Entered CNET Catalog: 09/26/2001
SKU: C4505AABA
Manufacturer: HP
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Manufacturer description
The HP CD-Writer 8230e drive is an external CD-Rewriteable drive with 4x4x 6x performance. Use the drive to create, share, and store data, photos, music, and more on high capacity CDs. Record up to 650 megabytes (MB) of data with CD-writeable (530 MB formatted) and 650 MB (up to 618 MB formatted) with CD-readable. Use the drive to backup and secure your system to keep files safe, accessible, and transferable. Use the drive with the HP Simple Backup Software to quickly and easily restore an entire computer system.Product summary
The good: Rugged, portable, and inexpensive for a USB drive; extra labeling kit and software.
The bad: No Mac software; CD-mastering software cannot create an image or write discs from images.
The bottom line: If you want a sturdy, external CD-RW drive, the HP CD Writer 8230e is affordable and offers a lot of bells and whistles.
Average user rating: from 227 users
2.5 stars
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 03/05/2001
Sturdy style
The 8230e is built solidly enough to withstand the rigors of shared use, and its translucent-blue plastic trim makes it a bit more attractive than some of the other boxy, 5.25-inch external drives we've seen. The 8230e measures roughly 2.6 inches high by 11.2 inches long by 7.1 inches wide and weighs in just shy of 5 pounds, including the AC adapter.
Installing the 8230e is as easy as plugging it in and loading the driver. A poster-sized, copiously illustrated quick-start guide steps you through the process, although the eight-language format is a bit confusing at first. Troubleshooting and tech-support matters are covered in separate booklets, and an electronic user guide is included on CD.
The drive is compatible with flavors of Windows that offer USB support (98, Me, 2000), and it comes with HP's MyCD CD-mastering software and Roxio's (formerly Adaptec) DirectCD 3.01 packet-writing software. Advanced users might find MyCD's wizard-only interface a bit frustrating, especially when they learn that the program doesn't allow burning from or creating image files. The 8230e's otherwise well-rounded software bundle includes HP's Simple Backup 4.0; Broderbund's Multimedia Organizer Deluxe; and MusicMatch Jukebox for encoding, recording, organizing, or playing digital audio. For good measure, HP also tosses in disc-labeling software, labels, a label applicator tool, and a blank CD-R and CD-RW.
Speedy slowpoke
The HP proved to be pretty fast (for a USB drive), too. In CNET Labs' tests, it burned a 500MB CD-R in less than 17 minutes and wrote 400MB to CD-RW in 9 minutes, 45 seconds using packet writing. Both times are among the best we've seen in a USB CD-RW drive. We didn't get any data for the audio burn, though, because the MyCD software cannot create an image or write discs from images.
HP provides an industry-standard, one-year warranty and telephone support from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. mountain time. Unfortunately, it's a toll call. However, with the excellent Web-based support resources, including a knowledge base, downloadable updates, step-by-step instructions on installation and use, and more, you should be able to save your dime for other occasions.
The 8230e's low price, copious software, and faster CD-RW write performance makes it a top contender for your external USB money. The fact that it can be shared among a passel of PCs makes it a cheap way to provide rewritable storage for your small office.
The HP CD Writer 8230e looks pretty fast when compared to other USB drives. There is no data for the audio burn test because the MyCD software HP ships with the drive cannot create an image or write discs from images.
User opinions
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0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
utter crap
Pros: Burn it...and heat the fireplace with it
Cons: almost every thing
Review: Bought this peace of shyt 3 years ago for more then 500 euro,now they are dumping it on the net for less then a tenner.It never worked right,destroys cd's instead of writing.Xp doesn't like it,Nero doesn't and I learned to hate it.They never took the time of writng decent software or drivers for it.It even worse then there cartrige eating printers with there bulky useless software..you better burn you're money right away'.My advice;stay away from HP and wait till the sell it to the chinese,they cannot make it worse!
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
unstable at 4x writespeed
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Review: i own & use it heavily for two year and i can not agree with most of the comments here... it goes very well by using 700mb cd-r AND cd-rw! i have no problems with that. but there are two other probs. the first is the sound itensity = it?s loud. the second one is worse: i can?t stable burn a complete cdr or cdrw at fullspeed (4x). only sometimes it?s errorfree. 
nevertheless at 2x speed it's stable.
nevertheless at 2x speed it's stable. User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Keeps telling me I'm using high speed cds, but I'm not. Called support, they tell me to check to ens
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Review: Keeps telling me I'm using high speed cds, but I'm not. Called support, they tell me to check to ensure I'm not using high speed cds. IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!!! It would say high speed cd if it was high speed cd.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
a complete waste of time and money
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Review: NOTE: when you read reviews for this product, pay attention to the fact that no one that has had it for any length of time is still satisfied with it. This CD burner (or should I say CD waster) is extremely tempermental and gives almost no confidence whatsoever that my data will be actually accesible should I need it for a back up(in a hard drive crash scenario). hp support is weak at best (no guys I do not want to reload the drive software for a third time ... why don't you just admit that this model was a mistake). Additionally, hp states that this unit will work for 700mB discs when in fact it will not. Worse yet when I contact them on this they still still stick to their false claim. Do not buy this product. It will be a waste of your time and money.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Dead after 15 months
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Review: My 8230e died 3 months after the warranty expired. The CD recording software bundled with this unit is almost useless. Hp support was't very helpful: they asked me to call a number for trying to troubleshoot the problem (for a fee of 25 bucks, since the unit is out of warranty.) Well, there isn't much to troubleshoot if the drive is _completely_ dead... They offered me also to replace the unit, but the cost for the replacement is so high that it's more convenient to dump this piece of junk and buy a new cd-rw.
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Support ???????
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Review: Set it up on a laptop to save kids pics from vacation.(600+)The drivers conflict and they won't support them. They want you to spend 80.00 to buy new software to make it work. The system crashed and lost all pics. Had to reformat laptop to even get it started. They should be ashamed of themselves to sell something like this.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
A Chronic Underperformer
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Review: I thought that an external USB burner would be a smart way to transfer files across standalones. Don't do it -- spend less money on a small USB pocketdrive and go internal with your burners.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
No Longevity
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Review: Purchased the 8230 external USB about a year and a half ago to use with Win 98SE. Burned about 60 music and data discs before write errors became matter of fact. Played around with different CDR media brands, write speeds, burning sofware--all with no success. Tried reinstalling drivers, no luck. Probably going to chuck it or try and see if it burns CDRWs (which I do not use). Forced to buy it (only external drive in-stock when I most needed it). Why would anyone choose to buy this drive by free will? Go with a firewire external or a faster internal rewriter.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Never failed me. Good value for money.
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Review: I've had this cd writer to work with my laptop for 3 years now and it never ever failed me. I have absolutely no cons to appoint.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great Buy!!
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Review: It has some trouble in Windows XP getting recognized but if you use the drivers in Windows already (MS Certified) - it works. I find that the Maxell 700MB CD's and Nero Burning ROM work really well. One small drawback is that 'overburning' isn't possible. Otherwise, a very good re-writable burner.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Breaks for no reason
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Review: Bought this writer in march 2001. Worked fine for almost a year. And then I tried to write on 700 MB RW Imation disk (before that 650 MB HP & sony worked fine) and it's broke. Had I more month of warranty, so I replaced it with HP. Next one worked for about a month... When I finally pinned down a problem (drive can not write on certain 700 RW) I replaced 3 (!!!) CD-Writers. HP customer support did not acknowledge this problem, saying that it can't be. Last replacement working fine for 6 month, but I dare to try write any RW disks on it.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Didn't even burn one CD
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Review: Never got a chance to burn a disc. Attempted to use Nero 5.5.9.9 with this drive and it did not work recognise it until a few more reboots. Tried the DLA software, and that didn't work. Very disappointed, as I used a 7200e before, and that did the job.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Absolute Crap
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Review: Keeps telling me I'm using high speed cds, but I'm not. Called support, they tell me to check to ensure I'm not using high speed cds. IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!!! It would say high speed cd if it was high speed cd.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Good, but...
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Review: I works perfect with win2000, I've never experienced buffer underrun! But it doesn't support mac witch is lousy! Shame on you HP.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Easy to use!!
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Review: I have had mine for almost a year and have never had one problem burning cds, and I have made a lot...Easy to install and learn to use..I use Record Now, just updated the CD Creator..
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
30% of all burns are "coasters"
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Review: Bought the retail 8230E at Office Depot. Downloaded the Roxio 3.5b software. More than 1/3 of all CD ROM burns do not match the original files. HP suggestion? Turn off comparison checking. (Yeah... Riiiight.) I think this thing is a waste of time and money.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Can crash your current CDdrive!
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Review: Used this unit for a while with no problems. The software is pretty basic, no real frills. But the real test came when i reinstalled the software, this drive totall messed up my regular CD drive. Neither Dell nor HP customer support could help, and I had to reload all of WINDOWS 2000. Lost much data. Steer clear, I think HP even knows this thing is buggy.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Nice inexpensive drive
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Review: I have had this drive for 2 years. It is a little difficult getting it to work in Windows 2000; however, once it is running, it is a charm.
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
I guess it could be worse?...
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Review: I bought this cheap system for data back-up only and it works adequately enough for that, though it's quite slow and simply crashes if anything else is running. However, despite a decent UI, the software must be a leaky mess because not only does it crash my Win 98 machine after a few burns, everything has slowed to a crawl since installation, whether the app is open or not. My system wraps itself around a telephone pole about twice a day since installation, whether I've opened the app or not. Ugh.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Piece of...
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Review: After almost a year of owning this device, and despite multiple calls (toll) to HP customer service, I have yet to be able to successfully make a single CD. Don't waste your time or your money. I knew there was a reason I quit buying HP products.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Slow and old, but reliable
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Review: Great value. I use it with my Toshiba Satellite, primarily to back up files and I make the occasional CD. I had no trouble at all with the installation or since, and how can you argue with the price?
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Read users' reviews
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Review: Turkey - and an expensive one, in terms of money and time. HP customer service sent three pages of instructions (in this age of plug-and-play) to try to make it work with my HP Pavilion, but no joy. This thing does not write to any blank media officially designated as "High Speed" - something that doesn't quite get specified in advance - or, in my experience, anything else. And to make it function, according to HP Customer Service - you may have to turn your desktop's hard drive into a File Server, minimize all cache settings and spend Some Time killing every process on your machine (except Explorer) and set the CD Writer software to the slowest speed available AND use the computer for nothing else while it's running. So much for multitasking. And, by the way, the CompuVest price attached to Cnet's glowing review of this laser-powered mess is misleading. CompuVest is not selling the reviewed package. Going to HP's Web site, searching on "8220," downloading the "What's in the box" listing and comparing it to what CompuVest offers - and the CompuVest Web site does tell you what the e-tailer ships - will reveal that what they sell at the "lowest price" is not what was reviewed, and asking for the rest of it got this pointed out with the conclusion, "Consumer error." True - buying the HP CD-Writer 8220/8230 and buying it from CompuVest definitely constitutes "consumer error."
