Customer Reviews

Hewlett Packard CD-Writer C4504A 8220e 4x4x6 External USB Kit

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

Though the 8220e External USB is not a very fast writer compared to famous yamaha etc but one thing is very nice that it is really a true portable USB Writer .I can use it in my office in any computer as I can plug it externally . So you dont have to face difficulty to install SCSI( SCSI installation is a nightmare ) or a IDE writer . Just plug it in the USB port and the WIN 98 ( Alert it does not support WIN 95 or NT ) do the rest . I really recommend it for people who dont like the installation hassle rather like a simple portable drive. I bought it for SONY VAIO PCG-F801 Laptop ( WIN-98 ) and it worked fine . I am happy with its performance . Only negative point I found is that it does not support WIN95 or WIN NT or Mac . I have a iMac but I cant use it . I think HP should come out with a Mac driver . So buy it if you have a USB PORT + WIN-98 and if you like a true portable drive .

After reading the mixed reviews on the HP CD Writer 8220e, I decided to try it. I did not plan on using this machine a whole lot, just to burn a few CDs every now and then, so I wasn't looking for anything top of the line. And this CD Writer is definitely not that.

I was able to burn a couple data CDs successfully but when I tried to burn a music CD, I kept getting an error after the process finished, telling me the CD couldn't be written for some odd reason. I tried a CD from a different manufacturer - same result. Not only did it not work, that CD could not be used again. After wasting 5 CDs, I finally figured out that the problem is with the HP MyCD software. After adding the files to your layout, the software will tell you that you have extra time left, but then the CD-R will run out of space (without telling you). At this point, the software doesn't know what to do, so it ejects your CD, and you can't use it again. Not only that, there is no way to save your layout, so you have to design it all over again.

The best thing to do is leave at least 3 minutes of time available after adding files to your layout. Once I did this, the problem was resolved. Or you could spend $90 and get the Adaptec Easy CD Creator software, which is much more user-friendly and has fewer bugs.

i purchased this product to work with my dell latitude laptop which has windows 2000 loaded on it. i could not get the unit installed correctly - it just didn't work. finally after a half a day talking with hp customer service, i was informed that there was a compatibility problem with this unit and windows 2000. they are writing a fix for it, which should be done in 2 months.

they also said that there was a compatibility issue with dell latitude laptops.

i guess this was not my lucky day for buying. returned the hp and am buying another brand.

If your looking for a good reliable CDRW, look else where. Installation was simple, the software interface was simple, but performance is absolutely horrible. Even at the slowest writing speed 1X, this CDRW failed to write a CD without an underrun error or giving me an error message stating a dirty disc when the discs that I was using were sealed and from HP. My end result, 7 HP coasters and 1 successful burn. 1 out of 7 succeeded and that is unacceptable for any burner. Concerning the 8220's re-write ability, everytime I attempeted to re-write the disc, it errored resulting in not one sussessful re-write.I contacted CS to no avail. I tried a new driver, no improvement. There was nothing else running, only the CDRW. I installed it on another computer and again the same result, adding two new coasters to my collection. I ended up returning it extremely frustrated. You also might want to stay away from the HP 8230 since they are virtually identical excluding the upgraded software. My advice go with an internal and buy a 12x/10x/36x CDRW from TDK or Plextor (they share most of their parts and both have BURN-PROOF technology). I purchased the TDK VeloCD for . . . Since I purchased my TDK VeloCD I have been 30 for 30 writing at 12X and all recordingshave been bit for bit perfect. Good Luck if you still buy the HP, your going to need it.

I got this 8200e two week ago. last weekend I was trying to install it onto my Dell Dimension desktop and hoping to duplicate a few data CDs. Installation was fast and simple. Then I followed every step in their on-line help menu to ensure my system is ready before the burning action. ( mine is a PII , with 128M RAM, and 4G free disk space ). In order to make the system stable, I shut down every possible program even including the Anti-virus real time monitor. and set the write speed to only 2x. Then the angry part starts. Everytime, in the middle of the burning ( writting ), the HP myCD software pops "error writting, change a new CD-R and try again ". I tried 4 CD-R , even including the HP one that included in the package, never able to complete once. There is not so much information provided, so I still can not trace down the problem. 4 CD-R gone, ( 3 SONY, 1 HP), and now still no clue about what is going on.

I have another comment, which is about the software packages included.and the way this 8200e package is designed.HP pre-bundled 3 software, with each has some duplicated functions, and from different vendors. that is making a consumer's life very difficult. people buy this for burning CD, why making life so difficult? Obviously, the mentality is "we are hardware company, those just for your try, if the machine can function, the rest is not our problem."

