Iomega does the job well
Written: Sep 29 '02 (Updated Sep 29 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Looks cool, works great, quiet, brand name, comes with free software
Cons: Big, relatively expensive, slow proprietary software (HotBurn)
The Bottom Line: I would recommend it if you desire an external cd-rw as it's extremely easy to install, quiet, and doesn't make coasters.
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| Medazzaland's Full Review: Iomega CDRW6402EXT CD-RW Burner |
Here's the (2 years old) system it's being used on:
Athlon 900 Mhz
256MB RAM
Win XP
40 Gig HD
Made for me by Ibuypower.com
I purchased the external Iomega CD-RW at Circuit City for $160 with a mail-in rebate of $30. So far, it's been perfect. It's very quiet and installation was a breeze. It suggests that you first install the software, reboot, then plug in the cd-rw. I plugged it in during the shut down phase of rebooting.
It comes with some free software including MusicMatch, which if you haven't heard of it, give it a try. I've been using it for years and I love it. I won't say any more about MusicMatch, but it does everything you need it to do and gives you great control over organization.
It comes with its own burn software (HotBurn) which is very simple to use and does what it's supposed to do. But, I've noticed that HotBurn is very slow when navigating through its menus, buttons and pull down menus. One must be very patient as it seems to have locked up, but just wait and it will work.
I would suggest using MusicMatch to burn instead. Like HotBurn, it utilizes a drag and drop system of loading tracks into its window for subsequent burning.
While it looks cool and is portable, I'm sure that you have to install the drivers with other computers if you wish to share it.
I am using the USB 1.1 cable and not the 2.0 cable. The max burn rate I get at this level is 4x. It takes 20 minutes to burn about 65 minutes of music. Therefore, buying a slower cd-rw with this set up may be an option, but it's almost standard now to have speeds like this. Plus, it's easy enough to use on a new computer that can handle faster rates of data transmission.
It also comes with an audio cable for connecting it to your audio card if you wish to hear music from it directly. It has volume control and a jack for headphones in the front. It comes with all necessary cables for immediate use.
Overall, the hardward ranks an A and HotBurn a B.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 130
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
Medazzaland
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Location: Denver, CO
Reviews written: 29
Trusted by: 3 members
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