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
pretty cool product
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Review: i got this writer two years ago...it's worked fine ever since...only thing to complain about is the speed.you got to have alot of patience to use it but the wait is worth it as it produces terrific cds...buy it
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Won't burn music cd's
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Review: Works O.K. for data back-up, but won't burn music CDs. I tried about 3 different brands of CD-R discs, and it would burn a music CD on about 1 out of 5 tries.
User Rating:
5.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great HP Product! Amazing!
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Review: I was very surprised at this product. I chose the 8230e because of the HP name and price ($69 at local store).I bought this product because of (2)inkjet printers and (1) other CD-writer that I had positive experiences with. I am shocked by the other reviews. I am very pleased with my CD-writer.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Not for the layman
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Review: I have two of these, one at work at one at home. Old HP software makes Windows 98 blue screen after re-boot on a variety of systems, need to remove the Adaptec driver. After sparce usage, one at home only produces coasters. Removed USB interface and cabinet, installed it as an internal IDE burner, and it is working great again. This is a really rugged drive, but the software and support for it really blows chunks. When it works, it works great.
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
ES UNA POLLADA!!!
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Review: ESTA COSITA DE METAL NE SIRVE YO TRATE DE PONER UN 8TRAK Y SE DANO Y AHORA NE SE QUE HACER SI DARCELO A UN NINO POBRE O SI DARSELO MEJOR A UNA ANCIANA PUES NO LO QUIERO POR QUE ES UNA POLLADA PUTA MADRE DE MIERDA
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Poor softrware spoils this drive
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Review: No buffer along with poor software spoil what could be a reasonable drive. I had all sort of problems with the Roxio software that came with the drive and replaced the software with RecordNow from the HP site. This worked for a time but now it just hangs at 98% during the speed test. I am totally put off external CD writers - they are slow, unreliable and poor value for money.
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
If you own a Dell Latitue, or Inspiron, DON'T GET THIS
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Review: Drivers are NOT compatible with Dell's Latitude & Inspiron Laptops. Spent countless trips back and forth to the HP office to get the drivers but none of them worked. Returned it in the end.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
This is the poorest CD Burner i have ever seen
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Review: Tried to install it on several Laptops running Different OS's.. 98 OK 2000 kept locking up XP same. Doesn't seem to like the Toshiba laptops.. Have loaded service packs updated drivers for USB HUB, etc have had no luck and the HP support is dismal.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
My Dell laptop can't find it!
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Review: This thing sucks and even when going to the HP driver update website, it still doesn't work. I've tried installing the updates from HP's website on multiple types of computers but it still won't work, even on one of my HP computers at home. Get your stuff together HP!
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Media Sensitive
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Review: For me installing was completely plug and play. The only problems I have have had are that it refuses to burn some manufacturers (e.g. Memorex) media but works fine with Sony, TDK, Verbatim etc. Some of the comments below may be due to this problem. I myself have produced 10-packs of coasters before reverting back to generally more expensive media.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Bad, bad, bad, & HP..shame on you.
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Review: I gave the rating it's only score above 'worst' in the features column because if the darn thing worked on any of the machines I've tried, I think it's features may be average. And if HP support ever supported the equipment, they may have been able to explain how the features were in there R&D lab where they must have only installed it on one machine that I certainly don't have in my five different towers or laptops. Not Dell, not Micron, not Gateway, ?????Hmmm, guess I should have tried it on an HP?
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Cracking little burner
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Review: I bought this burner as all we had was a pentium-I Acer notebook (even had to buy USB ports for it) and wife wouldn't let me buy a new computer where we were living. The HP was about the only external burner I saw on sale where we were living at the time (Seoul). It worked fine, if slow (single-speed burning only), even on this 150MHz notebook. (Minimum requirement is said to be 166MHz) I have since tried it on three other computers, only having problems with one which had a Via chipset, but HP do warn you of this and provide a patch with the software, I just didn't realise what the problem was at first. I also had an old computer with what claims to be a 200MHz Winchip in it but appears to be a 150MHz, with which the burner burns very stably at 4-speed. Software provided IS very basic, though the Direct CD software is good. Have used it with Nero, CDClone fine. Have found that sometimes it can read some problematic CDs (burnt by other people) that my internal Acer 50 speed internal CD ROM can't read without errors, which is why I use it to read CDs when making copies. I noticed that it was recommended by CD Clone for use when using the same drive to read and write. Even our really cheap VCD player ($45 brand new) can play VCDs burnt with it no prob. Must have burnt hundreds of CDs with it and only producing a handful of coasters. Personally I am very pleased with its reliability.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great burner for backup, not for more advanced
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Review: The reason I bought this was that I needed an external CD burner since my Dell laptop didn't come with one. I have to admit, it's great for beginners, it's great for backing up your data. Don't expect super-speed since this is USB 1.0. I've never gotten a bad burn using the HP software, and you shouldn't either if you turn off as many startup apps and reboot to clear the memory from windows before you burn. The downside is that this burner doesn't seem to play well with any other software such as Nero and Discjuggler, so you're limited to the dumb/simple drag-drop of files to backup your hard drive or make music CDs. It's a good burner for those that aren't computer-saavy, but one day you'll grow out of their simple software.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
YOU WILL BE SORRY
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Review: Device is not compatible with Compaq, Dell, or any popular PC manufacturers. I have been told this from an "inside" HP source.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Don't Buy this!
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Review: You don't need me to reiterate what is wrong with this thing - you have a ton on here with the same complaints. HP should give us all our money back for buying this. Please avoid buying this unit!!
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Entire 8200 Series is a joke
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Review: I have had some of the same problems with the "unkown Device" issue poppoing up on an 8200e and an 8230. the devices work just fine for a while, but under win xp the suddenly stop reporting what they are to windows. this is the on HP product i have ever been dissatisfied with.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Caveat Emptor
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Review: Before you buy this unit you should be aware of the following: 1. It will not write to high speed discs. 2. It will not write a many low speed discs. 3. The HP web site states that it is compatible with all its CD media. If you go to its on line store it only sells one CD media. You will have to look around to find something to write to. 4. When you install the software you get an advertisement for Roxio CD burner software and will have to search to web site to get rid of it. 5. All help is thru an internet connection. You really need an internet connection to use the software.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great for making copies of cd's.
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Review: Instead of saving to HDD first,you can burn on the fly.Would'nt burn properly at first so I went to hp.com and downloaded latest drivers and software.Tip:download latest drivers for your HDD and controller.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
U should be the expert
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Review: I used this old horse on dell, HP, compaq both desktop and laptops. U need to know how to trouble shoot problems or else u have to do away with this old work horse. Its slow but it mints CDs like hell. I could make more than 20 CDs in one single day. If u have best of the class PC go for it.. if u have a old old uncle john with 32mb ram or so.. better get a sony cd-rw It does complain about drivers, hardware not recognized, system hangups etc. I've used this CD-RW on 6 different machines and can tell if u know where to get the right driver for the device or patch for the OS.. u can mint CDs with this.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Doesn't work with XP or 2000
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Review: This drive worked OK under Win98, but causes "blue screen of death" randomly under 2000 or XP. Support was no help.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Pitiful!
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Review: I bought an 8230e;it only makes coasters.HP refuses to give me a refund,therefore I will NEVER purchase another HP product.
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Hard to get it working & then its dead
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Review: I've gone through 3 HP CD Writers in the last 2 yrs - 2 were internal (7200i&8200i) and the latest being the Hp 8230e. The first one worked fine after producing a lot of unwanted coasters. Then I upgraded to the 8200 series - it stopped working after 6 months of sparse usage - wasted countless hours on trying to fix it - HP support sucked as usual. Had to give up on it & bought an external USB drive - this also turned out to be coaster making factory - worked to produce 10 CDR's before it just died - The device is detected by the PC - but the drive doesn't read any kind of CD media... Learnt my lesson the hard way....HP produces the worst CDRecorders - beware of a big name - not always a guarantee of quality products....
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Not a single problem on Win9x XP
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Review: Very reliable, very stable device . Simply does what it was meant to do.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Good for an entry level CD writer
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Review: My first CD writer has finally turned out to be reliable although a few hiccupss, including blue screening my Win2k on setup, lack of support for generic media (i bought HPs cds which work fine) and lack of decent mp3 writing software. However after playing around with it for a while am happy with the speed and quality and it works well for most media. Pretty basic but good for the money.
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Upgraded to Windows XP and the driver doesn't work properly.
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Review: After upgrading from Windows ME to XP can't get my photographic software to work as needed. Tried upgrading the driver from HP but still doesn't work as suggested.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
I have one and its nice!
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Review: I bought mine about a year ago and have burned more than 200 cd's. The only complaint I have is that if you want to burn or copy a semi scratched cd, it will not work, but other than that, it's great!
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Glad I didn't buy this thing.
