Hewlett Packard C4505A 8230e External 4x4x6 USB CD-Writer
See it at Amazon.com for $187.00Average Customer Rating
(2.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(1 out of 5)Stay away from USB Burners
The HP 8230 USB burner gets 1 star because that's the lowest I can give. In summation, my successful burn rate is only about 60%, and it took me 2 months of troubleshooting to even get that mediocre performance. USB devices in general create a lot of conflicts because Windows 98 reallocates them everytime you reconnect them. The HP is no different.
I bought USB because, though they have slightly lower data rates than internal burners, I thought that the convenience of being able to plug-n-play on different computers was worth it. HP also has an excellent reputation for making great burners (so buy an internal IDE burner) I bought the 8230 on condition that it 1.)was bundled with and 2.) was compatible with Adaptec Easy CD -- the industry-standard CD writing software. HP's internal burners come with Adaptec, but like many USB burners, the 8230 won't work with it. The HP 8230 comes bundled with it's own cd writing program that misses many key features that Adaptec users enjoy. The 8230 doesn't even work well with Adaptec DirectCD, meaning that you can't use DirectCD's drag and drop function (copying to a Cd-RW is done in the same manner as you would copy from one folder to another) that make CD-RW such a great backup technology.
HP designs some mean hardware, but until MS can work out the hardware conflicts associated with USB devices on Windows 98, go internal if you're after burner performance. And HP needs to remember it's not a software company -- give us Adaptec Easy Cd creator, not some featureless bundle with a pretty interface.
(1 out of 5)Reliably unreliable
At first, I wondered if I was the only person who was having trouble with this burner, but after reading some other customer comments here at Amazon.com, I am much more comfortable with my opinion on this product. It has been a hassle and a nightmare. This is a product that is far below HP's oridinarily high product standard. While installation is simple enough, the drive has functioned as little more than in external CD-ROM drive! At first, it would burn CD's reasonably well, and then it just stopped. Specific problems include locking up while burning (and thus, ending the burn), as well as other more distressing problems, like unusual noises. I've had to power cycle the thing just to get it to eject CDs. The unit is already pretty loud, but on top of that, burning a CD successfully is much akin to flipping a coin 3 times and getting heads each time.
I've gone back and forth with HP tech support on this, and they had sent two separate replacements that had the same problems as the original. Finally, I worked out a compromise with HP, whereby they sent me an internal 9600 SCSI burner. I installed it, and it is like a breath of fresh air in terms of making CDs. It's fast, setup was ridiculously easy, and I have yet to encounter a single error or mis-burn. The same cannot be said of a Sony internal IDE burner that I purchased for another machine; it refuses to operate correctly at it's maximum burn speed of 12X.
Bottom line; If you want reliable CD burning, get a SCSI drive. I have used both external (6020e) and internal (9600i) HP SCSI CDRW's, and they are bulletproof; reliable, fast, confidence-inspiring.
Stay clear of the 8230e USB, unless you like collecting CD drink coasters. As for internal IDE burners, I feel that these are, once again, imperfect solutions that can still cause headaches. Even with all the improvements in the world of drive interfaces, SCSI is still the best, and if you want a perfect burn every time, I cannot recommend the 9600 SCSI more strongly.
(3 out of 5)It works OK, but I've had numerous problems.
I bought this as a gift for my girlfriend, she has an HP laptop. I am a techie and I have much experience with installing things like this. The initial install was problematic, after installing the drivers, the 8230 and the internal laptop cd stopped working. HP tech support tried to get it working but I ended up re-installing Win 2000. That really sucked.
The HP "MyCD" software is not that great. I haven't tried Adaptec yet, but I'm planning on it.
Tried to use the newer 80 min / 700MB CDR media, and all I got were coasters galore! oh well, back to 74 min, no big deal, but that sucks too.
Next, we try to burn an audio CD using MP3's ripped using Real Jbox, and HP doesn't recognize them as being the right quality. So we convert the songs to different formats (WAV), build the track listing, and when we start recording, windows reports that we have unplugged the CD writer. We did no such thing! So then MyCD is crashed, we reboot and it doesn't remember the track listing! We must re-create the entire track list, and then it finally works. I have 4x Yamaha SCSI cd writers at home and at work, and this should have taken 1 hour. Instead it took 4-5 hours just to burn one CD!
I wouldn't recommend this, If you want to seriously burn CDs get a regular burner using IDE or SCSI. If you need portability or laptop compatibility, then look into pc card burners, or firewire.. explore all of your options. Overall this hasn't been a pleasant product to work/play with.
(1 out of 5)If it breaks, you're SCREWED
You'd think a HP CD-Writer with an HP Omnibook would work, right? It did...for two months. Then it stopped. Despite the fact that it was obviously broken (would not work after reinstall, or on a friend's computer; I tested the USB cables and my USB port separately, I tried it on a fresh install on a clean system), I went through three weeks of inane support e-mails (is the unit plugged in?). Once I had tried all 32 suggestions of theirs, they asked me for information to get it sent in for repair -- and THEN told me that they wouldn't do it in Canada. I'm now running over $15 in long-distance bills because they don't have a 1-800 support number and routine hold time is 45 minutes. This has been the worst experience in over fifteen years of dealing with computers. Avoid HP like the plague.
(5 out of 5)Easy to Use, Works like a Pro, Reasonably Priced
This is my first experience with a CD Writer and I'm very pleased. Easy to set up and operate, it has minimal, yet sufficient, written documentation and includes a host of easy to use software. It is a solidly built, straightforwardly designed component and is a lot of fun to use. I highly recommend.