TDK Electronics has been making a fine line of CD-RW burners since the introduction of their VeloCD 24x drives. While the VeloCD 48x isn't the fastest drive available on the market, it still is a very good drive for the price.

The VeloCD 48x drive is rated at a maximum speed of 48x for CD-R recording, data reading and CD audio extraction. The actual CD-RW recording speed is much more confusing. TDK labels the drive as being 16x/24x CD-RW maximum recording speeds based upon the media used for the recording. The maximum speed of the recording of both CD-R and CD-RW drives is always dependent upon the media that is used so why TDK would be willing to label it with two speeds is a bit of a mystery.

TDK includes a good mix of CD recording software in the package. The primary piece of software that most people will use is the Ahead NeroExpress recording software. This is a simplified version of the full Nero software from Ahead software, but it provides the basics that most people will use. TDK has also included their own Digital MixMaster software. This is useful for individuals who want to rip, store and catalog their music files and then record them to mix CDs. There any many other software programs out there that can do more in this category, but it is a useful inclusion. Finally, there is the InCD packet writing software to allow PC computers to use the drive as if it were a normal removable drive like a floppy.

Tested recording speeds were very close to the reported maximum speeds by TDK although it is difficult to find good high speed CD-RW media to allow the full potential of the drives rewrite speed. The 2MB buffer with underrun protection did its job well, but obviously slowed down the maximum speed of the drive when the buffer reached zero during the recording process. A larger buffer could enhance the performance of the drive.

Overall, TDK has built a very solid and reliable drive for CD recording. While it is not the best performance drive out there, it still is able to do its tasks fast. With TDK and other manufacturers now releasing their 52x CD-RW drives, expect to see the prices on this drive drop in the coming months.