Ricoh MP9060a.(DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive)(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)

DVD-ROM/CD-RW DRIVE

Consider it a minor optical-media miracle: Ricoh has paired 6x/4x/24x CD-Rewritable technology with 4x DVD-ROM capabilities in the same drive. The MP9060a ($699) is an enticing upgrade option; before now, you needed separate drives to watch DVD movies and to burn audio or data CDs. And the drive largely lives up to its promise: except for a glitch with the bundled DVD movie player, the drive easily passed muster, though it's not the fastest at CD-RW or DVD operations.

The physical setup of the MP9060a on our 400MHz Celeron test system went as smoothly as that of any internal ATAPI drive; the unit was set as the master drive on our …