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Review: I'm done wasting my time trying to install this writer. It was given to me by my sister in-law because she couldn't get to work with her windows ME. I've had other HP writers that work great, so I figured I could get this one working. I figured wrong. My Dell with windows 98 refused to recogonize it and installed it as an unkown device. I never could get the drivers installed correctly. Even after manually installing them, I kept getting error messages saying the drivers wern't installed. This is not what I expected from a plug and play device. I recently upgraded to windows 2000 and figured I'd give this thing another try. Another big waste of time. After two more days, I was able to force it to accept the correct drivers only to get an error message saying that "the device would not start!" My next step, return it to my sister-in law with my condolences and buy good one that actually works.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
great performer, but overpriced
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Review: Records data and music CD-R's without a hitch -- but HP asks far too much $$ for a drive of basic functionality.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Dreadful
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Review: Bought in Sept. 2001, it has never been able to write a CD in DAO mode. I overcame that hitch using TAO, but since four weeks I can get nothing out of it: no data CDs, no audio CDs. Their software ejects the CD after 2% I closed all the processes that were running in Windows ME by repeatedly killing the running threads (shown by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del) until only Explorer and the writing software were running, and repeated the operations again, only to get the same error message. I also tried these operations with Nero Burning ROM 5.5.2.4 and NTI CD Maker 2000, killing all processes and even slowing down the write speed to 1x with no success. I made tests that showed my hard drive is capable of supplying a steady stream of data at 20x+ without any problem. I defragmented it no later than last week. All my tests were made while attempting to write in TAO. Even more, I tried to burn simple data CDs and encountered the very same problems as described above. The Memorex 74min-16x CDs I used were all originally blank and the whole pack of 10 got destroyed by my infructuous tries. Seems my drive is no more than a frisbee manufacture from the functional point of view. The e-mail tech support is slow and of no help in my case. This drive has never been 100% functional. Newcomer, STAY AWAY from HP drives. They make good printers that work flawlessly, but their drives are dreadful.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Works OK for me
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Review: I've had this CDRW for a week and haven't had any problems with it. I managed to make a CD within half-an-hour of installing it. I downloaded the latest versions of associated software from HP's web site - HP RecordNow, USB drivers, HP DLA, and HP Simple Backup version 4.7. My CDRW was made in Singapore and I run Windows XP (home), Pent III 1GHz, 128MB RAM.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
It works well, have had no problems with it
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Review: Use it on my work laptop & my home PC Under Windows 98SE and has been a reliable workhorse. Not the fastest but I am not in mass production and either work on my other computer or go and do something else. Includes s/w is easy to use & also works well with other packages.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
a piece of junk HP CDRW drive
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Review: The driver installation was a nightmare with the USB device driver refusing to operate. The HP CDRW is a piece of junk that will never write one decent CD. When attempting to write, it will test write up to 25% and then terminates the writing process for no reason. Asked HP support what is going on, and they would lie and sugar coat and blame it on my computer. I told them that this HP CDRW is a piece of junk, because I have another CDRom drive (made by Creative) that is 3 years old and running strong - can't be my computer. HP still denied any responsibility for manufacturing this piece of junk. I have noticed HP making cheaply built computer equipments lately and will try to stay away from HP products. Wasted 10 hours for nothing.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Software at fault
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Review: This burner works well for me. I'd agree, though, with others here that the bundled software is junk and likely to cause no end of trouble. For packet writing, get a copy of CeQuadrat's PacketCD instead and see how it's supposed to work.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Only uses obsolete CD disks
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Review: Bought for laptop. Trashed CD-R's until we got error indicating it would not write to CD's > 4x. HP says buy from us. CompUSA says we don't stock those any more. If you like this one, I have some 78 rpm records you might like.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Good burner, but not perfect
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Review: I decided to go with this burner about a year ago because I only have a laptop and needed a good external burner. I went with HP because of their brand name and the price. After using this for about a year, I have experienced the following: When I had Windows 95, I would constantly get underrun errors. Eventually, HP told me to run it at a slower burn speed, which worked, but took 20 minutes to burn a CD. Since upgrading to Windows 2000, I have not run into that problem again. In addition, HP now offers a new burning program which is supposed to be better than the MyCD software that was originally included. I have yet to install it. Value: For the price and performance, you cannot go wrong with this burner. However, if you have a desktop and don't mind installing an internal drive, I would recommend that over an external one. They are less expensive and have much higher performance numbers. Support: The HP support people are helpful, but unfortunately they do not offer a toll-free number. Quality: The drive used to give me underrun problems and would sometimes lock up to the point of requiring me to reboot both the burner and my PC. Since upgrading to Windows 2000, however, I have not had that problem. The drive seems very durable, but I wish it had better performance. Features: The software that is bundled with the burner is very nice and easy to use.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Don't bore yourself by buying this!
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Review: All my God, I should haved checked with CNET before I bought this headache-making thing. It put HP in disgrace. Well, I have to reinstall the software again and again to keep it work. It goes down for no reason from time to time. Since reinstall requires a reboot it's much frustrating. And like Judy said, it can't recognize some CDs, for instance the SONY 800M. Can't believe that! Buddy, don't buy that!
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Good Product;Easy to Use
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Review: I upgraded the software that came with the product and I can say that I have no issues and no complaints with this product.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Does not have instalation software for Windows XP
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Review: I do not understand why if HP is helping Microsoft with Windows XP does not actualize their drivers? it is very difficult to find the installation software for windows XP!
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
works great for me!
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Review: I purchased mine about 2 months ago. I use it with a PCG-F540 Sony Vaio laptop. It installed easily and I burnt my first CD-R within 30 minutes of unpacking the HP 8230e. Frankly...I am stunned at the negative comments on here. I probably would not have purchased it had I read all these. I guess I am lucky that mine installed and works OK. I have made about 12 CDR's since buying it and all play fine and were easy to create. For info sake I am using only Hi-Space CDR audio 74 minute discs.
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Got it to work finally
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Review: I had the same problems many on here reported (burn one disk and then it stops working). I decided to give it one more try with the new RecordNow update available on the HP website. I uninstalled the software (not the drivers) provided with the unit, then installed only the updated version. I have used it successfully now for 3 days with only one glitch and rebooting my laptop cleared that up. I'm running Win2K on a IBM ThinkPad T21.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Worked great with the right media
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Review: Got this unit for my mother, so had to get it working before Xmas vacation was over. Spent time trying to get Memorex CD-RW media working, to no avail; disks would not format for DLA or Adaptec Software (both included with HP drive). Finally bought Sony CD-RW media on HP tech support's advice, and worked great. They also recommended HP and Verbatim disks. I thought the tech support folks were some of the smartest I have ever encountered. I was slightly annoyed by having to pay for a toll call, but what can I expect for a $150 device? Also, it would have been nice if they included a blank CD-RW disk in the box with the drive (a CD-R was included) - it would have saved me a lot of time on the phone with HP.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Excellent value for money- Buy it
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Review: I read a lot of comments in the reviews on Cnet about problems experienced with this machine. It was wit some intrepidation tha i could not resist he bargain "end of line" offer atmy local staples. As the uni only cost £99.00 I could afford the product warrenty from them ( which seesm amazing value for £25...the replace if any problem up to 2 years after the initial HP cover runs out!!) Within 20 minutes I had installed and "burned " m first disc ,saving all my diital photographs and AVI's to disc. Within an hour's use I had alos created my frit music "best-of" compilation with no problems whatsoever. OK so its not the fasters burner around but what the heck..at the price you just cannot complain. Go for it. (Thanks for the comments opprtunity to read the commentsI took special note of teh Hungarian built models and would most certainly NOT have purchased if I had only that alternative, ( My model is made in singapore). ps I have also connected the drive directly to the PC NOT thru any hub
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
HP - You really disappointed me with this unit!
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Review: I bought a 'refurb' from Global Computers in Naperville, Il. as a Christmas present for someone who owned an HP laptop. I was initially impressed with how well it worked for making copies of datafiles using Drive Letter Access (DLA). I liked it so much I purchased another one at the same place just to use it to transfer large files from computer to computer on systems I have at home that have USB ports. And the one I bought also worked well until I tried to copy a music disc. It successfully made the first music disc and has never worked properly since! It believe there is a serious problem with the software drivers for the unit that causes them to scribble on each other or self-modify to the point of self-destruction. After making the music CD I could no longer use HP-DLA to store datafiles because the drive did not recognize any CD I put in it. I got the standard error messages about not using high speed cd's and making sure nothing was scratched; the problem was that I was using the reccomended HP media in the device at the time. Strangely enough, the HP record Now software was able to detect the CD in the drive and I was able to successfully copy a 200MB filesystem of data to it. I tried the HP-DLA again and again and every time DLA would not recognize the CD and tell me to install a new one; it would auto-invoke another copy of itself! And this is where I believe the software flaw lies! I don't know if it was the HP or SCM drivers that are used for that function, but it is absolutely idiotic to not test to see if the program is already running before invoking another copy of it! Eventually the drive locked up and when I tried to remove the CD the green light turned red and the door didn't open, indicating that the device was locked; and at that time all communication with it over the USB port failed. The only way to get the door open was to power cycle the 8230E; but when you do that you have another problem because the USB drivers they use do not detect the power cycle or the removal or reinstallation of the USB cable after the computer is running. WHICH COMPLETELY DEFEATS THE PLUG AND PLAY AND HOT SWAP ADVANTAGES OF USING THE USB PORTS! If the drive locks up you have to power cycle both it AND reboot windows in order to have access to it over USB again. After having a few of these lockups, I started having new problems in that windows would no longer shut down properly; but would hang in the shutdown process and I would have to pull the plug on my computer to turn it off, causing the scandisk recovery process to be invoked during the reboot. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the software a number of times and that only made things worse! Apparently the software modifies files or drivers that it does not 'fix' when the software is uninstalled. My system finally got so bad that I had to reformat my primary hard disk and reload windows 98SE from scratch; then reinstall all my software! My friends unit was working fine till I called and asked them to try burning a music CD with their 8230E. They sucessfully burned ONE music CD; the second was intermittent, with large gaps in it even though HP stated that their HP RECORD NOW software had buffer underrun protection in it. By the time they tried making the third CD the drive no longer recognized that the CD was in it and started that endless loop of requesting a CD be installed, then invoking another copy of itself every time the 8230's door was opened and closed again. After a while the 8230E was no longer recognized by the system and even rebooting did not 'fix' the problem. At that time the software was unloaded and reloaded to try to 'fix' the problem, but nothing worked. After the second or third uninstall/reinstall loop, the HP NOTEBOOK this unit was attached to failed to boot Windows. Numerous attempts were made to get the system to reboot and none worked! (This was an HP LAPTOP that was purchased about a year ago and was the best you could buy at the time). Finally, when everything was disconnected from the USB ports and the system had been shut down for about 15 minutes; another attempt was made to reboot the laptop and they were able to get into the 'safe' or 'protected' mode where they restored windows to the configuration it had the day before, and then they were finally able to reboot Windows ME on their HP LAPTOP! Now they are afraid to use the 8230E again or even try to uninstall the software because they don't want to crash their laptop again! As the person who gave them the unit as a present, I feel even worse than I would have felt if it was only me who was having those problems! I just wish I had found this site before I purchased the units for Christmas! HP has got some serious software/hardware compatibility problems with these units that cannot (or should not) be ignored! I know they are having some serious internal problems at HP right now with their new CEO pushing for a merge with Compac and the Hewlett family giving her the thumbs down on the merger, (I believe the family was correct), but someone in one of those other 220 opinions listed here mentioned a class action lawsuit; and if some lawywer has some critical files destroyed because they were trying to use one of these units, I'm pretty sure it will happen; especially if they read these opinions! The problems with these units is not only the fact that they do not work reliably and seem to self corrupt; but it's much worse than that because their software acts in ways similar to a virus in the way they corrupt your existing system! I just hope that Global computers will let me return those 2 units, because from what I have read in these user opinions and what I have read in the readme and .inf files on their installation CD, and what I have read on their support website; I don't think that HP is going to fix this problem in the near future unless it will be to costly for them to ignore them! By the way; I did install the VIA chipset patch in my system, and my friends did not install the patch because they had an Intel chipset in their system. In the end, it made no difference! I have always respected HP for the quality of their electronic test equipment and that caused me to be doubly dissapointed with the HP 8230E external USB CDRW unit.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Can't make it work on any of 3 computers.
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Review: Tried for days on 3 PC's and could never copy a CD, or make a CD. Crashed one Hard drive. Then took for ever to un-install the software. NOT HAPPY!
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
If you can install it works well. But you have to install it first.
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Review: This burner is a waste of money. It is not a real portable burner. It makes my system very instable, what is more standby and hibernate disappeared. Installing HP's own CD recording software resulted in disappearing all CD-Rom drivers in my system. I had to completely reinstall windows. HP tells, that this is the fault of my particular system. Now, it is plugged to my system, but I don't dare to move it. Avoid this burner, expensive and troublefull.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Love it!!
