Addonics 18-in-1 Multi-Function Recorder
The ultimate media reader or flea market fodder?
T
he phrase “18-in-1” suggests the sort of device that seems really
appealing in an infomercial, and then is used exactly once before
being forgotten in a dusty kitchen drawer. But the Addonics Multi-
Function Recorder (MFR) actually earns its title as the ultimate media
reader for home and mobile use. If you can’t imagine why you’d need
something like this, you probably don’t, so you may now retire to the
drawing room. Otherwise, let’s look at the specs.
The MFR is a removable laptop DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive
outfitted with a small LCD screen and a USB 2.0 connection. It accepts
CD-Rs, CD-RWs, CompactFlash Type I and II, Memory Stick, Memory
Stick Pro, SD cards, MMC cards, and Microdrives. ( Whew .) The
Addonics MFR also reads DVD-ROMs, and though the box only mentions
support for the recordable DVD-R/W format, we were pleasantly
surprised to find that ours had no problem reading from DVD+R and
DVD+RW discs as well (it will not burn to DVD, however). The only thing
missing from the line-up is Olympus’ new camera-centric xD format,
which is no biggie.
Operation is exceedingly simple; just pop a storage card into the slot
located above the disc tray, and the LCD asks if you want to back it up to an
optical disc (the drive supports multi-session burning). One button begins
the process. CD writing tops out at 24x, but your backup times will be limited
by the transfer rate of your storage card. Unfortunately, the Addonics drive
doesn’t support disc spanning, so there’s no way to back up storage cards
that have capacities greater than a 700MB CD. One technical problem weencountered is that frequent card-swapping sometimes caused the unit to
hang, forcing us to unplug it in order to reboot it.
The MFR comes with a ton of handy features and accessories, such as
automatic playback of images on a storage card to a television using the S-
video out and included remote
control, a clip-on battery pack
that lasts a little more than two
hours, and every cable you’ll
need for the unit packed into
a handy travel case. But the
real payoff is for photographers
and anyone else who juggles
memory cards in multiple
formats away from their PCs.—LOGAN DECKERPhotographers, journalists, and private investigators, take
note: You’ll never, ever run out of memory card space with the
Addonics MFR, which can perform 18 different media-related
tasks with virtually all of your storage media.Photographers, journalists, and private investigators, takeThe MFR is just as convenient to use on the go as
it is at home.LIGHTHOUSESOUTHOUSES
DVD read speeds are very slow, and the drive
doesn’t support disc spanning.
$300, http://www.addonics.comMAXIMUMPC VERDICT 8
Mad Dog Entertainer 7.1 DSP
This inexpensive surround-sound card slips a
bit, but still surprises usC
ost is no longer a reason for passing up a 7.1-capable soundcard.
Mad Dog’s Entertainer 7.1 budget soundcard breaks the sub-$50 price
barrier while giving you eight discrete channels of audio. Of course,
the low price comes with a few compromises.
The Entertainer uses VIA’s Envy 24 HT-S chip, which is similar to the chip
found in M-Audio’s Revolution 7.1 and AudioTrak’s Prodigy 7.1. Unfortunately,
the “S” version of the popular VIA audio chip limits analog output to 20-
bit, not 24-bit like the aforementioned soundcards. Even if the Entertainer
had the higher-end chip, the VIA VT1616 CODEC limits you to multichannel
surround sound. Because the VT1616 is confined to six-channel output, Mad
Dog added a second high-quality Wolfson CODEC for the last two channels.
Thus, the “24-bit” descriptor can be chalked up to marketing gimmickry.
The truth is, the card provides 24-bit only on the optical-out and not
the analog, which is what most people will use it for. Mad Dog also takes
liberties in describing the soundcard as having a digital signal processor
(DSP). This sounds like hype to us —as far as we know, the Envy 24-series
of chips does little if any processing of signals; it’s all done on your CPU. We
also ran into problems updating the Entertainer’s drivers using Mad Dog’s
web site. When we went from the stock drivers to the latest drivers, we lost
the ability to drive eight-channel audio. That’s bunk.
Still, there is some good news in the dog pound. Even though we’ve seen
similar onboard solutions using the same components as the Entertainer
7.1 (the Albatron Athlon 64 board on page 66, for example), the Entertainer
performed above average for a budget card when playing high-resolution
source material. Perhaps just moving the components to a PCI card andaway from the noisy confines of a mobo makes the difference. Mad Dog’s
card isn’t in the same class as Creative Lab’s Audigy 2 ZS or M-Audio’s
Revolution 7.1, which uses an AKM CODEC, but for a list price of $60 (and
we’ve seen it sell for as low as $20), it’s a steal, especially when you
consider that you get a pair of optical ports as well.
The Entertainer’s gaming
performance is about what we
expected from a host-based
soundcard. It’s good if your
PC has the CPU equivalent of
a beefy Alaskan husky. If your
processor is more of a poodle,
you may want to opt for a
more traditional hardware
accelerator.
—GORDON MAH UNGost is no longer a reason for passing up a 7.1-capable soundcard.
Mad Dog’s Entertainer 7.1 budget soundcard breaks the sub-$50 price
barrier while giving you eight discrete channels of audio. Of course,The Entertainer uses VIA’s Envy 24 HT-S chip, which is similar to the chip
found in M-Audio’s Revolution 7.1 and AudioTrak’s Prodigy 7.1. Unfortunately,
the “S” version of the popular VIA audio chip limits analog output to 20-
bit, not 24-bit like the aforementioned soundcards. Even if the Entertainer
had the higher-end chip, the VIA VT1616 CODEC limits you to multichannelThe Entertainer uses a VIA chip that
only provides 20-bit audio through
the analog ports instead of 24-bit,
but it still sounds pretty good.MAXIMUMPC MARCH 2004
Reviews
For less than the price of a good mouse, the Enter-
tainer 7.1 serves up more satellites than Neptune.SCOOBY-DOOSCRAPPY-DOO
Doesn’t live up to box claims of “24-bit” or DSP.
Doesn’t work with Creative 7.1 speakers.
$59, http://www.mdmm.comMAXIMUMPC VERDICT 6