However, the key point of a CD writer is to copy and write CD. Being an once-a-time HP employee, I really feel so bad about the way now they design product. NO HEART. So obvious they never bother to think from a customer's view point. Just because a lot of vendor have it, so HP also can package something ( this is not manufactured by HP at all ), label it and make some revenue out of it. NO HEART.

because it wasted 4 CD-R, and still can not function, and the software that supposed to make it function is so confusing, I gave it the lowest score. the worse thing is, HP products are usually more expensive then other OEM brands. But in this case, the extra quality is totally not there. The product is designed without heart and commitment to customer. You will definately be disappointed. I must say, keep away from HP brand, they are no longer what the two letter meant for.

I bought this burner back at Christmas time, and over the first few months I really enjoyed it and had no problems with it. I was up and running in less than 30 minutes!! But over time, for some reason it stop writing cds..I have tried all kinds of cds to use...and the strangest part of it is that I will burn 2 cds and then when I go to burn the 3rd one for some reason it comes up with a troubleshoot message saying "cannot write to high speed disc" but yet it did minutes earlier!! It plays music just fine through my cd player on my computer, for I have an HP Pavilion 6623 with Windows 98. I don't know what happened to it, but I've even cleaned the player and tried burning another cd and it still doesn't work. The other thing I hate about it is that it won't burn from wav format like most cd burners do..so I have decided to buy another burner. I would give this a 2 star but its not something I would reccommend to my friends.

As usual, I was impressed with HP's hardware out of the box. But again as usual, the drivers/support software didn't work as advertised. I'm using a Dell Inspiron 7500 laptop running Windows 2000. Nothing unusual about the configuration.

Everything installed fine, but when I tried to read a cdrom from my internal dvd drive to copy to the cd-writer, the dvd drive locked and could only be reset by rebooting the computer.

Then I tried another shareware cd copy program and everything worked flawlessly.

I also have two other HP products that have similar problems: First, a DeskJet 952C. The printer is great, but the driver software installed with half the configuration tabs in French, and half in English. Downloading a later version from the HP web site corrected the problem.

And an HP Colorado 20gb Travan parallel port tape backup. It seems to backup and restore with no problem, but it doesn't! I found out the hard way. And HP's technical support is clueless. They insist that their original first release, version 9.0, doesn't have any problems, but they'll soon release a new version.

So if you buy this product and have a problem, you should try another copy program. Good luck!

I use this CD burner extensively to make data CDs as well as music CDs from mp3 files. It is relatively fast, very stable and very accurate.

I run the drive with a Compaq Prosignia 150 running MS Windows 2000. There was a driver problem with the drivers supplied on the enclosed CDs, but a quick call to technical support pointed me to updated drivers. I've since rebuilt my machine and installed with the updated drivers... up and running in about 3 minutes with reboot.

The drive is instantly recognized by my machine and the included software is easy to use and versatile enough for most situations. I've burned about 60 CDs in less than a month and only had one CD have a problem due to a momentary power loss.

Great product, great service and lots of fun!

I originally bought the HP 9350i CD-RW, and it wouldn't fit. So I returned it and purchased the 8220e about three weeks ago, and I have used it several times. I had it unpacked, the software installed, and burning my first CD within 30 minutes. I am running an IBM Aptiva, Windows 98, 96mb RAM, AMD 400mhz, with a DVD player. Now the software that is included is really user friendly, but not much info or instructions with it. I had no problem installing it. The only problem I've incountered, is that my DVD won't work if the CD-RW is connected to the computer. This could be a software glitch, I don't know. So far I am pleased with the performance, it's a little slow, but I am just doing some music CD's and hard drive backup. A nice product for a novice burner.

It is a really good portable plug and play USB CD-Writer. I used it at home with windows 98 and also with my IBM thinkpad(win2000pro). Both of the systems works very simple and very well. But the software cd1 is not very good. I recommand people who buy the is cd writer not install automatic from autorun. Since adaptec direct cd driver may conflict with standard cd-rom driver in win2000pro. Just run e:\english\hpmycd\hpmycd\setup.exe, HP MyCD program is simple to use and writing my cd without problem. Version 2.5 is recommanded from [hp] since it support rename CD label. If you already install from autorun and have problem with standard CD-ROM, you can remove the adaptec driver from windows media player 7. Add/Remove program->choose windows media player 7->check allow removal of shared component->check adaptec direct cd driver. Then you are ready to burn your CD!