Hewlett Packard C4493A CD-Writer Plus 9310i

by HP

Product Details

Product Manual [359kb PDF]

• Item Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004SDFJ
• Item model number: C4493A
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1999

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

With up to 32x read speeds, 10x write, and 4x rewrite speeds, making CDs with the HP C4493A CD-Writer is incredibly fast and easy. As with all HP CD- Writers, the CD can then be shared with over a billion CD and DVD players worldwide using CD-R media. And it features all the quality and durability we've come to expect from CDs.

The Hewlett-Packard C4493A CD-Writer Plus 9310i not only allows for quick and easy data storage but comes with an extensive CD-ROM software package that lets you back up and restore your system and individual files, compose original music, make CD labels and stationery, organize your office, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Product  With a Few Minor Drawbacks, August 27, 2000

By 

"smashcasi" (Garland, NE USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hewlett Packard C4493A CD-Writer Plus 9310i (Personal Computers)

Installation of this drive was quick and painless, which every step well-documented and all of the components you need available right in the box. The software installation presented no problems either, so I had everything set up and running in under half an hour.

After two weeks of experimenting with the drive, I have been very impressed with both performance and reliability. Some users have reported problems with writing at 10x speed and receiving constant "buffer underrun" errors, but I have not experienced either of these issues. Data, audio, and video CDs have all been created without any flaws, and I have found nothing whatsoever to complain about in terms of the drive's writing ability.

The software set which ships with the drive is exceptional, but I was disappointed to find that version 3.02 of Adaptec Easy CD Creator was bundled as opposed to the more feature-rich version 4.x. This isn't a major gripe, but audio enthusiasts will likely appreciate the automatic conversion of .mp3 files in the newer version. An upgrade is available ... but having the 4.x version right in the box would have been appreciated.

Another caution to music lovers is the fact that this drive does not support CD-Text, which means that you won't be able to store the artist and title information for each track on your CD-Rs. Again, this is a minor complaint, but most newer CD players support CD-Text, and those who are looking at purchasing this drive primarily for audio uses may find the lack of support to be a drawback.

So overall, if you're in search of a reliable all-purpose CD-R/RW drive, I would highly recommend the 9310i, but if you're primarily interested in creating your own music CDs, you may want to look elsewhere.

69 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great drive for the money, August 19, 2000

By 

Derek G (North of Cyrodiil) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Hewlett Packard C4493A CD-Writer Plus 9310i (Personal Computers)

Got burned buying the first 2x HP writer back when this was relatively new technology. It made more coasters than CD's. This one, I'm happy to say, makes up for the former. Yes, it makes CD's and fast too! I don't think people will be able to tell the difference between 10 or 20x. It almost takes longer to start the burning process than the actual burning.

The feature that sets this apart most, however, is their Simple Backup program. As an Easy CD Creator user, I've been increasingly frustrated that they continue to ignore the obvious need to back up a hard drive. HP's program solves that problem quickly and efficiently with their program, it even spans across multiple CD's for you packrats.

I ran into a slight problem originally installing their software (common for Microsoft plug and PRAY users). Popped off a note to tech support and got a response in a week. Not fabulous response time, but probably as good or better as any other company. All I needed to do was a clean boot to get rid of all the additional junk loading up at startup. Solved the problem.

Only negative - they include an old 3.0 version of Easy CD Creator. If you have 4.0 you can uninstall theirs and install 4.0 into the same directory and it will work seamlessly with their other programs.

One thing to check out before buying is the new "burn-proof" technology or something similarly named that Sanyo has developed and is starting to appear in Plextor CD writers as of the time of this review. So far the reviews have been really positive and you may want to spend the extra cash for the technology. Otherwise this is the best writer at this price level (I paid 30% more just two months ago - man I hate that!)

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Buffer Underrun's and more!, June 22, 2000

By 

"laguna1" (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hewlett Packard C4493A CD-Writer Plus 9310i (Personal Computers)

I replaced a Memorex CRW1622 with the 9310i and immediately had problems. Trying to write at 10x produced constant buffer underruns. I have a new system 500 mhz, 128 memory, 15g hard disk (defragged weekly) and cannot get this to write at 10x, the best I can get is 8x. H.P. has many recommendations as does Adaptec for this problem but none work. Also, The Adaptec 3.5 software included does not allow mp3 to audio disk creation, requires you to convert to a Wav file. If you go to the h.p. site though and look at software for this drive, you can order the new Adaptec 4.x for $9.95 (H.P. part # C4492-60026) which will do mp3 to audio.

Tech Support and software order lines are not toll free.

Loading drawer is cumbersome, the disk doesn't "fall into place" easily, you have to make sure it is centered before closing the drawer or you hear a crunch and have to reposition it.

This is a good drive, but certainly not the quality I expected.