by cfitz on Wed Nov 20, 2002 1:28 pm
Many drives will do this. The motor is applying maximum acceleration, trying to get the disc spinning at full speed, and this introduces some vibration and instability in the RPMs, making it more difficult for the laser to track accurately and causing a few errors. It is not something to be concerned about and does not reflect badly on either the quality of the drive or the media (although some drives and media do a little better than others during this transition period).
So, to answer your question, yes you should spin up the CD before beginning the quality test, and doing so gives you a more accurate and "fair" assessment of the disc quality.
cfitz