Burn & Go Gold Review An Idiot- and Budget-Proof CD Construction Kit Eric Grevstad
Mon 2/4/02 -- Will the arrival of Windows XP be remembered as the event that cracked Roxio's Easy CD Creator's dominance of the CD burning software category? Maybe, for two reasons: Users who need only bare-bones CD recording capability will find it built into the new operating system, and many who need more have balked at Roxio's taking the opportunity to push upgrades to Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum, priced at a hefty $100.
Some PC enthusiasts are already writing their CD-R and CD-RW discs with a rival program such as Ahead Software's Nero Burning ROM or NTI's CD-Maker Professional (and to be fair, Roxio regularly offers discount deals that bring Easy CD Creator nearer to Nero's $69 price, if not NTI's $50).
But that still leaves a gap for users who aren't tech experts, but who crave a bit more than minimum control when creating data backups and custom audio CDs. Their burning desire? A CD-mastering utility that's pushbutton-simple, but has all the capability most consumers will ever need, and costs $20. That sounds like a job for ValuSoft's Burn & Go Gold.
Actually, it's a job for Iomega's HotBurn, the consumer-friendly CD software that the Zip, CD-RW, and hard drive vendor has been selling on its Web site since last fall. ValuSoft, a distributor of bargainware ranging from Bible-reference and home-design CDs to war and deer-hunting games (Have you ever noticed how every $10 to $20 software vendor has at least one deer-hunt simulator? -- Ed.), bundles HotBurn with 20 stick-on CD labels and a few thousand extra clip art images, knocks a third off Iomega's $30 price, and calls it Burn & Go Gold. We call it a good deal, as long as you don't need fancy, nerdy features.
Compatible with Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, and XP, HotBurn (as we'll refer to the software from now on) works with a wide array of ATAPI, SCSI, USB, and FireWire CD burners, though not with parallel-port burners. A few of the recent DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drives also appear as question marks on Iomega's compatibility list, so it's smart to check before buying.
Setup is simple, though you might want to check the "Custom" rather than "Typical" install option if you want to install just HotBurn (which can live on the same system with other CD burning programs) and not the UDF packet-writing module that gives other applications drive-letter access to CD-RWs (only one such module can be present).
When first launched, HotBurn runs a quick diagnostic test, using its own CD-ROM disc, to see if your CD-ROM (source) drive is fast enough to copy directly to your CD burner (target). You'll also want to click to check Iomega's site for updates -- ValuSoft has boxed version 2.2, but you can download (3.7MB) and install a fully Win XP-compatible 2.2.2 patch.
If you're looking to create Photo CDs, Enhanced CDs, or normal or Super Video CDs, you'll need a different program -- HotBurn's menu-free interface offers buttons only for music or data CDs (the options menu lets you add a mixed-mode button to make discs containing both audio tracks and images or other computer files); for making a copy of a CD; or launching its jewel-box and CD label designer.
HotBurn doesn't have an audio editor or MPEG encoder for tweaking tracks before saving them, and can't record to two or more drives simultaneously as Nero can. Nor can it match NTI's feat of burning live audio from your PC's line-in jack.
But it's even easier to use than Win XP's CD wizard. To make a duplicate CD, for instance, just click the CD Copy button, confirm the source and destination drives, and click "Create CD." If you have only one optical drive, you'll need to click a Settings button and check a box to copy the source disc to your hard disk before inserting the target CD-R; if you click a Select button, you can change the source or destination from a platter to a hard-disk image. HotBurn stores disc images in two parts, a .CDI pointer and .RAW data file, so they're primarily for your own use; it can't create the ISO images beloved of Linux distributors.
