Can't recommend this one!
Written: Apr 23 '00 (Updated May 30 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Looks pretty?!
Cons: Too many problems to list here.
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| rashmi338's Full Review: Hewlett Packard CD-Writer Plus 8220e CD-RW Burner |
I chose HP CD Writer Plus because of the (good) reputation of Hewlett Packard. Unfortunately, I couldn’t have been more wrong in my choice. When I look back at my experience with this device, not a single one I could remember as being problem free.
This CDRW is ridden with too many problems, some of them, almost too ridiculous to believe. Here below is the short (long?) narrative of my experience. Be a judge and decide for yourself.
My experience:
First time, I plugged the CDRW, as I would do with any device, into my surge protector. The CDRW light came on like it should but the darn thing wouldn't work. No matter what I did, it just wouldn't work. So,when I couldn’t make my drive startup, I called the tech support long distance and waited for a long time for someone to get on line to tell me that this device needed to be plugged into the wall outlet directly and not to the surge protector. The manual supplied with CDRW doesn't mention this. So, if you are concerned about surges and spikes, too bad.
Second, while I got my cdrw show up on my computer, I couldn’t make it burn a single cd. I am computer literate and have been a sort of expert in computers for the last two decades. To make this drive work, I installed, uninstalled, reinstalled the software drivers, more times and many ways than I care to remember. When nothing worked, I called the HP tech people again. The verdict was that along with my CDRW, they had packed the wrong driver (meant for 8210e) by mistake. HP shipped me a new driver, to their credit, by Fedex.
Did the new driver make my cdrw work? Of course, no! So, I called back HP, only to be told this time that the first verdict was wrong and the drivers for both drives (8200e and 8210e) are the same. According to them, the previous tech person was misinformed. So, why is my drive still not working? This time we spend more than an hour of troubleshooting, which included, downloading updated drivers from HP’s website and messing around with my pc’s OS (Win 98). The problem remained unsolved. The CDRW just couldn’t burn. So, the verdict this time was that my IBM computer (Aptiva 805 - Brand new) uses "sis" chipset which is not compatible with HP’s drive so I have to get rid of my computer to use HPs CDRW or get a different brand of drive for my IBM. Never heard before that the computer manufacturer, especially IBM, has to make a computer that is compatible with a peripheral. I thought it was the other way around. How foolish of me!
Later, I called back the tech support to let them know how I felt about their verdict. The tech person told me that it was indeed true and also told me that their drive/r has conflict with Windows 98 second edition, and the general tech dept. is not qualified to solve the problem relating to Win 98 second edition. He said that he was escalating the problem to "upstairs" tech dept. and someone would call me in 3 or 4 days.
Someone, did call me after 3 days, only to tell me that:
#1. Their CDRW is not compatible with sis chip set.
#2. Win 98 second edition has too many upgrades and it’s hard
for them (HP) to keep up with it to make their drive compatible.
#3. My choice is either their drive and a different computer (a different operating system?)
Or, my computer and a different brand of CDRW.
All in all, buying HP's CDRW was a bad choice, so I returned it. The tech support at HP was generally polite and tried to help out. They even sent me a 15 minute free calling card to partly compensate for the long distance calls I had to make. HP does make some fine products. One of them, for example, is their HP Photosmart XI, photo scanner. A high quality machine. (If you are interested, see my review at epinions.com.
Finally, I returned the HP CD Writer Plus 8200e and purchased a Zip CD 650 (CDRW) from Iomega. I am more than pleased with it. It works like a charm. Not a single problem either in installing or operating. And, on the top of it, Iomega’s tech support, if you would ever need it, is toll free. Zip 650 CD is also cheaper than HPs 8200e. I paid $279 for Zip CD 650 at Staples. If you are interested in this drive please see my review on it in epinions.com. See my review of Zip CD 650 at:
http://www.epinions.com/cmd-review-5471-149E0B00-38FFA523-prod5
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
rashmi338
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Reviews written: 37
Trusted by: 8 members
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