HP CD-Writer Plus - 9150i - Not a Coaster with this Toaster! Updated 7/30/01
Written: Dec 26 '00 (Updated Jul 30 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: EASY TO INSTALL. NOT A COASTER (YET)
Cons: UGLY GRAY COLOR. SOFTWARE BUNDLED IS OF DUBIOUS VALUE.
The Bottom Line: I have burned one coaster so far and that was a media error, not a fault of the burner. BUY IT!
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| DukeSunflow's Full Review: Hewlett Packard CD-Writer 9100i CD-RW Burner |
I have a library of over 1000 CD titles. Having spent my college years around 8 BN (Before Napster) I got my music the old-fashioned way, I earned it.
Unfortunately, as I've amassed this library, I've learned several times over a hard and fast lesson about CDs, THEY AIN'T INDESTRUCTIBLE. After years of pulling CDs out of cases blindly and putting them in my floor mounted CD player, I've developed scratches here and there that have made me want one thing more than anything else.....
A CD BURNER.
So, like many a wise person, I turned to Epinions to find a good inexpensive burner.
The HP 9510 was purchased this morning from Circuit City (which is a whole 'nuther story). I was going to go with an external given my inate ability to destroy electronic equipment. I figured I'd wind up wiring the CD Writer to my modem and suddenly start flinging CDs around the room. But, I was told it was easy to install.
INSTALLATION
This puppy is pretty simple if you a) read your owners manual for your computer, b) read the instruction poster included with the 9150, and c) forget about all of them and find some cables inside your computer that appear to match. Total installation time was about 30 minutes. 10 of those were trying to figure out what Dell was trying to tell me about moving my drive bay. Another 10 was trying to manuver in the incredibly tight space inside my Dell Dimension computer. The next 10 were spent plugging it up and patting myself on the back for how smart I felt when I finally figured it out. In short, it's simple! Don't fear.
BURNIN' THE CDS - SOFTWARE AND OPERATION
HP includes HP's CD Writer, a bare bones program that takes you step by step, wizard style, through making a CD from a single CD, multiple CDs, or MP3 files.
My first choice was MP3 files. I compiled a dozen or so of these files (and just so the record companies don't have a cow, all of these files are ones I had on cassette or vinyl or that I cannot find on CD at this time.... Seriously..... On my dead first pet's grave!) I pulled the files from my hard drive (a rather arduous task, given the fact that I have a lot of uncompleted downloads I forgot to delete). Followed the wizard, and about 12 minutes later (for a 74 minute disk, about 6x write speed) I had a.........
WORKING DISK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So far I've made three disks, two from CD sources and one from MP3 files. All three have worked well on all players I've tested them on.
The software suits my needs well. I'm sure there are programs that are a little quicker (and perhaps more suited to the advanced user), but the bundled CD Writer program makes creating a disk relatively painless.
OVERALL
I'm quite pleased with the HP 9150i. Its low price (about $150 after rebate) and its ability to work correctly for me after simple installation are great plusses in my book. I'm sure there are others that are much better for advanced CD burnmeisters, but for my purposes, it has been a wonderful product. I'll keep you posted as I make more disks to see if I encounter any problems.
Update 12/29/00
Here it is a few days later. Two dozen discs later and not a single coaster created!
Update 7/31/01
I've burned exactly one coaster to date (out of close to 200 discs burned) and that had more to do with a bad CD-R that I ejected early (it was making an odd noise as though it was out of balance).
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
DukeSunflow
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Location: Louisville, KY
Reviews written: 314
Trusted by: 39 members
About Me:
I love writing, music, games, mysteries, my wife and my daughter!
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