External CD drives are quickly going out of date now that every new computer has at least an internal CD-RW or even a DVD-RW, so this review is obviously aimed at those who don't have a new-ish computer... like me. To save money, I'm an advocate of keeping and using my old gadgets so long as they do the job just as well as any other average piece of equipment, sparing me fishing out money to update myself... which can get very expensive if I kept doing that with computers and their componants.
My laptop that I bought 2 years ago only had a DVD-ROM installed *gasp* and the computer I part-exchanged for it had my internal CD-RW drive installed on it, so I needed a new drive and didn't fancy forking out and invalidating my coverplan by getting an internal one. I went on eBay and bought this Memorex for £40. Chuffed with the price for what is concidered a reliable make of CD drivers/audio equipment, I didn't care that the speeds etc were a little pre-modern.
Of course, if you are looking for a good, fast, modern, and of course, attractive looking external CD-RW... don't bother with the BBQ200. For a start, the drive you'll want is probably £100 upwards and the BBQ200 is now old and none of the above. However, if just want a CD-RW drive that's cheap, does the job 99% of the time, and are quite happy to sling it on your kid's computer without worry of it getting bashed about, this is ideal.
It's pointless using the drive just for reading CDs for two reasons: the BBQ200's fan is extremely noisy and it will upset the neighbours, drive the dog crazy and wake the baby. Plus it's only 6x, which is like using a Victorian horse-and-cart on tracks made for Japanese Bullet Trains. If you try installing big programs from the drive, make yourself a cup of tea, at least twice. Even if 6x is faster than your normal CD drive, I still would use that because of the noise.
It's quieter but slower when writing CDs, however I don't mind that with my drive because usually the slower the speed on older CD-RW's, the less likely they are to trip-out, bleed error and cough out your CD half-written. At 4x, it takes 20 minutes to do a 700MB CD, which is not bad if you have 20 minutes. I'm quite happy to set it to 2x and go about my business... but off the computer as the CD-drive and it's software (Roxio with mine, which is very good...) takes up a bit of memory. Of course, if you buy this drive because you have an older computer, it's likely your memory will be overtaken while it's working.
Having an external/another CD-RW drive is advantageous is that you can copy CD's "On The Fly" which means you stick the source CD in your normal drive, and the target CD in your CD-RW and it works best at 2x. In theory it sounds good, and since the drive is a USB connection, it should work. However, my success rate for on-the-fly recording is about 1 in 5. It could be just my laptop (as I do have trouble with my laptop's DVD-ROM), but why exactly I don't know. I have better success recording an image from the source first, then burning it.
Mentioning the USB, it allows plug-and-play, and although it's not mentioned on the specs, it will work with Windows XP. It's easy to install and use if you need to take the drive to another computer (e.g. work etc).
Finally, If you plan to burn more than one CD, unfortunately the BBQ200 doesn't like doing that one straight after the other, it likes a breather first. Everytime I've gone to burn another CD straight after my first one, it "leads-in" and then fails (ruining the CD). Although it's a pain, restarting your computer after burning a disc sorts that out.
All in all, it's like a big and cuddly but tempremental and cumbersome bear. It'll get the job done for you while roaring it's little heart out, and then go into hibernation. I won't recommend this to buyers for the simple fact is that there are more reliable external CD-RW's out there for just a little more money... but, if you need one and find one of these in the sale bin, it's worth getting for a few quid.
More details
Memory / capacity
Satisfactory
Design
Satisfactory
Ease of use
Easy
Instruction manual
Satisfactory
Manufacturer Support
Good
Speed
Slow
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