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Review: People seem to have alot of problems using this Drive with a PC (Windows)...I own an iMac and basically all I had to do was plug it in and it worked perfect. I'm running Toast 5.whatever Didn't need to install any software or drivers for it either. Haven't made any coasters yet too. Its great!
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
problem with windos NT
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Review: I have windows Nt an i cant use it for the drivers so i have to change all mi OS, =(
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Mac users forget it!
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Review: I bought this thinking I could hook it up to my iBook since it's a USB device. No matter what I did, no matter what extensions I had on or off, it just crashed. Sucks very badly!
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Most frustrating piece of crap
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Review: This unit was so frustrating, HP support could not figure out the problems and told me to return it, this after 4 hours!!! on the phone with them. Returned it for a new unit, and had exact same problem ie drive would not install, then when it miraculously did fingd it's way in, cd would write until about 90% complete, then an error message would appear.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
This system is a joke!!
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Review: This system is the biggest waste of money ever!!! It wouldn't work on my friend's Compaq Presario and doesn't work well on my DEll either. I can only burn a couple of cds before the drive shuts down my machine. I never knew that HP could make such a detructive product. I'm going to return mine while I still can. Don't waste your money on this thing or you will be sorry!!!
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Does not recognize most disks
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Review: If you can find a brand of disk that works with this unit, would you let me know !! (jas0441@aol.com). We have wasted tons of money buying CD-R cds and then throwing them away because this unit does not recognize the. Have tried Memorex,Imation,Sony 800 MB CD-R. We are ready to toss this thing and try something else
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
bad software package
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Review: I was told at Best Buy this unit would back up my notebook's hard drive. However, the version I bought has no back up software! Since that's the only reason I bought the thing, it's been a waste. Originally, I couldn't get it to work; but a 25 minute toll call to HP support fixed that. However, HP tech support won't tell me what back up software to work with it! So, what's the point?!?
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Really a nice and useful product
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Review: Going through all these bad comments, I really don't know why. I bought it a year ago and have been using quite happily. Though limited by the USB speed, it works flawlessly. Installation was also quick and smooth. I am using Windows 98SE. So don't know why we have all these bad comments.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Don't buy---Never Worked.
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Review: Not user friendly, even "experts" have trouble according to other reviews. No instructions except inadequate help button. Didn't even write to the HP CD included with unit.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
CDRW is junk and so is HP support service
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Review: I purchased an 8230e from a local retailer here in Ottawa, Canada. It was billed as a simple plug and play device and was reasonably inexpensive so I opted for this product instead of goingwith a higher performance firewire product thinking that it would do the job for me. I have installed many peripherals to my Toshiba laptop in the past but none as painful as this CDRW. The drivers hung my system and caused me to be unable to reboot. I had togo into safe mode and changte the config manually to recover. I've tried everything I can think of and then when going to call tech support I found that they don't even have an 800 number in my region. I am thoroughly frustrated with this product and will be returning it to where I purchased it and opting for a different CDRW product. Cave
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
A lot of software bugs
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Review: Hardware seems ok, but all the software supplied does not work under w2k. Support is completly unhelpful and uninteressted. Updates are not bugfree and just one in a year. CD Writer nearly featureless. Only 10 % of the softwarefeatures work.
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
a waste of time and money
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Review: this drive was my 2nd attempt for a cd-rw drive. it failed just as bad as the 1st one, which was a philips. installation was fine and it seemed to run ok most of the time as long as i have a certain cd-r or cd-rw disk, but won't accept most disks. also, tech support is the poorest i have ever seen. who in thier right mind would pay for a long distance call for support? should say something about the product, don't you think? email support is just as bad cause you have to wait forever for an answer, and they still never answer the question. this drive has many reading and writing errors which just can't be fixed, they just want you to think they can be. the worst cd-rw drive i have ever seen. traded it in for an iomega today, and 1st cd, which is the only one i've ever been able to make with any of them, was a big success. music cds play right away in the cd player without a problem. wish i had saved time and bought the iomega 1st. people, please do your research before dishing out the cash.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Horrible Software. Bad device.
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Review: Makes only playable music CDs in 1X mode. Very slow. Software is horrible and very inconvenient -- making it impossible to burn a music CD from files and CDs.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
4 out 5 disc are coasters
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Review: Tried burning CDs at 4x, 2x, and 1x and constantly get coasters. I have used Phillips, Yamaha, Plextor, etc. CD burners and this is the worst one yet.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Win ME compatibility issues
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Review: Worked fine with Dell Win 98 Desktop, Refuses to work with Win ME Compaq Presiario laptop. Will not burn track 1, but will burn track 2+ HP is at a loss, Compaq wont comment. I'm thinking of looking at new software to run burner..but not much friendly to Win ME. I do not suggest this burner if you are running Win ME
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Does Not Buy
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Review: I should have read all of the comments on this product. I have had it for about a week and even with help from HP support they could not figure out why the writer will not work and I'm now in the process of returning it although I have only reached a voice mail time and again with Compuvest.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Useless at times or Most of the time...
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Review: There. I said it. Software didn't function correctly with the USB unit on Win2k. On top of that, it didn't support files over a network. I had a heck of a time burning CDs without it having to trash every other one. I thought HP made good products, but I highly do not recommend this product to EVERYONE. I heard Plextor is much better. You should also buy a CD-RW with Buffer-Underrun protection.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Don't buy one of these used
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Review: I bought this from half.com and it never worked. The seller would not respond and HP wanted the original receipt to warranty it. I experienced many of the same problems that others had and have spent many hours and dollars trying to solve it to no avail. Beware!
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Not worth your time
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Review: We have not been happy with our CD-writer. I would not recommend it to anyone. Hp support was not very helpful. On the phone 2x with them and went through the same things that were done before.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Good, with reservations
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Review: I haven't ruined a CD-R yet with the 8230e, but it sometimes "hangs" or "freezes" with the RecordNow software. The tech support fellow tried to be helpful, but he sounded as if he didn't know what I was talking about. The only solution I was able to come up with was to temporarily shut off power to the drive, wait about 10 seconds, and turn it back on again. I like my 8230e, and I haven't had this problem since, but I'm still a little wary.
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
50% junk!!!!
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Review: A real Bi*@h to install, I had to call support, no 800 number, you have to pay long distance (real professional HP). When I did call support and you will have to to get this thing to work they managed to get the drive working. The software sucks, I had to shell out another $60 bucks plus lots of frustration to get new software (can anyone say class action lawsuit). This thing eats CDs, at least 1/3 of my burning sessions are terminated with errors even with roboust 3rd party software. Oh by the way don't even think of burning at 4x it crashes everytime, this is a 2x burner!!! Boy am I glad HP doesn't build bridges or airplanes.
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
pain in my butt
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Review: every time I go to put my digital pictures either on cd-r or cd-rw it tells me error cant find unit. but it tells me it installed successfully. very disappointed.
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Good hardware very bad software
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Review: I bought this drive because the record HP has with hardware (good). The drive itself is not fast but thats fine as I wanted the portabilty. The original software from veritas would not let you add directories if you did not diverge from the install instructions. There is no image save feature the drive errors out quite often when making CDs. I bought some 2nd party software (nero) to get some flexabilty but because it's an externel USB the support is bad. If you are a basic basic user buy this CDR if you know even a little about PCs and would like to a little more with your CDR, I would pass this one by.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Simple, inexpensive & it works.
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Review: I have been looking at CD writers for a while -to back up desk & laptop computers, store all my digital photos and maybe to to make the occasional audio CD to take with me while travelling. I purchased the HP CD writer last night -very forward installation and had backed up all photo files and even made an audio CD to see if I could, the same evening. Hey it's no speedy Gonzales but it does what I want with no problem or fuss.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
This is a very dependable unit
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Review: It does everything I need. For the price, I don't hink you can do better.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Killed by XP
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Review: This drive does not work with Windows XP. Heck, it barely worked with Windows ME. Not a single CD-burning software tool recognized it consistently. Now it doesn't work at all. Please don't buy this junk.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Can't Format CD-Rw Disks
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Review: Can’t get a strait answer fro HP on what the fix is. The E-mail support is not much help at all just canned answers. Went to Roxio web site to look for updates to their Direct CD software and found out that due to HP’s USB bridge or something that the software packaged with the drive does not work correctly. I have other HP products that work great but this has left a bad taste in my mouth.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
terrible time waster
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Review: I have wasted more time trying to make this device work than I care to think about. Ruined blank CDs (coasters) aplenty, and the software even has managed to rename my CD Rom drive, "D" to "E" AND "F". Unbelievable! Now my computer refuses to shut down properly. Thanks HP. For nothing.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Software is terrible
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Review: I think this could be a good unit if the software was better. It took me 10 hours to burn by first CD. Luckily I bought it at a retail store with a no hassle return policy and took it back for an internal unit. Took me 20 min to install and had a good burn within the hour. DO NOT BUY this one unless you are willing to buy the upgraded software.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
DO NOT PURCHASE
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Review: This product is terrible. I haven't made a single cd yet. I've tried a number of different brands and still haven't been able to copy a single song. HP support is also useless. Save yourself time and money, do not purchase this product
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
OK for casual user
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Review: I could not get the CD Writer to install on my home WIN 98 machine. HP Tech support was no help. But the device installed easily and quickly on my office WIN 98 machine. All features seem to work well. The device is a little slow. But it should be ok for the casual user, one who makes only a few CDs for their own use.
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Warning Do Not Buy
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Review: This recorder is a waste all its doing is occupying my desk space. i have never got it to work even once.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
This is a piece of JUNK
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Review: I bought this burner last Dec. It took us one month to finally get it going. It constantlly hangs up during a write and then you have to shut down and reboot. As far as HP's support, they are self supporting. I have been on the phone with them for also many hours. Emailed them and pulled my hair out. This is the worst piece of storage I have ever bought. A very poor investment. Not worth taking the time to plug in.
User Rating:
5.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Runs beautifully!
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Review: I have a state-of-the-art computer I built myself so I can analyze hardware--if your system is any good this drive will respond beautifully! If you find "bugs"--blame it on your system.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Ack, Barf, Arggggggggggh
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Review: I have now wasted a week on this thing, and I am not happy. All I wanted was a simple backup device to protect my data. What I got was a huge headache? First, it was extrememly slow in formating a CD-RW.(4hours!) That was when it would format. I have gotten all sorts of error messages and blue screens of death. This puppy is on its way back into the box and back to the store.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
great usb drive
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Review: installed with win98 no problems with driver disk. using on Sagar laptop, works great with included software. make great music cd's, and acts like a second 650 or 700 mb removeable hard drive. plug and play works and used it while using a usb 56k modem with no problems. case is pretty rugged and built well. great as a second cd player on notebook computer.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
AWFUL! It never worked right!
