
I have the a CD-Technology drive with the Toshiba mechanism, and it is
supposedly the fast and best now.  It has an access of 200ms and a data
transfer rate 300Kb/sec.  It is multisession photo-cd compatible.  It is
available from educorp for $599, the CD-Technology one, and comes with two
mail in coupons for two free CDs.  I'm not sure if the cd's are good, since
I've only had the drive a little less than a month and had the cd's shipped
to my home address in california instead of here in maryland.  The
CD-technology drive has a separate power supply separated from the drive,
which supposedly gives it a longer life, and keeps it cleaner with no fan to
attract dust.  A Toshiba brand drive is also available, but I think the
CD-Technology is better, since you get the same mechanism, and at a slightly
lower price with two free CDs.

The Apple 300/330i Drive, Sony Mechanism, is around a 300ms access time I
think, and a data transfer rate of 300Kb/sec.  I know it is the slowest of the
three mentioned here.  It is not widely available, except through the apple
catalog, which is bad at a price of only $599.  It is also multi-session photo
cd compatible. I think the external model comes with 7 free cds, some of
which are pretty good.

The NEC drive has been out the longest.  it has an access time of 280ms and
a data transfer rate of 300Kb/sec.  it is available from many vendors around
$600 dollars, including Educorp.  It wasn't multi-sesssion photo-cd compatible
before, but I hear that the current version that is shipping is.  Owners of
the older drives can get an upgrade.  It does not come with any free cd's
unless you buy it in a bundle.

Of the three CD-Rom drives above, i think the best choices would be the
Apple drive and the CD-technology(toshiba) drive.  The apple drive for it's
compatibility with apple products and the cd-technology(toshiba) for it's
speed and performance. 

BTW, the models of the drives are:

Apple: AppleCD 300 or AppleCD 300i (internal)

CD-Technology:  CD-T3401 (the Toshiba brand name model I'm not sure, but it
is also something like with 3401)

NEC:  CDR-74


I'm very happy with my drive.  And have had no compatibility problems
whatsoever.  If I am wrong about any of the above, do correct me, but I am
pretty sure of myself, even when I think I'm not.

Also, some of you out there might notice that I have the same last name as
the president of CD-Technology which happens to be in southern california,
my hometown.  However, I AM NOT a relative nor do I know the guy.  Liu is
just a common chinese name, especially in southern california, with the
enormous chinese community.  Besides, one of my doctors in california has
three Steve Liu's as patients and another Steve Liu comes to my school and
lives in the next dorm.  This is to show that Liu is very common.

Steve :-)