Sony Spressa CD-RW (4X/2X/24X)

Pros: Nominally useful.
Cons: Horrible software. Flaky hardware.

Fool me once, the old saying goes, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Sony fooled me twice.

Back at the beginning of my long and illustrious career as an ePinions writer, I wrote a piece about the Sony SPressa USB external CD...

Pros: FAST disk writing, perfectly stable, no coasters, packet writing, 80 minute support
Cons: No overburning

Over three years ago, I bought a Memorex CR-622 2x burner - the first commercially available IDE burner under $300. It worked fine for a while, but then inexplicably starting "coastering" nearly every other disk. I finally had my fill about a...

Pros: Decent Speed, Few Errors
Cons: Frequent Jamming, Many restarts!

I purchased my Sony CDRW Drive because it is an external drive, and because it uses the USB port. Both of these features made it portable, and ideal for use with my laptop. After owning it for about a year...its transportability has been a big plus for...

Pros: The free CD-Stomper
Cons: Flaky hardware, mediocre software, erratic tech support

Problematic from the beginning, I have sent it back to be fixed under warranty twice. The software is functional but not great, and the hardware is flaky. Oh, where do I begin?

The Sony saga

The saga began immediately. I...

Pros: Cheap, stylish, compatible
Cons: Compatible...if the software actually works, hard time getting a decent CD

Let's face it. In today's world, floppy discs are so 90's. I mean, who really has files under 2 megs nowadays? And if you do, why not use an online storage area? It's quick, easy, and more efficient than carrying that plastic square around town.
...

Pros: Good price; well-built hardware
Cons: Inadequate software, no workarounds.

The drive itself is nice and rugged; but the software shipped with it is lousy. My Spressa 100/EX2 came with different (wrong?) drivers (Spressa 120), and poor archiving software (Sony's ExtremeCD) that does not allow a user to make a full backup or to...

Pros: Easy Installation, Good Hardware
Cons: Horrible bundled software

This Sony drive comes with the drive and cables, 1 cdr and 1 cdrw, a coupon for a CD Stomper and the manual.

Installation was fairly simple, even for people who don't know much about computers, the manual explains all that you need. The...

Pros: reliable, fairly good speed for its time
Cons: small buffer (1MB)

I didn't buy my Sony Spressa CRX100E/CH because of the CD Right! software that came with it. I've never used HotBurn which comes with many of the newer Sony CD-RW drives, but I know it can't be much better. The CD Right! software is unintuitive and...

Pros: Fast, Quiet, Good Price
Cons: Installation Software

I purchased my SONY Spressa CD-RW drive about 6 weeks ago, and I've been very happy with it. The installation itself was relatively easy, just plug in power, and the IDE cable. The installation software on the other hand was not very user friendly. It...

Pros: QUALITY and a name you can trust
Cons: IDE drives TAKE UP MORE CPU

I would love to make my own music CDs, movies, copies, and backups. That day has reached this era! The Sony Spressa CD-RW (4X/2X/24X) is user friendly. With programs such as “Easy CD Creator 4.0” (adaptec.com) recording your own CDs is a...

Pros: Good hardware, great speed, easy install
Cons: Can't use virus protection while using the HotBurn software, and if you're not using 16bit color or better, you'll be rebooting.

If you have been following my reviews (and I know some of you have... I check. Thanks!) You will have gathered by now that I do a lot of work with various facets of the computer/internet world.

One of my customers wanted an automatic...

Pros: Inexpensive, practical, simple operation and complete software suite included
Cons: Occasional buffer underrun when copying disk to disk

I purchased this drive by accident. I was bidding on a similar Creative IDE CD RW drive on Ebay and when I won the auction, the seller, a computer store in North Carolina was out of stock. They substituted this drive, new and in factory sealed box....

Pros: reliable hardware, good copies, and FAST!!
Cons: you pay for the SONY name

Thid CD-copier is fast and from my experiences it is reliable. Cd's copy fast it really does copy at 4x. Full CD's seem to be finished in about 15 minutes. This is really quick since most of my friends have a 2x cd recorder which take a little over...

Pros: Good price, reliable
Cons: Not the fastest burner in the land

I burn CDs rather regularly and I need reliability and quality for a good price. I got this because of the economic price and the brandname (you know Sony's good at everything electronic) and was not dissapointed. It works just fine, I have no...

Pros: Reliable copies; GREAT software!
Cons: None

I've used several recordable and re-writable drives over the past few years and Sony's offerings are first rate. I've bought several of these drives in recent months and they've quickly become our corporate standard.

The drive is fast, the...

Pros: None
Cons: It never worked once I kept getting buffer underrun

Maybe I just got a bad drive or something but I put my SPRESSA in and it didn't work at all EVER! Everytime I tried to record something I got a buffer underrun and ruined the CD. I don't know what was wrong with it since everyone else seems to like it...

Pros: The drive is highly effective
Cons: The directions of the software are vague

Being an average computer user, but a music buff, I needed a CD-RW drive that was easy to use and worked with my computer. While the Sony Spressa works wonders on my computer, it did take me some time to figure out the software.

Too often,...

Pros: It worked when I purchased it
Cons: Support blew smoke up my butt.

I bought one of these almost a year ago. At first I was a burning fool. Didn't have hardly an issue. The only complaint I had was the software was limiting. Easy fix for that is to buy better software. I really did like this unit when I started out with...