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Review: I purchased it in July, 2001. It only wrote a disc sucessfully,once. I paid COMP USA here $99.97 plus tax to try to make it work with my Sony VAIO FX-140. It worked for them once and then failed again with HP software(always displayed a "write error") I was with COMP USA tech for two hours in the shop. It worked once and then failed again. The tech tried a different software, which worked once at the shop and failed again for me at home. I finally returned it for a refund. I could not reach HP Tech Support by phone. The email advice from HP Tech Support was of no help either. It was a very frustrating experience for me. I own an HP Printer and that has not been a problem. I am now trying out a SONY Digital Relay CRX10U-A2.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
a great portable CD writer
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Review: Its a great to be able to share this drive between my desktop, laptop and with other family members. Flawless performance so far.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Defective and Inferior Product
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Review: HP makes defective and inferior quality CD-Writer Drives (some are made in Hungary). The drives malfunction and when they do so (even if you are not using the unit), it will freeze the computer. Only way out of this freeze is to use: On / Off switch, resulting in loss of 'work-in-progress'. You will be lucky, if you can get 200 hours of actual write-mode usage from this drive. When the drive fail completely, you cann't boot your computer, unless you unplug power and IDE cables. For a defective drive under warranty, I was forced to accept a re-conditioned unit, which failed in less than 100 hours of write-mode usage (Serial #s HU952N2827 and HU002M0723 respectively).
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
only worked for 2 months
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Review: burner cannot find music files. HP support has spent hours uninstalling, reinstalling, reconfiguring, deleting, etc., etc.,... still won't burn a cd
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Do not buy this CD-Writer!
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Review: The 8230e has given me nothing but problems. If you need a CD-writer for more than just burning a few audio CDs, do not get this one! The first one I bought worked fine for a few days and then suddenly the system on my HP computer refused to recognize the CD-writer. I spent hours on the phone with customer support who finally gave up and had me return it to where I had bought it. The replacement 8230 is recognized by the system but the software that is included with it gave me tons of error messages when I tried to use it resulting in another long call to support. Some of the errors were fixed but most of the problems still remain. Overall, the software is difficult to use and not very flexible. The software makes it very hard to use CD-RWs as they are intended to be used.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Good value, does what it says on the box
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Review: Typically simple, problem-free USB device install. Use it with supplied or other software (e.g. NTI CD Maker). Do enable DMS as advised. Anti virus scanning may interfere with transfers - if in doubt, turn off virus scanner while writing to the CD. My test timing (PIII 733MHz) - 170MB data, prepared, written, read back and verified in around 7 minutes. At a non-discounted High Street price of £170, including software, pack of CD labels and a label applicator, this is great value for making backups.
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Product is a failure
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Review: Chose the HP burner over the Iomega burner as I had experienced difficulties borrowing the Iomega. Installed the software problem free on a Dell Inspiron 4000 with Windows ME. The help web site is useless. So far I have burned through 4 cd's and wasted hours trying to make it work. It is an absolute crime to sell a product that is this defective. The problems I have encountered are very consistent with all the other responses posted here.
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
10 hours and still trying to get it to work
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Review: I have a sony VAio running windows 98 and didn't have any problems installing the software but I've have not created a single working CD so far. THe CD writer will not write and I'm not paying for toll-phone HP support. I've been on their web sight enough that I know it's not going to help much. It only tests 50% of the disk and then it quits and want a different blank CD. I've tried every brand of CD-R including HP but nothing works. I'm returning the burner today and am staying away from anything HP from now on. Plug-in-play, I think not!
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Does the job well for the money
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Review: The very first user comment you read here about this cd-rw is a negative comment. I'm sure that guy did have a real problem---Presarios stink!--- and I hope he got it fixed or his money back. I just installed one today on a Presario 5184/Win 98se and for installation and use I give it a thumbs up. Now, it might break down tomorrow, but HP products usually last a long time in my experience. It's slower than some other units on the market but relaiable in my preliminary tests, and it's cheap. The HP software is acceptable, but Adaptec is much better. I'd say buy it. Definitely a good, cheap drive...so far.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
PROBLEM WITH CDR-W
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Review: I BOTH THIS LAST MONTH. I ONLY BEEN ALBE TO MAKE ONE DISK SO FAR. EVERY OTHER TIME ALL I KEEP GETTING IS A ERROR MESSAGE ALL THE TIME AND THAT REALLY UPSET ME A LOT. BECAUSE I THINK YOUR PRODUCT IS WICK I AM NOT A HAPPY ABOUT THIS I HAVE ALL YOUR OTHER PRODUCT IF YOU CAN HELP ME OUT WITH THIS I BE VERY GREAT FULL SNS)SG11152TEU C9630A#100 C45C4-69602 HP 8200 SERIES . IF YOU NEED TO CALL MY NUMBER IS 513 559-1556
S)SG11152TEU C9630A#100 C45C4-69602 HP 8200 SERIES . IF YOU NEED TO CALL MY NUMBER IS 513 559-1556 User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Extremely slow and unpredictable
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Review: Music match software copies 74 minutes of music in about 2 hours, which is terribly slow. I have also tired the "MY CD" software, but that has never worked. About 1/2 of my attempts have worked, and the other 1/2 have been coasters. On the "MY CD" copy attempts, I can hear the music through headphones while they are plugged into, and played through the HP burner, but it won't play back on my computer or on any other cd player. My daughters like playing with the pretty HP coaster made by this machine, but I bought this to back up powerpoint presentations, and make music C.D's. I will keep it because when I use Musicmatch, even though it's slow, it does work, but I hate having bought a brand new product costing over $200 with tax, and getting a 50% success rate.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Good value, good performance
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Review: This drive provides a good value. I have burned many audio and data CD's without any problems. If you follow the instructions that come with the drive, you won't have any problems! Easy setup! The USB connection works great - it's fast and easy to connect to my computer. I highly recommend this drive.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
HP wears you down, raises repair $$
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Review: This burner is completely unreliable. Sometimes it reads its own CDs, sometimes not. HP keeps forcing me to call back USING A TOLL CALL, KEEPING ME ON HOLD, RUNNING UP THE BILL though the problem is clearly the burner. They have told me to buy 3 other brands of media (they say Memorex won't work) at my cost), call them repeatedly (at my cost), reconfigure my computer, -- anything to avoid making good on the warranty and replacing this defective machine. If I can get out of this mess I will never buy HP again.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great New Toy
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Review: Use this burner with lots of fun, just not with the included software. Installed flawlessly on an IBM ThinkPad. Made 5 coasters with included software, then obtained, er, I mean bought Adaptec 5 platinum and made music and data CD's with no problem. I would have given this 5 stars except for the included software.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Box to first dik in less than half an hour
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Review: Bit wary of buying this after reading some of the reviews here, but have to say that it was true plug and play straight from the box. I had my first disk in less than 30 mins. Excellent product and some extra software - sonic foundary acid came with it - which has proved to be addictive....
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
It corrupted my text files!!!!!!
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Review: This doggone unit corrupted about 30% of my text files -- years of work -- in a recent backup and restore. It couldn't have been a virus ( I update Norton all the time and run it on the highest level) and i use quality Memorex media. I called tech support and all she could do was blame the media. When I said it was Memorex,she only said it had to be anything but the burner. Right. Also, the software is minimal at best. It doesn't verify accuracy of backups, for example, which is critical if your're going to trust years of work to this thing. The HP assistant said I should upgrade and buy new burner software -- "Not that ours isn't wonderful, of course," but you shouldget better. Not what I wanted to hear.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
10 hours and no audio CD yet...
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Review: This review may be premature as I've only spent 10 hours so far trying to make one audio CD, but I can say it's definitely not a "simply plug and play" situation for me. This is my first CD writer experience. It seemed to install OK on my Compaq Presario laptop w/ Win2000 (on the second attempt), but that's pretty much the end of the success story. Like a dope, I spent about an hour scanning 70 minutes of songs from various CDs and arranging them in the best order, only to find in the final phase the drive wouldn't write the songs onto the blank CD. So I switched gears and now I'm just trying to directly copy an audio CD, and the HP drive spits out the blank audio CD almost immediately into writing and says there is an error, and to try a different blank CD (same as before). Well, then I thought maybe I'm using the wrong kind of CD, but I've tried almost every kind of blank audio CD-R there is, and none has worked. I was able to back up some Word files onto a blank CD, but that's not what I bought the product for. I'm not even going to call HP tech support because I'm not paying for long-distance calls, that's ridiculous. The troubleshooting documentation is mind-numbingly obvious and not helpful at all ("the blank CD might be scratched, try another one"). My boyfriend is a computer guru with 10 years of hardware installation experience, he says we can check the USB port setup, and if that doesn't pan out he recommends returning the product. If he happens to find the magical solution, I'll be sure to share it. Another thing I'll try is installing it on his old desktop Compaq with Win98, and also to try keeping the HP drive cool (it was very hot by the time I'd scanned all my CDs). But one thing I can say for sure: I am having a bad experience with this product so far! The interface is nice, the CD labeler program seems ok for placement and printing (by no means an advanced graphics program though). Oh, another thing: the HP drive insisted that my Compaq's CD-ROM drive was a Toshiba during the direct audio copy. I don't think that's the problem though, because even when I use only the HP drive to scan and copy it doesn't work.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Needed a replacement, now works great.
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Review: This is a mixed opinion thumbs up. My first unit worked fine with the included software (which is really limited to just music and data cds--no VCDs, SVCDs, etc.) I tried both Nero and NTI CD-Maker for their better features. Both barfed with "hardware errors" when I used Disk-at-Once writing. At first, HP support wouldn't help unless the problem was with their own software. After I expressed my frustration when they called back with a customer satisfaction survey and said I was ready to throw this in the trash, a supervisor/mentor-tech called back. He said he had heard of this problem. He overnighted a replacement unit that had a slightly different firmware build. The new one works perfectly with all software and software features. The firmware that did not work was seen in Device Manager as "8200f", the working one is "8200a". I went from dissatisfied to satisfied.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
A really good buy wrt the price
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Review: Bought it recently and it hasn't failed me since. I've been doing backups of my computer and making CDs of my photos and the software has been satisfactory so far.
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Could not get it to work with Win98
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Review: Tried for 2 months to get it to work, kept getting various messages and reinstalling multiple drivers. HP support very quick on internet, but eventually returned unit. Very frustrating "plug and Play" experience. Also very scanty instructions on how to build a library before burning the cd, or converting MP3 to WAV.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Sucks as an audi CD burner
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Review: This burner frequently cuts off the end of some tracks. It also adds the end of tracks you don't want. If you copy tack 3 from a CD, you might also copy a few seconds of the end of track 2. VERY annoying! It may not record what you intend for it to, but what it does record sounds pretty good. I didn't try to copy any data files because I was going to return it and didn't want to use the re-writable CD that was included.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Flawless installation
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Review: Installation went flawlessly, and was burning cd's minutes after opening the box.
