Avg drive at high price
Written: Nov 08 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good burner - does its job - huge buffer
Cons: Had some problems with it being identified on reboot
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| matwood's Full Review: Yamaha CRW8424SZ |
I bought this to replace an older Yamaha unit (4x4x16). I prefer SCSI writers to IDE (until they come out with ATA 100 drives). This drive was a breeze to install. Simply open the lid, install the drive to the SCSI cable, power cable, sound cable, and awaaaayyyy you go!
#1 - Make sure your SCSI ID is set properly. I set mine to 4 (Ultra 2 SCSI hard drives are 0 and 1, scanner 2)
Next, insert the CD to install Adaptec EZ CD Creator (not pro). This installation is a breeze - rebooting the computer, you are now set to make CD's (data, backup, audio, mixed mode, etc.) This drive does have a fairly large buffer (4 meg) and is hard to make coasters.
However, I have had intermittent problems with the drive after purchasing it over Memorial Day.
#1 - Still have intermittent problems that when I boot my system, the
drive is not recognized (even though I saw it come up on the SCSI
card boot), and direct CD would not work.
#2 - Had some intermittent problems burning CD's. Upgrading EZ CD
Creator PRO (which I installed) did the trick. If I had used
Yamaha's version, I am sure I would never have problems.
I always recommend and have
#1 - Constantly monitor firmware and upgrade when needed
#2 - Constantly update Adaptec software to latest version
#3 - Place unit near top of case, away from heat, and add a fan below
the burners (they get awfully hot)
PROS
Except for 4 times ( I rarely shut my computer off), the burner did not
come up (However, I reboot frequently to install software, and this is
when problems occur. Resetting the machine seems to solve the
problems, but once I had to shut the machine off completely.), the
drive operates as promised, making CD's fast, and is an excellent back
up system.
SCSI - what else can I say?
4 Meg buffer to not make so many coasters
Supports all major operating systems
CONS
Issue with CD Burner mysteriously vanishing
This drive cannot back up copy protected CD's (see my HP 9200 review)
Price is steep
I am hoping someone will buy the 16x10x whatever Yamaha burner. I may sell this one to get that one. Impressive burn times and re-write times.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
matwood
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Member: Michelle Atwood
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 3 members
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