The TDK 440N Indi DVD writer is a great investment for those that plan on creating media content or backing up their computer. The instruction manual and installation video shows TDK's dedication to the consumer while the new look of the front faceplate gives the drive a look of quality. Read and write performance on the TDK 440N was above average in our tests and the included Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator 6 worked beautifully without a hitch. TDK once again gives us a quality product at a reasonable price in the TDK 440N Indi DVD writer. Make sure to buy DVD+RW media and an audio cable if this will be your only drive as neither is included in the 440N package.

Forum Discussion:

http://forums.digitaltrends.com/showthread.php?s=befd21803fb7bfbed1608229135feffb&threadid=2465