[aprssig] Re: *** APRS TNC Test CD Now Available *** --- Can'tPlay It

[scott at opentrac.org]

> When I got back later.  Success, even with all sorts of other stuff
> running (some emails came in at that time!) guess a fastish CPU, loads
> of RAM, and a CD-RW drive with it's own buffer underun 
> protection helps
> somewhat.  W2k, 512M ram, P4 1.4G, and some "Far Eastern Origin" OEM
> ATAPI-IDE CD-RW drive.

They're still getting better, in my experience.  I remember the first
Pinnacle Micro SCSI drives I used, at 1x and 2x respectively.  On one of the
fastest machines in the building (a dual Pentium Pro, I think) you'd have to
build the image, defrag the hard drive, close everything, start the burn,
and very carefully move away from the computer and avoid stepping anywhere
near it lest the vibrations in the floor upset the drive.  And you'd still
make coasters about half the time.

I still burn discs at around half the drive's rated speed.  I have yet to
see a 48x or 52x drive, even with appropriately marked media, get better
than a 75% success rate at full speed.

Scott
N1VG