Customer Reviews

Creative Labs PC-DVD Ovation 12X DVD-ROM

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I got this product several months ago because Creative Labs CLAIMED on the BOX that this DVD works on Windows 2000 machines. Turns out they were lying, the only driver available for the DVD was a Beta-tested driver that STILL DID NOT run.

They also said to continually check out their website for driver updates. It's been six months since my purchase and they never came out with a suitable driver for Windows 2000 machines.

Now I'll be giving this DVD player to one of my relatives to run on their older Windows processors while I do some heavy research for a DVD that will actually run on Win2000.

BUYER BEWARE, just because it says Creative Labs doesn't always mean high quality.

I ordered this player for a system I was building on my own. First of all there is no DOS driver support so if you think you might ever have to do a clean install of windows with this drive you better be prepared for a little extra hassle. Driver support period is very weak. As a matter of fact I don't believe they have ever done a driver update as the current one is over 2 years old!
When I bought this drive I was hoping it would be an effective 2 in 1 device. I was expecting DVD playback and CD-ROM play back as well. This isn't the case. Maybe it was when this drive came out but no longer. It reads DVDs fine for the most part, but CDR media and CD-ROMs are hit and miss. I have a hard time with my data discs that I have created and the slightest scratch throws off the read head when playing CD-ROMs. Another thing that causes friction is some of the new anti pirate software that is being burned into a lot of new games. SecuROM namely causes big problems. The Ovation will NOT read it. This is odd seeing as how every other CD-ROM drive I own (and another DVD drive as well) read these titles just fine. I will not hold my breath for a driver or firmware update that will fix this issue.
Overall I give this thing 2 stars 'cause it does read DVDs well and that's what it's supposed to do. Other than that it is not a very good product. Creative should stick to sound cards. My search for a decent DVD-ROM drive continues.

First off let me just say that I purchased this drive when DVD-Roms were very popular and it was uncommon to see a computer come with one stock. Knowing that, it was really a heafty price (about 100 dollars). This product worked great for about two months before it broke; in that it, would not notice any type of cd I put into it. So I thought hummmmm, it must be still under warranty because I bought it only a few months ago. I send it into Creative Labs for repare and I get a call about two weeks later informing me that they want 90 dollars (plus the shipping cost) to repare it and send it back. I was furious, and didnt even bother to return their phone calls. Do not waist your money on this product. It breaks easy and can't even read most video disks that any other DVD player would have no problem with (ie VCD)

This is a really bad DVD drive. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. But most of the time it didn't. While watching DVD's, it paused sporatically for up to 10 seconds. Sometimes it did not even play at all. It was fine with data and music CD's. I was expecting a good drive, keeping in mind Creative Labs' reputation. Boy, was I wrong.

After awhile, it completely broke down on me, not recognizing any media whatsoever in the drive.

Do yourself a favor and go with Sony or Memorex; their drives seem to be alright.

I purchased this DVD player about a year ago, and have never been able to play a DVD (no picture). I can play music CD's just fine, but when playing DVDs, the DVD player spins...and spins...and spins... with no picture. I've tried half a dozen times to resolve this problem through Creative's on-line technical support, and to no avail they have yet to be creative enough to come up with a permanent fix. According to Creative's techs, I need the latest bios updates and chipset patches for it to function properly (which I already have), however they are too myopic to admit that the potential cause for it not working is lack of driver support/updates for Windows 2000, and the possibility that the DVD player is defective. Not to mention, it may take several days for technical support to respond to questions you may have about their products. And when the finally do, they never seem to give you a systematic way of diagnosing and fixing the problem. Extremely disappointed in their lack of support/customer service and poor quality.. And since the product is out of warranty, I am now stuck with an over-rated, poor quality, malfuctioning, [] DVD player that can only be used for playing music CDs. Never assume Creative will resolve your problem in an expeditious, effective manner because you'll end up paying for it; I did! I will never again purchase another product manufactured by Creative..Buyer beware!!! By the way I am still waiting for creative's response to my lastest inquiry...If anyone feels they have the expertise in troubleshooting the lack of picture, please don't hesitate to email me at ysche@aol.com Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Read the other review that said there were no drivers for Windows 2000 and went to Creative site to verify. Indeed there are no Windows 2000 or XP drivers! For shame Creative!

It seems like a lie but until now Creative doesn't have created any equipment support for this model. In Windows 2k as in 98 when I open the tray....it opens but in a few seconds it closes
alone.....incredible. Absurditly it does not even have a pattern of time to close, so you need to pray for, when you put or take the cd.
When I bought it; I put 100 dlls to the trash can.

Read these reviews about not working in Win2000 or WinXP... not sure I understand the problems these people were having... while indeed it does not COME with drivers for anything other than DOS... Windows95, Windows98, WindowsME, Windows2000 and WindowsXP here have all found the drive automatically and use it with no trouble whatsoever.

The only problem I have run into, is certain newer DVDs utilizing the zoning features will play only the sound, no video until you upgrade the player buy purchasing Creative's Dxr3 board.

Not a good buy if you watch tons and tons of DVD movies non-stop... but its perfect for people who maybe watch a couple, but like me, are mostly developers purchasing software on DVD

I have had lots of problems with this thing. It is excellent for DVD and thats about it. About 3/4 the time when you put a cd, or cdr in it it reads it and spits it back at you. You gotta put it back in several times before it finally takes it. I called Creative and they sent me another one. Low and behold it has the same problem. Whats up with that? I dont know what the big stink about 2000 and XP drivers is. The thing works the same way for me in 2000 and 98.

Read the other review that said there were no drivers for Windows 2000 and went to Creative site to verify. Indeed there are no Windows 2000 or XP drivers! For shame Creative!