Iomega Super DVD Writer 20x Dual-Format USB 2.0 External Drive

Advantages: You can write DVDs of all formats
Disadvantages: Slow , bulky

...i bought this drive last july (2005) for about £40 on sale at amazon.co.uk. i was in the market for an external dvd writer anyway and this seemed like a bargin. Anyway, it wasn't. Both the Iomega website and box give the impression that this is a super fast dvd writer drive, but it isn't. It can take up to 2 and a half hours to write a 700mb movie file to disc and longer if you want to fill the 4.7gb capacity of the average disc. The software it comes with is poor, full of errors and quite a disappointment. Also it kept coming up with problems such as - no disc in drive after it scan it upon entry, cannot write DVD-R when it can and it kept confusing itself with a regular cd drive when it can to playing DVDs. Overall, i would recommend using a different dvd writer (externally) from a more reliable company such as freecom or sony.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Easy installation, looks good, ease of use
Disadvantages: None found

...I've bought two of these drives now and am very impressed. On opening the box you'll find the following: The drive itself, power supply, USB cable and an instruction leaflet. The drive feels solid and well built, although the aluminium case does have some sharp edges near the front where it joins the plastic bezel. The drive comes formatted to FAT32, but this is easily changed to NTFS. Being a curious sort, I took one apart to find out the manufacturer of the actual drive inside and was happy to find a Seagate Barracuda, not the bottom of the range drive I was expecting! Installation under Windows XP/Vista is a doddle, just plug in the power cable, plug in the USB cable, switch it on and it's automatically detected and ready to go. In use, both drives have proved very reliable, and although transfer speeds over USB 2.0... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Quality Build, No messing inside your PC, Bundled Software
Disadvantages: Maybe a bit pricey.

...to be formatted that can take up to 45 minutes (yawn). While I am on the subject of yawning, below is the technical spec if anyone is interested. -Buffer Memory: 2 MB -Burnproof: no -CD Read Speed: 48 -CD Rewrite Speed: 24 -CD Write Speed: 48 -CD re-writeable: yes -CD record speed: CD-R W48 -CD recordable: yes -Product type: CD re-writeable -Cod & Chips: no -USB1.1: no -USB2.0: yes I was doing a bit of on-line shopping the other day and noticed that an Iomega 52x24x52x CDRW Drive appears to be replacing this model (it is a similar price). Also DVD combi version is available for a tenner more. (Look on insight.com). IN GENERAL: A top quality piece of kit, which will probably outlast your pc.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful