Good and Inexpensive
Written: Aug 05 '03 (Updated Jul 12 '04)
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Pros: DVD reading, CD audio extraction
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: A nice piece of hardware; not essential, but a nice luxury.
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| digitaldoc's Full Review: IO Magic I/OMagic MagicDVD DR-DVD16 Internal DVD D... |
The only reason I bought this drive was I needed a slower CD-ROM drive. I cracked a disc in my Lite On 52/24/52 burner "http://www.epinions.com/content_108293426820" that I intended to be the only drive in the system. I knew I needed a slower reading drive, and a drive that could also read DVD's was the same price on sale as a CD-ROM.
It installed easily with a standard IDE configuration. It had a nice setup poster. It included software to play DVD's (Power DVD); I did not install it as my graphics card software (ATI Xpert 128) already covered that need.
The drive plays cd's at 40x, no issues. It also extracts audio at 40x- fast enough to be the reading drive for on the fly cd copying. I can actually back up a whole disc from start to finish in about 3 minutes- amazing.
It also plays DVD movies for viewing. Even on my older system, the video quality was very good- maybe better than on my TV! Also, now I can access the exclusive DVD-ROM content on the discs I rent and own.
For the $20 I spent on it after rebate at Microcenter it was a useful addition to the system. If for nothing else it will save my discs from being cracked, and save my CDRW drive from some wear and tear.
My positive experience with this drive contributed to my purchase of a dvd recorder also from I/O Magic.
http://www.epinions.com/content_145685450372
In the current dvd recorder craze, does one still need a dvd-rom? The valid uses are as follows
1- As a player to save wear and tear on the recorder
2- Most dvd recorders are 12x, not 16x so the dvd-rom is faster
So while not essential, the player is a useful addition to my system. The drive is actually a BTC, model 316c. It is able to read DVD+RW and DVD+R media.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 20
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
digitaldoc
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Location: New York
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 13 members
About Me:
Men don't outgrow their toys, they just get more expensive.
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