Conclusion

The Artec CHA-52 performs well enough to put itself into contention for a Leaderboard spot.

In summary, its strengths include:

• 52X transfer rates that actually exceed specifications
• Dirt-cheap pricing
• Consistently high read speeds with a variety of pressed media
• Excellent copy speeds
• Excellent DAE speeds
• Good CD-DA playback error correction

The drive's weak areas:

• Shallow tray makes removing discs difficult
• Slow access times compared to the competition
• Suspect DAE quality
• Mediocre CD-RW read speeds

Were it not for the DAE issues, the CHA-52 would overtake leaderboard champ Afreey. Its remaining strengths make for an impressive CD-ROM drive. As it currently stands, though, we only recommend this drive to those who will not use it for audio extraction.