There's really NO best cdrw for backing up cd protection because Macrovision (Safedisc) and Sony (SecuROM) are always updating their protections. Now there are the "most" preferred burners that can successfully make back ups of Safedisc& SecuROM and they are (not in any specific order).
KNOWN SAFEDISC 2 KILLERS
"ARTEC CDRW241040+
ASUS CRW-1610A
ASUS CRW-3210A
ASUS CRW-4012A
ASUS CRW-4816A
ASUS CRW-5224A
BTC BCE-3212IM
BTC BCE 4012IM
BTC CDRW IDE 4816
BTC BCE-4824IM
BTC CDWRITER IDE 4824
BTC CDWRITER IDE 5224
BTC BCE-5224IM
CYBERDRIVE CW099D 52x24x52
LG GCE-8160B
LG GCE-8320B
LG-GCE-8400B
LITEON LTR-12102B
LITEON LTR-16102B
LITEON LTR-24102B
LITEON LTR-24103S
LITEON LTR-32123S
LITEON LTR-40125S
LITEON LTR-48125W
LITEON LTR-52246S
LITEON LXR-40122
MEMOREX - six models
Mitsumi CR-485CTE
POLAROID BurnMax 40
POLAROID BurnMax 48
POLAROID BurnMax 52
Sony CRX175A1
Sony CRX185E1
Sony CRX185E3
Sony CRX195E1
Sony CRX220E2
TEAC CD-W548E
TOSHIBA SD-R1202 DVD Combo Drive
TOSHIBA SD-R1312
TOSHIBA SD-R2312
TOSHIBA SD-R2412
TOSHIBA SD-R5002
TRAXDATA CDRW-2440MB
TRAXDATA CDRW-2440SD
TRAXDATA CDRW-4824E
TRAXDATA CDRW-5224E
WAITEC FRISBY11
SecuROM 4x killers:
cdrw's that can read/write RAO-DAO+96/RAO-DAO+16 sub-q channel audio/data and can write "regular bit patterns correctly" (EFM encoding) BUT there cdrw's that can write "regular bit patterns almost correctly" can defeat the latest SecuROM 4.8.x. If you wan't a stable cdrw that can backup both Safedisc& SecuROM, you wan't a cdrw that can read/write rao-dao+96 (best write method) and "writes regular bit patterns correctly". This is referred to by CloneCD (Elaboryte Bytes) as "2-sheep burners" Look at the link I'm providing at look closely at EFM Encoding and best data read mode. Any writer that has "2-sheep" beside the model are the best for backing up Safedisc& SecuROM. The majority of these writers can produce working backups of the latest SecuROm 4.8.x, but NO guarentee's.
My Polaroid BurnMAX48 BEAT Safedisc 2.8.x (The Sims Unleashed)& SecuROM 4.8.x (Unreal Tournament 2003)Of the many forums I visit, the post "preferred" writers for these cd protections are LiteON& Asus. I purchased my Polaroid BurnMAX48 at office Max for 49 buckaroos and this drive is a BTC and NOT a rebagged Litey. The Memorex MAX drives ARE rebagged litey's and you can buy them much cheaper than buying a Litey (for sure).Another helpful hint here is to have a DVD/CD-Rom that can bypass ATIP to play backups in that drive. Backups of Safedisc 2.5.x (Command& Conquer Renegade) won't play on all DVD/CD-Roms UNLESS your DVD/CD-Rom can get around ATIP. Most popular DVD-Roms to bypass ATIP:
LiteON LTD 163/165/166
Toshiba SD-M1402
Same scenerio applies to SecuROM 4.8.s as many roms can't bypass the "twin sector" cd protection schems in SecuROM 4.8.x(backups). Known drives to bypass this protection scheme:
Asus K8N nVidia nForce3 Pro 250 GB, Athlon 64 3200+, Hitachi 80 gig SATA 150, Corsair XMS 1 gig PC4000, ATI Radeon Saphire 9600 Pro (256 DDR), Windows XP Pro (64 Bit),Lite-ON SOHD 167T,, Plextor PX-712SA,BenQ 1640.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 1. March 2003 @ 03:35
raceman,
Yes it is my friend, but NOT like Shoey says, lol. Whomever tested all those drives says so. I'm also glad to report the Lite-On LTR-52246S (52/24/52) hardware review shows this drive defeats Safedisc 2.8.x, SecuROM 4.8.x
Key2Audio (all versions), Cactus Data Shield 200 but failed on Cactus Data Shield 100, and Doc. Lock (all versions). Maybe a firmware update will allow this drive to eventually defeat CDS 100. So, "pound 4 pound" one of the best, if not the best "combo's" for backing up cd/audio protection& for audio recording
LiteON LTD 163
Another great featur about LiteON burners is they can be "over clocked" If you own a Litey 48x model, you can actually use a Litey 52x firmware upgrade, and "presto", you now can burn at 52x.
Asus K8N nVidia nForce3 Pro 250 GB, Athlon 64 3200+, Hitachi 80 gig SATA 150, Corsair XMS 1 gig PC4000, ATI Radeon Saphire 9600 Pro (256 DDR), Windows XP Pro (64 Bit),Lite-ON SOHD 167T,, Plextor PX-712SA,BenQ 1640.
