HP DVD-Writer DVD100i drive

Summary: I wouldn't recommend this even if HP were giving it away for free. I installed it on two different machines trying to get it to work and it never did. Both machines were running PIII or better with 256mb RAM; one with Win98SE and the other with WinXP. Both installs were able to read data and audio CDs. But I couldn't get them to record CDs in any format, and forget about recording DVDs. I couldn't even get the thing to run a movie DVD. When trying to record CDs/DVDs I kept getting error messages saying bad or corrupt sectors were found on the disks -- even though the disks were brand new, right out of the packaging box. When trying to play DVDs, I kept getting a message indicating no disk was present in the drive. After hours of experimenting and calling into HP's support line, which was totally useless, I gave up. As best as I could tell, the software that they bundle with the device is 2nd rate from obscure 3rd parties -- very cheesy and looks like a lot of thought was not put into the code. I bought the device on advice from an acquaintance -- the price was irresistable -- who had an identical unit and the only way he got his to work was to purchase different 3rd party software. I wasn't about to fork over more money so I gave up. This definitely proves the old adage -- you get what you pay for.