Hewlett Packard DVD300e 4x2.4x8 External FireWire/USB 2.0 DVD+RW Drive

[Archived in $100 - $200, DVD-ROM Drives, External CD und DVD Drives, External Drives, Products]

Manufacturer: Hewlett Packard
Price at amazon.com: Used & new from $88.43

List price $339.43



Product Features:

• High-speed external USB 2.0/FireWire DVD+RW/CD rewritable drive
• Features 4x write, 2.4x rewrite, and 8x read speeds for DVD; 16x write, 10x rewrite, and 40x read speeds for CD
• 2 MB buffer
• Includes Cyberlink PowerDVD, Veritas RecordNow, and more
• Compatible with Windows 98 SE, 2000, NT 4.0, Me, and XP

Product Description:

Average Customer Rating:

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Comment: The best +R/RW DVD burner Rating:
Buy this burner, it is the best +R/RW burner in my opinion, I researched for over 3 months before decided on this HP DVD300e (external, dvd300i is internal). I bought this ... 1 month ago... Very happy with it since. So far I have not had a coaster. Successfully burned with Memorex, HP, Ritek, Meritline.com own brand, Supermediastore.com own brand +R or +RW discs. I can make backup of my DVD movies &play on my Pioneer 606D &all Apex DVD players. Works with both +R and +RW discs!

Ironically, my very expensive Denon 5000 DVD player does not play the +R/RW backups, yet the cheapest DVD players like Apex have not problem playing them...

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Comment: A good bargain!! Rating:
Bought this as I was low on cash, and I haven't been disappointed since!! Worked like a charm out of the box with the provided USB cable!! But its not without its pros and cons:

CONS: Big and bulky. For those with limited space, you might want to rethink a smaller external model or an internal model. DVD write speed might not seem such a big deal, but waiting half an hour to burn a full DVD at 4X speed is slow... I think 8X drives are already out on the market. Another drawback is that the burning software included is Record Now (not the Max version), which is not really useful. You would have to get a copy of Nero 6 to make full use of this burner.

PROS: Works with almost all media I throw at it!! Plus, the DVD+R discs I have burnt so far work with both a Sony and Shinco DVD Player, my Dell DVD-ROM, and my beloved XBOX (phillips drive). Also, the design of the drive looks kinda cool... several friends have had that "OOOOO" look when they first spot it.

I don't know about the quality of the technical support and warranty, as I have never had a problem with it!!! All I know is that there's a standard warranty for 1 year, but really... for a $200- product it is not really worth the time running around to get it repaired if it breaks down.

All in all... I would recommend it to anyone who is just starting out with DVD burning. There are better drives on the market, but this will suit the beginner and even experts just fine.

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Comment: Do not buy!!!!! Rating:
Please do not buy this item.

I bought one. It is broken right away (after two week; pass the store exchange time). I have called the technique service in India. I spent 2 times 3 hours with them try to figure out what was the problem. Even they figure out the machine is broken; they will not exchange my machine. They said the machine warranty is expired for 1 year warranty. The fact is that my machine is less than one year (made October 2003). I sill have the bad machine and I do not know what to with it. I have to buy another one from other manufactory.

Posted at November 11, 2003 07:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)