Thinking about adding a faster CD-ROM to my Centris 650

[MacFox]

Hello,

So I've been thinking about adding a faster CD-ROM drive to my Centris 650.  I currently use an Apple CD600e (4x speed) drive with the Centris.  I also use that drive with my SE sometimes.  The 600e is good, but on the Centris I notice that in programs that have multimedia components like QuickTime or in games that the audio and video will stutter at times.  I'm thinking a faster CD-ROM drive might help?  I would keep the 600e for use with my SE unless I get another external drive.  Both my Centris and my SE are in the same room, but never on at the same time, so I can swap an external drive back and forth between them like I do now.  So my big questions are:

Would it be better to go internal or external?  The HDD in my Centris is attached to the drive chassis by a wide zip tie that loops through the CD-ROM drive bay, so I will have to find the proper drive sled for the HDD if I go the internal route.  I think the one from the Power Macintosh 7500 might be similar, but I'm not sure.  I have a spare drive sled from a broken PM 7500 I used to have.  Would also need to buy one for the CD-ROM if it doesn't come with it.

Which brand other than Apple should I go with?  If I find a better deal on a non-Apple CD-ROM drive which third-party brand would work on a Mac like this?  Which brands could boot in a Centris 650?

Thanks in advance.   

 

[LaPorta]

You could go with the external. That would make it easy. One thing I would wonder: is it really the CD drive? Have you tried copying such movies and/or games all to the HD? If they still stutter, the issue is the machine being too slow.

 

[beachycove]

A burner with Toast would offer greater speed and flexibility. You'd have to do some digging as to brands and software support, mind.

As to speed, several years ago I popped an Apple 12x SCSI CD-ROM into a Quadra 650 and the effect was pretty dramatic.

 

[Unknown_K]

Could be that the 4x drive needs the optics cleaned or the laser is just wearing out and is having a hard time tracking. Pretty sure any CDROM based games don't need anything faster then the stock optical drive (which was 2x) to work correctly.

 

[MacFox]

You could go with the external. That would make it easy. One thing I would wonder: is it really the CD drive? Have you tried copying such movies and/or games all to the HD? If they still stutter, the issue is the machine being too slow.

I just put in the CD I used last time and copied a program that gave me issues last time to the hard drive.  No audio or video problems playing from the HDD.  I ran a game demo from the CD and that played fine, so I guess it depends on the program/game. 

I think I'll hold off on the upgrade for now, though the idea of adding a burner is pretty tempting.  

 

[LaPorta]

Yeah probably depends on how intensive/large the first is. External would be cool!