How well do ATAPI (IDE) and parallel-port CD recorders work?
By all accounts, they work just fine. Some people have argued that IDE CD-Rs are easier to install than SCSI. The only significant limitation at this time is that a wider variety of software is available for SCSI drives, but that’s changing. There were some concerns about whether or not a CD-to-CD copy would be reliable if the source CD-ROM drive and target CD-R drive are both IDE. The concern was that the increased CPU and bus utilization associated with IDE would cause buffer underruns. So far, all reports indicate that the concerns were unfounded. Parallel-port drives require an ECP/EPP parallel port, which most (all?) machines have. Some BIOSs allow you to switch between ECP/EPP and “standard” mode; if you’re having trouble, be sure it’s set correctly. Some people who have bought off-the-shelf parallel-to-IDE converters have found that writing at 4x doesn’t work very well. This may account for why all drives that ship with parallel port support are 2x writers.
