I was Looking for a Cheap CD-ROM and Found a Quality One.
Written: Jun 24 '02 (Updated Jun 24 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fast, easy to install, cheap.
Cons: Only $50 cheaper than a cheap burner.
The Bottom Line: If you only want a CD reader, this is cheap, but of very good quality.
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| grimjack2's Full Review: Hi-Val 52X IDE CD-ROM Kit |
I was working on a computer system that had been reported to me as smoking and burnt out. It turns out that aside from the power supply, the motherboard, the graphics card, the SCSI card and even the CD-ROM drive had also been destroyed. I won’t even get into what may have caused all that. As I discovered each new damaged piece in turn, I went out to find a cheap replacement since this machine didn’t need to become a newer high end workstation for anyone.
When it came time to replace the CD-ROM drive, I just needed a cheap fast replacement that would read CDs. I knew that CD-RW burners were as low as $99 in some places, but the owner’s of the machine just wanted to get a reader which I thought would probably be around $20-$25 since the burners had come down so much in price.
It turns out I was wrong. The burners have a lot of competition right now, so their price is comparatively lower. Cheap CD-ROMs still cost at least $40. I told the owners this who said just get the CD-ROM for now. At my local CompUSA, I found the Hi-Val 52 speed for only $40, which made it the lowest one in the store. A number of drives that looked packaged in higher quality cost $50.
Considering I'm someone who prefers to spend a little extra for something high end like a Plextor, and even has two SCSI CD-ROM drives at home, this isn't too disappointing as a quick and easy replacement drive. It is fast, and didn’t give me any problems with one thin magazine CD that I’ve often used as a test for a CD-ROM’s ability to handle difficult error ridden CDs. It installed easy, and the jumpers were all easy to get at on the back.
This was the EIDE version. The jumpers all came set as a default of Slave. I guess this is standard, but I’ve been seeing most new CD-ROMs consistently installed as the Master on the second IDE channel. It was no problem changing this around before installation.
However, the package did come with an IDE cable with no secondary connector. This means it should have come set as master since most people will simply try to install it as the master on the secondary IDE port.
The package also came with a connector for between the CD-ROM drive and a sound card, and a floppy disk with utilities. These included DOS drivers, and a CD Xpress setup for Win95/98. Win98 wouldn't detect it at first, but this could be because I was using a hard disk with Win98 already installed in a new system being built, and there are all sorts of hardware that it couldn't recognize. Once I reinstalled Win98 in order to properly detect all the new hardware it saw the CD-ROM almost instantly.
This supposedly cheap drive comes with great documentation. It has a fairly good Installation and User Guide. Most high-end CD-ROM drives don't have sections in their manuals answering "What is CD-ROM" and "What is IDE / EIDE?". Until I read through this guide, I had not known that Compaq invented IDE in 1986. It doesn't just tell you how to install the drivers; It also explains what the drivers are and how they work.
All the diagrams are large and well documented. The documents are surprisingly clear in terms of how to plug in the power and IDE connectors.
It also has a fairly good troubleshooting section, but most of the suggestions are common knowledge. The glossary is rather complete. I was surprised that it didn't have an index, even though it is only 30 pages long.
All in all, I have no problem at all recommending this drive, which surprises me considering what a CD-ROM snob I’ve been in the past with my SCSI Plextors.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
grimjack2
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Location: San Rafael, CA, Marin County
Reviews written: 181
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About Me:
Film is my favorite art form. I live a life of constant amelioration.
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