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Out of the box: external CD/DVD drives
Felisa Yang
Felisa Yang,
associate editor

What do you do when you need to install a new component in your computer? Right, you call your tech-savvy sister-in-law. Ever consider doing it yourself? No? That's OK. If you think a master/slave jumper might be some sort of adults-only jump-rope game, these external CD/DVD drives are for you. You won't have to open your computer's case to muck around in its guts. Simply plug the drive in via the USB port, install the software, and you're good to go. An added benefit is that these external CD/DVD drives are portable, and you can share them with your fellow technophobes. On the downside, you'll pay more for an external drive than for its internal equivalent. And external drives are always slower at reading and writing discs than similarly rated internal drives. But if you don't mind these drawbacks, check out these external drives.

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Product name Iomega SuperDVD QuickTouch 16X
Iomega SuperDVD QuickTouch 16X
8X/4X/12X DVD+RW / 4X/2X/12X DVD-RW / 3X DVD-RAM / 24X/16X/32X CD-RW External Super DVD QuikTouch Video Burner
8X/4X/12X DVD+RW / 4X/2X/12X DVD-RW / 3X DVD-RAM / 24X/16X/32X CD-RW External Super DVD QuikTouch Video Burner
LaCie d2 DL 16X DVD+/-RW
LaCie d2 DL 16X DVD+/-RW




Review date May 11, 2005 June 24, 2004 April 14, 2005




Editors' rating
(Editors' rating explained)
6.0 out of 10 6.0
Good
6.5 out of 10 6.5
Good




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Review summary This double-layer drive is versatile but is easily outpaced by other external DVD drives. Iomega's jack-of-all-trades DVD burner turns out to be a master of none, though it does include good software and support. This double-layer drive is expensive, but it's one of the fastest we've come across thus far.




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Basic Specs
Enclosure Type External  
External  
External  




Interface Hi-Speed USB  
Hi-Speed USB  
Hi-Speed USB/IEEE 1394 (FireWire)  




Weight 3.5 lbs 
Info unavailable 
3.3 lbs 




Read Speed 40x (CD) / 8x (DVD)  
32x (CD) / 12x (DVD)  
40x (CD) / 12x (DVD)  




Write Speed 40x (CD) / 8x (DVD-R) / 12x (DVD+R) / 4x (DVD+R DL)  
24x (CD) / 4x (DVD-R) / 8x (DVD+R)  
32x (CD) / 16x (DVDýR) / 4x (DVD+R DL)  




Rewrite Speed 24x (CD) / 4x (DVDýRW)  
16x (CD) / 2x (DVD-RW) / 4x (DVD+RW) / 3x (DVD-RAM)  
24x (CD) / 4x (DVDýR)  




Buffer Underrun Protection Yes  
Yes  
Yes  




OS Required Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition , Microsoft Windows XP , Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition , Microsoft Windows 2000  
Microsoft Windows 98SE/2000/ME/XP  
Microsoft Windows 98SE/2000/ME/XP , Apple MacOS X 10.1.2 or later , Apple MacOS 9.1  




 
 
 
 
Product name Iomega SuperDVD QuickTouch 16X 8X/4X/12X DVD+RW / 4X/2X/12X DVD-RW / 3X DVD-RAM / 24X/16X/32X CD-RW External Super DVD QuikTouch Video Burner LaCie d2 DL 16X DVD+/-RW




Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications




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  Email me when this product is available