User Rating:
5.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
A nice product with the price
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Review: It works fine with either 70min or 80min CD-Rs, not like the one I purchased and returned CD-RW at the same price from another company. This is very important it you want to burn things on popular and inexpensive CD-Rs, like 1-16X 700Mb/80Min ones from Memorex. A little bit more portable design would make it a perfect product.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Not without problems
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Review: I wish I had known about CNET before purchasing this burner. I went with HP since my computer and printer are also HP. I assumed that compatibility wouldn't be an issue. Boy was I wrong! The software loaded with no problem, but when my computer restarted it came up in "safe mode". I installed and uninstalled a couple of times, then gave up and called HP. The support person was great, and after about an hour on the phone he walked me through and it took care of the problem. However, I resented the fact that I paid more to get the HP to avoid such problems, and then I had to pay for the long distance call since there is no toll free number for tech support for this product (at least I couldn't find one). It is very easy to use. So far I have only been making CD-Rs with music on them. I found out after purchasing the burner that my Panasonic DVD/CD player (which is only 18 months old!) won't play CD-Rs, so until I replace that, I can only play these in my car. I have had a problem with the CDs that I have burned sounding as if they are skipping, especially when I hit a bump in the road. I have never, or rarely, had this problem with commercially produced CDs. I'm not sure what that is about, or if another burner would prevent that problem. So, in summary, I am not 100% satisfied with this burner, but around 75-80% satisfied.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
No problems, just plug and play!
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Review: I opened the box, loaded the software, and was off and running. Have had no problems running on a Dell Inspiron laptop on Windows 98 SE. I've burned CDs and stored data with no problems at all. The only issue is that as a novice to the CD-R/RW world, it took me some time to become familiar with the software.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
It broke after the first week.
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Review: When I got the drive, it worked fine. A few bad cds, but none were the fault of the drive or it's software (as in I forgot to turn off the pop-up virus scan software and stuff like that). But after about a week, the drive just refused to work. For some reason, it just suddenly would not read or even recognize any CDs that I put in the drive, whether it be commercial audio or data CDs, blank CD-Rs or blank CD-RWs, or CDs that I made, or whatever. I e-mailed the support, and they were very helpful. They said it was a hardware problem and offered to replace it, but I just got a refund from the store.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Unqualified product.
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Review: Were bought 4 months. 4months as night mare. HP changed 3 times equipment but never solved the problem. Product does not works.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
The easiest installation ever
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Review: If you are looking for a USB CD-R, this product is the best value for money. I had no problems installing it on my desktop and notebook (Toshiba Portege). It seems that our friends at HP didn't hire product designers (it is big and ugly) so they'd be able to put all their money in preformance. Fantastic software bundle for beginners, you will have your data and audio CD's in no time.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Spoke Too Soon
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Review: I wrote a positive review for the HP two days ago, what a big mistake! I just got my burner, two days ago and had already burned 50 cd's, I thought everything was working just great. Then starting last night the cd-writer stopped recognizing my 80 min discs and wouldn't record anything. Believe the reviews and stay away from this product. I am returning it for the Iomega today!
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Geat stuff!
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Review: Never seen a better thing. Do everything in a flash and on the fly. Format a disk in 3 minutes. DirectCD allows you to use CDRW as a harddrive. (though the a 650MB CD is treated as a 533MB) If you want faster burnning, use Bero Burnning ROM, they co-opearte perfectly! burn a CD in 17 minutes! Best a USB can do~~~ U gotta try it!
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
If you own a Dell Laptop, stay away!
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Review: I fought this drive for two days. HP customer support said my first drive was bad and to exchange it. I did so. The drive still wouldn't burn cds. The drive always gave me an error message about high capacity CDs, even with the supplied. HP finally told me that their drives don't like Dell notebooks, Inspiron or Latitudes. I was told I had a compatability problem. I returned the drive and will have to keep on shopping.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
No Problems Yet
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Review: I was very hesitant to purchase this burner after reading all the negative reviews. But, to my surprise this has been a great burning experience so far. I have only burned from cd to cd and it is very quick around 15-17 minutes per cd. The installation only took 15 or 20 minutes and I was up and burning immediately. So far so good.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Barely a thumbs up.
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Review: This is my first CD-RW so I have nothing to compare it to. My 2 choices were HP8230 and the Predator. The HP costs less, reviewers said it burned faster, and 69% of CNET reviewers gave it thumbs up. So I decided on the HP8230. So far, I've spent 2 evenings trying to load the HP software. Computer would only boot in safe mode thereafter. Mostly have solved that. Now after many more hours, discovered that I need to disconnect the CD-RW for Win98 to boot. I then reconnect the CD-RW after Win98 is up. Writing to CD-RWs seem to work okay using HP-MyCD. Have made one disk on 2nd try. But now I discover my colleagues can't read those CD-RWs in their conventional CD-ROMs, only in drives runnig HP-CD Direct. Argh. However, absolutely no luck burning data CD-Rs. The dialog box shows the data files being transfered, but Win-Explorer shows no sign of the files on the CD-R nor does it recognize the CD-R at all (CD not ready, retry or cancel). Also, I bought a box of 1X to 16X CD-Rs but the HP8230 says I can't use "high speed" disks. Argh. I've tinkered with computers for 19 years. This has been a frustrating installation. The HP support web site doesn't provide any suggestions beyond "Uninstall and reinstall software". Duh. And the on-line user's manual was written by a techy trying to write in lay-persons terms--pretty convoluted and as bad as the web site. Warning: be prepared if the writer doesn't work right in the first 15 minutes--you could be in for hours of tinkering. Because I can write CD-RWs (but not CD-Rs yet), I give it a bare thumbs up. PS. Also I discovered drive imaging software (e.g., Drive Image, Norton Ghost, etc), do not work with USB writers which is why I bought the writer in the first place. Double Argh. Notebook users, do your reseach.
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Brutal experience
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Review: The unit simply does NOT WORK with a Compaq Presario laptop. HP Support is the biggest oximoron i've ever heard. It is impossible to dedicate the time to get thru to them if you happen to be gainfully employed. Have yet to burn a single CD or have my computer operate properly in 8 mos. of ownership.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
DON'T use with Dell Latitude Laptop!!!!
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Review: Hardware conflict between CD writer and Dell Latitude C600 laptop. My Win2000 is still not back to normal. HP support was very honest, and told me it would be too much hassle with my computer.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
very easy to install and use
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Review: just bought an hp cd-writer 8230e i was amazed at how easy it was to use and install . there was no need to convert mp3's to wav etc. the software that comes along with it is sufficient for me . the 8230e is much faster than the iomega zip650 cd-r. i am satisfied with my purchase, i would highly recomend this product to anyone who is looking for an external usb cd-r.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
superbly frustrated
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Review: I heard the 8230 doesn't work with Latitudes -- well, turns out it's not much better with my Inspiron 7000. After reading all these reviews about crappy tech support, I'm not even going to TRY it. It's going back to the store tomorrow.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Thumbs up all the way!!
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Review: I have never had a more realistic plug and play device. I simply took it out of the box connected cables reset my computer and was off and running. From reading the reviews some of them downright scary I was expecting an onslaught of problems but it has truly been a breeze from day one so far. Sure out of the dozens of cds I've burnt a couple were ruined that was a small inconvenience to me. Especially considering I seem to have a problem pc a compaq presario. Small downside included a missing manual only a quick start poster although easy to set up could still be confusing for novice user. Most of the support came from limited Q & A online tutorials. Technical support from the web site is almost non-existent and cd creation labelling software practically useless for any decent looking cd covering. All and all a great external burner for the price. Software is easy to use and extremely efficent. I love it !!
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Doesn't copy more than 150 mb bef dying
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Review: I already have a zip drive and wanted something with greater capacity. Have sent/received 3 help messages to hp support to try different things and none of them have worked. Just saw on roxio's website that this model has problems with the usb bridge. Returning and getting the Iomega.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
About as easy as it gets.
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Review: The included software is a little sparse, but everything necessary to burn data CDs is included. Have used the drive and software with Win98, Win2K, and WinMe, an HP desktop, HP, Acer and Fujitsu laptops with no problems. Three months, and no coasters so far.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Went thru 2 of them..then gave up
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Review: The first one I had nearly caught on fire and melted the power cord. HP sent me another..and with Win 2000 it is worthless..locks up my machine, and never makes a decent CD.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Good Product
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Review: I've been using this thing for about 3 weeks... no problems at all !!! The installation was extremely easy. Im using it both on my PC (win98se, athlon 500, 96 SDRAM) and also on my laptop (WinME, pIII 733,128 MB RAM)... keep switching between those two... and its problem-free !!! The speed is not too fast, but hey.. its external! But its not gonna take you forever. It will only take about 17 mins to make a CD audio (for about 650 MB)
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
no problem with Dell Inspiron 4000
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Review: read your reviews-bought one and had it up and running in 20 min- burnt 5 cds thus far-no coasters -worth the money-quality though USB slow
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Easy to install and to use
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Review: I installed this superior unit today with easy to follow instructions that HP supplies.I copied two CD's immediately after completing the installation.I have a Compaq 633 mhz Presario with "ME".No hassle,no problems,a real pleasure!Our computer club has an earlier,internal HP that we have been using without any problems.I like the quality of these 2 units and my printer and our 5370 scanner.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Easy as a getting your health card...
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Review: Bought it, plugged it in, Windows ME detected it and installed the drivers and I burned my first CD within 20 minutes. Doesnt come with the best of software but other software makes up.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Incompatible with IBM ThinkPad
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Review: Great price, copies data files brillintly, but is incompatible with IBM Thinkpad. Simply won't work. IBM support finally figured that out and quickly arranged full refund. Too bad.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great external burner!
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Review: The HP8230e has turned out to be a tremendous boon, as far as burning CD's goes. I've used it for over 25 Cd's at all it's various speed capabilities (4x, 2x, 1x), and it performs flawlessly with each! I suggest getting better software for it, like Nero, as the pre-packed stuff is a little bland. Otherwise, a great little CD-RW...and it looks pretty nice, too!
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
How many disks can I break?
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Review: Been trouble shooting this thing for months, coaster after coaster. My friend has two in his business and they both work fine set exactly like mine, which I have tried on 4 systems. Support is giving me some real interesting things to try, so far no luck, waiting on them to give up so I can try another drive. Buffer Underrun all the way!
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
The good and the bad
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Review: So far okay. I set this up first on Windows 2000 Server and got an error message that I couldn't set it up on Windows 2k Server. Not sure if it was the software or the drivers that wouldn't install. It wasn't very important to me since I dual-boot. On Windows 98, it works fine. Slow but sure. Worth the price. Spend the extra 20-something to get the 3 year warranty, because it will stop working. (They all do)
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great burner with good software and drivers.
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Review: This burner was easy to configure and has no problem with anything I throw at it except scratched CD's.
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Thrash!
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Review: i have had it for 3 days and i still cant get it to work, it starts doing some sort of write speed test and it doewsnt go over 50%, it just stops right there agh! frustration!!!!
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Didn't work & Audio CD no sound.
