I use cdrecord too only I use it in a script called burn:

#!/bin/sh
cdrecord dev=/dev/hdb driveropts=burnfree,noforcespeed fs=14M speed=16 -dao -eject -overburn -v "$1"

Just edit it for your drive specifications, chmod +x burn and put it in your PATH somewhere like /usr/bin. Than just do this:

burn /path/to/knoppix.iso

voila! I'd love to see anyone in wondows get a cd burning faster than that.

*HINT* be sure to use the -dao option for cdrecord so you can still check md5sum of cd itself.