Fast burns and no coasters
Written: Nov 22 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fast drive, big buffer, fast SCSI interface, few coasters
Cons: Windows 2000 software costs extra
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| WillMontu's Full Review: Hewlett Packard CD-Writer Plus 9200i CD-RW Burner |
I originally wanted to get a Yamaha 6X SCSI CD burner from TigerDirect. It never shipped, so I ended up going for the HP 9200 Plus Series. It cost a bit more, but it was faster. The drive can write at 8X, re-write at 4X, and read at a quick 32X. This came in especially useful when my other CD drive died, as I could still use CD’s.
In The Box
The drive comes with most of the supplies needed to set up the drive, except a SCSI cable. I already had one handy, so this was not a problem. It included software, a Neato CD labeler, transfer sheets, and two blank CD’s (one CD-R, one CD-RW)
Installation
Installing the drive was simple. The included software checks the system for free SCSI ID’s and showed which jumpers to set on the drive. I have an external Iomega Jaz Jet SCSI controller, and a Jaz drive connected to it. The drive is internal, and was immediately recognized by the system. After setting up the drive, I just had to install the CD burning software (in this case, Adaptec Easy CD Creator 3.5c).
Software
The drive comes with a standard version of Adaptec Easy CD Creator 3.5C and DirectCD 3.0. Under Windows 98, I had success in burning several types of CD’s. Under Windows 2000, however, these software titles do not run very well. The solution to this was to order the updated software from HP for about $10. It included a new version of DirectCD and Easy CD Creator 4.0. The first time I tried to use the software under Windows 2000, it did not work properly and the ASPI drivers were not installed properly. Later on, it seemed to work fine. There are other software products out there that can do more, but Easy CD Creator works fine for me right now.
Reliability
So far, most of the burns I have done with this drive have come out well. The large buffer and SCSI interface mean that the system can get data to the drive with fewer bottlenecks. This basically means fewer coasters (useless CD's caused by buffer under-runs). The only problem I have had is with software, which is the fault of Adaptec, not HP. Audio ripping seems to work with a few programs, but Music Match Jukebox does not seem to do this well.
Burning CD’s
Easy CD Creator does most of the standard options for burning CD’s. It allows the user to select the files to copy to a CD and then copies them. The drive has the option to test before transferring, which is a fairly standard feature on newer drives. It can also burn audio CD’s. Any version before 4.0 will require the use of .WAV files, but the newer versions will record from MP3 files as well. Re-writing CD’s is also simple. There are two methods of writing to CD-R’s. One is by using DirectCD, which formats the CD and makes it act like a floppy or hard drive. Files can be copied to it by just dragging and dropping. The downside to this method is that it requires special drivers to be read on another system. The other method involves burning the files onto the CD using Easy CD Creator. To erase data, there is a utility that completely erases the disc. This method was useful when I wanted to read CD-RW’s in my DVD player, which plays MP3 music from CD’s.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
WillMontu
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Location: Gainesville, FL, USA
Reviews written: 30
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Former UF student with degree in Computer Engineering
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