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Review: The drive is noted to support 80min cd.. BUT! Didn't work. I tried it on a few Sonys and Imation CD's and the drive consistently freeze up. I realize the drive won't play Audio CD either. It's plays a track for about 3 seconds and jump to the next track. Lousy construction too!
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Another HP Winner!
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Review: First CD burner owned so have no reference to base it against. Installation too simple - After a few frustrating minutes interpreting software guidance, was burning CDs and transfering data to discs. Since I have had device for only 3 days, can't comment on support or quality/reliability. But it's HP, so I feel confident about it being trouble free. Suggest they provide instruction handbook to simplify operation for first time users. Paid $199 at CompUSA.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great for anybody
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Review: I have use it for data and music and not had problems with a single cd. I must have written over a 100 cds at least. The only thing which I think I was not too happy as the time taken (approx 20-30 min) but then this would probably be the best for any ext usb drive.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Schweet Product
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Review: I just received my hp-writer today, and instantly i created my first cd with no problems. The ease of installation, and setup of software is as easy as ordering a pizza. Trust me, a definite purchase for those who don't have the capabilities of internal.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
IT'S GREAT!!!
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Review: I bought this drive 2 months ago. It has worked perfectly fine. It gives great writing speed and the great feature of being external. I hook it up to my PC and notebook.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Worth the purchase
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Review: I bought this burner about 8 months ago and I'm satisfied with it. I don't know what's problem with the guy using the compaq, maybe he didn't read the label on the diskette labeled "Installation disk" you have to insert when connecting the device, but mine works as I expected it to, doing everything I need it to do, and I have a very low number of coasters in my house.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
HP is junk!
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Review: I was excited to receive the 8230 CD-RW device as a gift this past Christmas. After accumulating over 17 hours with customer support, a $78 dollar phone bill, a replacement drive, and a 25-pack of ruined CD-R's my Christmas present still will not work. I understand the complexities with external CD RW drives, but at least train your "support" to effectively handle the constant flaws. I have been reading reviews on other external drives and if there is one thing I would recommend it would be this: RUN AND FLEE FROM ANY HP!
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Save yourself the hassle
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Review: I needed to transfer files between a desktop and laptop and read the reviews; I decided to get this drive over Iomega. Bad decision! The drive set-up very nicely, but when I attempted to burn some CD's, it spew out coaster after coaster. The proprietary HP burning software is user-friendly to the point of being useless! Neither the horrible software nor the HP web site gave me any idea what my problem was- and tech support is a toll call. The next day, I exchanged it for the Iomega drive and have been very happy since.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
no complaints
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Review: This drive has worked reliably right out of the box. The software installed easily though i would appreciate the advanced features of Adaptec's Deluxe version.
User Rating:
5.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
A lot of bang for the buck !
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Review: Good build quality and easy to use for those who need an external drive. I had minor software issues, but HP Tech Support was great & very friendly too. Product plus great support is what comprises a good company.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great Device - poor software/drivers
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Cons:
Review: The software package included with the drive really hosed up my computer (Windows 2000), making it unable to read from the other CD-ROM. However, the tech support was very patient and stayed with me for several hours to get things fixed. Once I scrapped the awful burning software and bought Nero (highly recommended) instead of Adaptec things were great.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Reliable quality burner, horrible software.
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Cons:
Review: The burner itself works great, producing great burns, providing you don't use the included HP myCD software. Every cd i've attempted with the myCD software has produced the same error when trying to access it. If you plan on buying this burner, plan on also buying Easy CD Creator or Nero along with it.
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
talk about a pain in the butt
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Cons:
Review: I researched this and didnt find any known issues with the Dell Lattitude Laptop, but when I plugged in the burner it toasted my system. I called HP and after 1 1/2 hours on hold they told me to call Dell because they Dell is not compatable with HP. Do yourself a favor if you have a Dell and don't get burnt by this burner.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
A tempermental waste of money
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Cons:
Review: Set it all up and BAM! Error messages stating it would not write on this high speed cd-rw I was "supposedly" using: but it was a cd-r!!! Six coasters later, two hours with HP on the phone, a $50 phone bill, and endless computer tweaking and all the tech could say was "gee, don't know what the problem is. Maybe you should take it back". I defintely will, and get a Philips or anything else. You would figure it and my HP 6535 would get along, but noooooooo....
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
software hangs everything!
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Cons:
Review: bought it yesterday after considering the iomega also. after installing the software(both discs) and re-booting, the system start froze on the adaptec ini. boot! after re-booting again and again, the system no longer functioned! after 11 hours of tweaking, still not working. went to adaptec's web site and WOW..."we are having some USB bridge problems with our software with this product. we are investigating"!!! brought it back and got my money back. iomega here i come.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Works fine, but if you can get an internal go with that -- much faster.
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Cons:
Review: Easy to install and use. Only problem is that it can't burn certain 80 min cd-r. Kept getting an error half way through the burn while using 80 min cds and it said the drive doesn't work right with certain 80 min cds, but have had no problems with 74 min cds. I use it on a Dell Inspiron laptop PII-366 w/ 96MB RAM.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Burn Baby Burn
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Cons:
Review: CNET's "speedy slowpoke" is apt -- I found the drive to be fast for a USB connection, and to work flawlessly out of the box. HP reliability is the way to go. Got mine for $199 at Staples, and paid the $19.99 for the extra warranty because a couple of the thumbs down on this unit said it quit working after the 1-year warranty expired. Great thing about Staples is that they don't even try to waste your time with a "3 strikes" policy (if it breaks 3 times, we replace it -- give ME a break) -- instead, if you have a problem within 2 years -- they give you a full in-store credit no questions asked. Writing disks on the fly for clients will be a value-added service for them.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Good Hardware - Bad Software
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Cons:
Review: I have had my cdrw about 4 days, reliably burnt 12 cdr discs without any buffer under-runs or failures. The hp software is very limiting in what it will let you do. I have got nero, feurio and cd clone. Much better. I can t get the adaptec software to work at all with my drive, for writing to cd/rw discs. If you buying make allowances in your budget for decent software and to buy good quality discs.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great Burner
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Cons:
Review: This CD Burner has a quick installation and starts up wth no problem. It is a great burner in all. It has a lot of software and a lot of features. The only problem i found is that when burning a music cd the software does not allow you to burn as max speed. You have to buy another software from them to do so.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Neophyte to CD Burning
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Cons:
Review: Bought the iOmega Predator and it didn't work...the power unit was laready burned up...went and picked up the HP8230e...loaded it and was burning CDs in 15minutes...so far great buy...it comes with the software to burn mp3 to CD Audio...that you can play in your car or home stereo
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
works perfectly
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Cons:
Review: I've had mine for a year and have not had any problems with it and I use it on 3 different PCs and an HP Pavilion Notebook.I highly recommend this cd-writer
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Why bother?
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Cons:
Review: Underruns all the time if using with a laptop unless you have a SCSI source you're copying from. Works fine with a workstation but then why bother when you can get a faster internal? Unless they put in a larger buffer to prevent underruns, don't get this for your laptop.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great for those who do not have an extra bay to put an internal in.
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Cons:
Review: Easy to move from machine to machine. No the fastest burner but for the money a good buy.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Install s/w crashed win 98 kernel
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Cons:
Review: I tried once and my VAR tried three times to install the software for the HP 8230e burner. Each time the install s/w corrupted the win98 kernel and win 98 had to be re- installed.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
What a CD-RW!!!
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Cons:
Review: I've been in the market for an external CD-RW for quite a while now and finally broke down and bought the HP 8230. After reading reviews from a few of the users, I was unsure of the purchase that I had just made. Let me say, I am very pleased with the purchase. Not a problem installing and not a problem burning any cd. I was up and burning in 5 min. Very stylish compared to most of the others on the market. Also fast in my opinion (but I'm no speed freak anyway). Burns a cd in roughly 20 minutes. Easy to use software to burn a cd for us novices. Also comes with a labeler for your just made cds. Don't be afraid to buy this one if you're in the market for such a device. In a word a wonderful product!!!
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Smooth
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Cons:
Review: Easy to install, burned my first CD (oh, yeah..successfully !!!) in no time at all. Seems like a decent buy.
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Disappointing, to say the least...
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Cons:
Review: That CNet would give this burner a 7/10 rating is unconscionable. The drive itself is of reasonable quality, but the software bundled with it makes it all but unusable in come circumstances. Coaster-rama. Repeatedly contacting HP support was of no help, with their last suggestion being to purchase a copy of Roxio CD Creator. Great. The thing doesn't work properly unless you spend another 80 bucks or so for functional software that should have been included in the first place. I boxed it back up, swapped it for a Philips unit of the same price that actually works. I feel I was duped by both HP and CNet.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Good burner
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Cons:
Review: I've had other external cd writers and this one is the best of the bunch. I just wish it was faster. The price is at least double that of an internal of the same speed.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Works fine so far...with data CD
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Cons:
Review: I bought mine about a week ago, have burned a lot of jpeg's onto the disc. I take pics with my digital camera. I use Kodak CD-R's. My OS is Win2K Professional on a Toshiba Satellite 4090XDVD. The HP unit installed without a hitch, and I have burnt four cd's so far with no problems. The unit works silently in the background. So far so good, I haven't tried to clone a CD, or do anything with music files yet.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Would Like Faster
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Cons:
Review: Would like it to be faster, but otherwise I am very happy. Apparently I can't get it to record a CD any faster that the time it takes to play it. No big deal. I've had to get used to not using the computer when writing CDs, which isn't a big deal for my purposes. Only trouble has been with technical support. I called to ask for help in getting it to record faster, and the tech guy took it upon himself to confuse me with jargon as quickly as possible to get me off the phone.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Good value and portability
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Cons:
Review: I have been quite happy with this drive for what I bought it for, which was to use with my laptop while living overseas for a year, and firewire is not an option for me (wish it was). I mainly use it with cd-rws to back up my data, and only had one problem when I inadvertently unplugged it without stopping the device first! Aside from my error, have had no problems. My one complaint would be the new DirectCD software, which is quite inferior to the previous version I have on my desktop pc. My solution: format the cd-rws on my desktop scsi cd-burner, then use them in the HP: no problems there. Or buy preformatted cd-rws. I have not burned any cd-rs with this drive, but I burned my entire 200+ cd collection from mp3 files onto 25 cd-rs before leaving the country, and have no problems reading them with the HP. I purchased this drive in Canada, so perhaps my unit is slightly different than others reviewed here, though Device Manager does show it as an 8290 also. The $50US rebate didn't hurt either, and I bought an extra 2-years of warranty for the price difference. That is a replacement warranty, which means any problems and I get a brand new external burner! Sounds like a good deal to me...
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
worked well from day one
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Cons:
Review: Easy to install,made a few coasters at first but i think that was down to me.Good product.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
This Product is good for the price.
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Cons:
Review: I GIVE IT 2 THUMBS UP BECAUSE ITS A WELL MADE PRODUCT, I HAD NO PROBLEMS AT ALL, I JUST SAY ""HP, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK""
User Rating:
5.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Work's good, but can't figure out why it show's up as an 8290e in the properties.