Pros: economical storage, high speed
Cons: a little expensive

I have recently bought and installed the Sony Spressa Professional 8x4x32 CDRW for a couple of friends of mine. The drive is very easy to install and writes a recordable CD as fast as it says it does, in about 8 minutes. The drive is very easy to install...

Pros: Ok Speed
Cons: Many Problems

I had my Sony Cdrw now for almost 6 months and I know it in and out. I say I must of done by now 200 or so cds, not once was any a cdrw. The speed for data is not bad about 4 or so min to complete. But what gets you is when you try to record a music cd....

Pros: easy to install software, affordable drive, easy to use
Cons: very picky about what it wants to do

In March I recieved a 4X/2X/24X Sony CD-RW Drive to go into the new computer I was building for my birthday. Never got around to building that computer, so I decided to have it installed in my current desktop machine. I had a 333Mzh Emachine.
...

Pros: Good drive
Cons: Terrible software, locks up computer often

I recently purchased a Sony Spressa CDR-W. I really like the drive itself, but the software that came with it is terrible.

Sony's Hot Burn software is the worst piece of software that I have ever used. It runs hot and cold. Sometimes I...

Pros: Great software and the drive itself is allright
Cons: No customer service if it breaks and has a tendency to over buffer

I bought one of these around Christmas time. I used it quite a bit, but it was hardly in use 24/7. After about two weeks of use, It started to over buffer and have errors at the last minute of a burn, therefore ruining a perfectly good CD-R. About two...

Pros: Versatile drive that stands the test of time...
Cons: None.

Sony makes a good CD-R drive. In trying to decide which CD-R drive to purchase, I struggled to find the drive that was right for me. I knew I needed a versatile drive, something that could do audio and data CD’s without a problem. Plus I had to...

Pros: Inexpensive, compact, stylish, comes with a warranty, easy to use, and a great buy,
Cons: None!

I decided to purchase a CD-Burner about four weeks ago and I have had nothing but good things to say about my purchase: the Sony Spressa. I was looking for a way to easily make backup copies of my CD-Roms, and boy did I find a way (not to mention...

Pros: Errors are very repeatable
Cons: Is highly unreliable

I bought a external Spressa CD-RW with USB interface. I didn't know much about CD burners at the time but figured that Sony was a good brand name. I have put up with this piece of junk for over six months. In that time it has been able to burn CD's...

Pros: Fast and Stable
Cons: none.

I recently ordered from Dell Computers Dellware dept. a cdrewriter.They sent the Sony Supressa Professional with an 8X cdr speed,a 4X cdrw speed
and a speed of 32X for cdroms.Install was a breeze.I have found that the way the drive proforms after...

Pros: Fast, Hassle-free, and reliable cd writing and re-writing
Cons: I haven't found one yet!

This drive is excellent!! I had one installed when i bought my new Dell Dimension XPS-T500 and it is one of the best investments in computer hardware I have ever made! At first I was skeptic about buying a Sony drive, but after a few months of use and...

Pros: A well-made product by SONY.
Cons: I haven't experienced anything bad with mine.

With the rise of the internet has come less of a need for being able to copy files to a disc(or removable media) since you can "zap" them to where you need to with email, but if you have a need for transferring larger files or you want to just...

Pros: Price, Dependability, Included Software, Compatibility with other software
Cons: CD-RW difficult

Options \ Features
Sony Spressa CD-RW (8X/4X/32X)


Application
Home Computer Use

Opinion and Experiences
I reluctantly purchased this to replace a CD-RW that I had problems with from the day...

Pros: Easy to use
Cons: Over-burn difficulties

If you are getting a CD-RW for the first time, you are probably like me. You talk to everyone under the sun, and read everything you can get your hands on. I did all that, and purchased this Sony. Boy did I make the right choice. I won't go into all...

Pros: Very compatable, easy to use
Cons: Can't think of any.

I got this as a gift for Christmas last year. I have never had a problem with it. The software included with it is EXTEMELY easy to use. To make an audio CD, you can just drag the icons to the window, and select record. It is that easy! I have made...

Pros: Fast, cheap, flawless
Cons: NONE!

There is nothing much to write in this review. My Sony CRX-100E CD-RW drive just plain worked- and worked and full speed and never had a buffer underrun in close to a year! It came with Adaptec Easy CD Creator 3.5 and I tried out several other programs...

Pros: not sure
Cons: not reliable

I brought the USB Spressa and now I got problems. At first it
worked okay, installation when alright. It was recognized by windows (98 se) and I finally
got the software to work right after getting tech support on the line.
Burned about...

Pros: Burns cd's at a fast rate with qaulity sound.
Cons: You have to have it inserted into your modem.

What is it?
Sony CD-RW Recorder is a cd burner. This burner burns cd's at a fast rate. My old cd burner didn't even work, so my dad got me a new one. This burner is for windows 95/98/Me/2000, Windows NT 4.0, and is very reliable. So far I've burned...

Pros: Cross-platform USB, fast, great customer support
Cons: Not drag and drop, software instructions out of date

I was looking for a CD-RW that would work with USB-equipped Macintoshes and PCs and bought the Sony Spressa because it supports both, is competitively priced, and because Sony generally makes great stuff. I haven't been disappointed. Zip disk and other...