Procom Technology Inc.: Procom PCDR-4X

James Karney

With a list price of $1,699, the Procom PCDR-4X is aimed at corporate users and CD-ROM professionals who want a fast CD-R unit. This product is a Yamaha CDR100 4X-read/4X-write drive, mounted in a well-designed custom external case; ours came bundled with Corel CD Creator and a SCSI cable. While a bit pricey (the Yamaha sells its own external drive for $1,495, minus the cost of the software), the Procom can handle virtually any CD-R task well. The company notes that for the extra dollars you get a fully tested drive and ready support.

The unit is solid. There is a push-in selector switch for setting the SCSI IDs, a real plus over the weak turnposts found on some drives. Five status lights indicate read and write activity, operating speed, and disk status. There are stereo audio input jacks in the rear and an output jack for headphones in the front. The drive uses a caddy rather than a tray to load platters. Connections to the SCSI chain are made with firmly seated 50-pin SCSI-2 Centronics plugs. Procom provides an external termination plug to use if the drive is the last device on the bus. Another nice touch: Users have the option of standing the drive on its side to reduce the footprint.

Our only complaints with the product's construction are its weak door spring and a mushy-feeling loading mechanism (common to all 4X Yamaha CD-R drives). It is hard to tell just when a disk is properly seated, and care must be used not to force the caddy into the slot.

Setting up the unit with our Adaptec 2940 host adapter was no more complicated than attaching the cables, powering up the system, and loading Corel CD Creator under Windows 3.11. Procom plans to include the Windows 95 version of CD Creator once it becomes available, and the company offers an alternative bundle with OMI's TOPiX, neither of which we tested.

The only problems with the drive during our evaluation were imposed by the software. It completed our On-the-Fly Recording test without a hitch, but it took 27 minutes 52 seconds--about twice as long as 4X burner should. Another Yamaha-sourced mechanism in this roundup (from Micronet) running Incat's Easy-CD software turned in an excellent score of only 14 minutes. There is no reason to believe that the Procom would run any slower with the same software, and dealers are free to bundle any premastering software they choose.

On our other tests the drive copied both audio and data CD-ROMs with ease. Unfortunately, the current package won't handle Enhanced CD (CD Plus) or true Photo CD authoring. Corel and Procom claim the new version of the software will.

Procom is well known for high-end value-added mass storage and RAID solutions. Its PCDR-4X recorder comes with a bit of extra care and hand-holding, for a bit more cash. Our only caution is to choose a software package that lets it reach its full potential.

Procom PCDR-4X. List price: $1,699. Procom Technology Inc., Irvine, CA; 800-800-8600, 714-852-1000; fax, 714-852-1221; http://www.procom.com.

Suitability to Task

                    Power     Ease

Initial startup     Excellent Excellent
Backup              Excellent Good
Disk duplication    Excellent Good
Format flexibility  Good      Fair

Copyright (c) 1996 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company