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Cons:
Review: I have made 2 coasters with it, but I found out it was a mp3 file problem and not the burner. Sure it's slow, but at $199, it sure is worth it.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Better than expected
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Cons:
Review: I haven't had too many problems with burning anything using this writer. It's very reliable. It is on the slow side, b/c of the USB bandwidth, but other than that, it's a great burner
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Should have read this board earlier
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Review: HP just use the same rebadged 3rd party drive which offers no function/performance improvemente since debut of 8200e series(that was 2+ years ago), only things that changed are the shell/cover & added more crappy burning software, basically 8230e is the same drive as now obsolete 8200e model. Upon install the HP burner, I experienced windows shut down problem for my Dell Win98 system, the tech support people at HP are just clueless & couldn't solve the problem, after less than 20 cd burning, now the drive refuse to read any cd that I inserted & keep spinning for no reason. I then searched usnet newsgroup & found out that many people also experiencing various problems with this burner, should have know better by checking newsgroup or cnet user opinion forum.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
A great USB Burner
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Cons:
Review: An excellent external burner. Installation is simple & quick. Great as a protable, you can easily bring this one to a friends house or to the office. It is even more reliable than my SCSI & EIDE burners. A good value and recommended if you want a burner to use on multiple pc's.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Hardware supports everything youd ever want
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Cons:
Review: While the tech support was ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE, I found that this model offers superior DAO writing and has the rare ability to write subchannel data. Want to be able to make PERFECT copies of your games for backup? Then you need this feature. This is a definite winner all around, and offers the modes other burners at its price range can't even comprehend. *however the tech support was awful, as i recieved a response that had to have come from a foreign first grader. Not only was it incomprehensible, but it broke every grammar law of the english language. If i could buy any external burner I wanted to though, it'd still be this one.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Bargain 4 The Money
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Cons:
Review: Have had an HP external burner for 2 yrs and it's one of the best periphals you can purchase. Great 4 backups and CD burning if a little slow compared to internal units.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Excellent cd burner
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Cons:
Review: I have not had any problems at all with this burner. Have made at least 100 cds with it. I have not had one coaster yet. I would highly recommend it
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
More headaches than advantages
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Cons:
Review: I've tried to install this burner on 3 different PCs and have had no success. HP Support hasn't been a great deal of help. I'm buying a Plextor internal drive.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Unsuitable because of HP rebadging!
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Cons:
Review: I bought one of these drives expecting to get an HP 8230e, and ended up with what is internally an HP 8290e! NOWHERE on the box did it say this, and I didn't find out until I tried to use this with Backup Exec and they told me it was unsupported because HP had tricked me into inadvertently buying an 8290! I'd steer clear of these, and of HP altogether.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Bundled adapted software trashes your PC
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Cons:
Review: The adaptec software bundled with this drive disabled access to my Portege 7020 laptop DVD drive under Win2k. It also did this to my colleagues Dell desktop and another colleagues Toshiba 8100 laptop. It was worse than having a virus with 3 PCs needing re-building. We work at a software company and are competent users. Adaptec / HP should test their software fully for Win2k support or not unleash it like a virus on the market.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Used x 1year
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Cons:
Review: Initial CDRW as an add on burned many cds and no problem Takes about 20 minutes to burn 70minute cda while my IDe Samsung takes about 8minutes for same Never an error on the HP a few on the IDE but could be cheaper media I now use. Tim
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Doesn't conform to USB storage standards
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Cons:
Review: Had to patch my Linux usb-storage driver to handle this ""unusual device"". What's the point of having a Universal Serial Bus when you need a special driver just for this one device? Once I finished struggling with the driver it worked great; hence, my high marks on value and quality. I just shouldn't have to ""Plug and Pray"" to get there.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Not bad... for a USB device
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Cons:
Review: Had a slew of problems at first, until I called HP and learned it conflicts with other USB devices. Particularly, the HP OfficeJet G series MFD. Changed my OfficeJet connection to parallel, and the 8230e has run fine ever since. Don't try to play an audio CD on it, though. It causes system lock-ups in both Real Jukebox and MusicMatch.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
A lot of Coasters
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Cons:
Review: Try two different units, both created a large number of bad discs. This may have been cause by my system. I went internal with a TDK and have only had one bad disc in 50.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Reliable and stable but slow.
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Cons:
Review: The HP 8230e CD writer is basically an excellent piece of equipment and very easy to install. HP have just updated the software for the product which was badly needed paticularly to allow you to listen to a track before recording. I found that it is far better to record at 2X speed as opposed to 4X. This allows virtually 100% success rate when recording.The main failing of the product is that it takes a little time to complete a function but it is very reliable and stable.
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Dont waste you time and money
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Cons:
Review: I have had nothing but problems with these USB CD/R drives. I'm using Windows 2000 and everything loads fine, Adaptec CD creator works great, BUT at 90% it kills the CD burn everytime!!!
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
easy to use
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Cons:
Review: The software that comes with the unit leaves a lot to be desired. A free download of Real Jukebox expands the versitility of this unit.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great for the Laptop and Low-end Desktop User!!!
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Cons:
Review: If you are a laptop user or someone who has a low-end minitower system (with no open bays), this is definitely the thing for you. I have thoroughly tested it under all three major Windows releases (98, ME, and 2K Pro). Not a single problem at all. I previously had an 8200e but it served me well for over 2 years. Naturally, I was compelled to buy this one due to my pleasant past experience on the 8200e and HP's well known reputation for quality. To reiterate, if you are a laptop user or someone that wants to share their burner between systems, this is the one for you. ~Nick Shady
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Decent drive that performs most tasks completly.
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Cons:
Review: My only downfall with the 8230e is the HP MyCD software. I have had many issues (with the software in general, not just on the 8230) with creating audio cd's from files on your computer. The software tends to use HP CD's only. Other than that. Great performance.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
works good with some laptops
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Cons:
Review: good but does not mention that is worthless to a dell latitude laptop without a usb hub
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
HP Junk
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Cons:
Review: This thing shows up at the device manager as an 8290, not an 8230e. The software sucks. HP Support sucks too.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Piece of horse puckie
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Cons:
Review: You know somethings HP makes are great (printers) and some are just terrible (scanners and now this). Worked fine up until the warrenty ran out. Now it dies at between 44 and 56% on the cd burning. No good answers from support or the troubleshooting. Out $279. It works but only about 300Megs worth.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Good Performance, Very Portable
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Cons:
Review: This is one of the smaller CD-RWs I've encountered and am quite happy with the price to portability ratio. Has never created a single coaster AFTER I upgraded the driver. The default drivers suck... big time.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great Product Worked Right out of Box
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Cons:
Review: The software and hardware installed very easily. Great software included worked the first time and very easy to use
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
owner of 8230e hp-cdwriter
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Cons:
Review: i happen to own the hp-8230e and except for the slow speed it works great. support is fantastic.1 tip you need to go to hp.com and download a driver for this unit
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Try Iomega USB CD-RW instead
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Cons:
Review: The Iomega 4x4x6x USB external CD-RW can be found for a cheaper price, is very reliable, has nice authoring software (thought still occasionally makes coasters--mainly with disk copies) and is quite easy to set up. I got mine @ ubid.com for $129. Not the fastest drive in the world, but great for sporadic use. Not at all sorry...
User Rating:
2.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
This line of burners have a defect!!!
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Cons:
Review: I bought this burner last October, and it worked great for a while. Then I started having tons of problems, so I called HP and the tech support guy told me that all the burners have a defect, and HP doesnt know how to fix it. He said they will work great for a while, then thats it. It only had a one year warranty so I sent it back and Hp refunded my money! Be Careful.
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
I could not get it to work with a week of HP help
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Cons:
Review: I never burned a good CD. I spend about 20 hours with HP help. They finally told me it was problems with my machine. This was after a complete new Win 98 install. I returned the CD-Burner and bought a Mirco Solution, pluged it in and never have had a problem.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Quality Device for the Price
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Cons:
Review: Intially had some problems with the device. However, HP's outstanding customer support aided me in fixing me my problem. Runs like a champ. Software included is great. Now I can burn MP3's into CD audio format and listen to them in my car. Very simplied CD creation software. Recommended for even the novice user. I was very happy to get a CD labeling kit too...something everyone needs.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
If this is anything like the 8210e
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Cons:
Review: I purchased an 8210e version of this burner and had nothing but trouble. After a spindle of coasters and HP support causing my computer to not be able to boot into Windows.. well I took it back and got an internal Iomega... NOT ONE COASTER!! We can see where my allegiances lay now 
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
What a waste of $200.00!
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Cons:
Review: I can not explain how UN happy I have been with this unit. I have wasted so many CD/R's trying to make a simple MP3 disk. I have used HP for years and have never been so sorry I bought one of their products. Support has been NONE. Big mistake on my part!
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
It works for me!
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Cons:
Review: This is a good little unit. The software is easy to use. Sure it's slow, but I wanted portability. I looked at several USB drives here on C-Net, and HP seemed to have the most satisfied customers over all of the others. That's why I picked HP, and I'm not sorry that I did.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great USB CD-RW for Win2k and OS9!
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Cons:
Review: I really like this drive. I bought this drive because it works so well with both Windows 2000 and Mac OS 9. The software included for Windows is really awesome for mp3 encoding and when I use Toast on my Mac, I can do almost anything. I never had any problem with it, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a cheap USB drive.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Had 100% reliability so far.
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Cons:
Review: Haven't used the software that came with this, so I don't know how it compares. Just began using Nero and haven't had any problems. It really is easy to set up and use.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
USB's are almost never any good.
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Cons:
Review: This one is better than the IOMega or the Backpack or the Sony, but USB really isn't the way to guy. Firewire is much better, and USB is the ultimate last resort. Parallel Port really stinks though. Only special software works with it, and many notebooks are either too slow or incompatible.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Reliable, Cheap
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Cons:
Review: Works well attached to a PC running Win 2000 Pro. Successfully burned dozens of CDs using MyCD software (good for beginners) and CloneCD.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
great burner for the price
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Cons:
Review: I bought a 3 months ago and it does a really nice job and comes with plenty of software.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Solid reliable external CD burner!
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Cons:
Review: Pretty impressive. Doesn't make coasters. solid and not bad looking. HP reliability. Don't have anything bad to say!
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
Great value, nice performance
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Cons:
Review: I paid $199 for my HP CDRW, and it's practically paid for itself with all the CD compilations I make. The Neato labeling starter kit is cute. The burning software is pretty minimal (go ahead and get Nero), but the if you're looking for a USB CDRW, HP's is very reliable--the CD to coaster ratio is very low.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 227 user reviews
incompatible with win2k
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Cons:
Review: What a pain in the neck. Everytime I plugged this unit into my USB port and restart my computer, I was stuck with the the nightmare of Blue Screen. If you are running win2k on your system, avoid purchasing this CD writer.
