Customer Reviews

Hewlett Packard DVD200i 2.4x2.4x8 Internal IDE DVD+RW Drive

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

 

 

I have always trusted HP when it came to add-ons for my computer, having had good experience with their CD-Writer Plus 8200i and Scanjet 3200c. This drive came on the market just as I was looking for a DVD Burner to use with my Canon Digital Camcorder. Based on the DVD+RW technology, this drive was a deal I could not resist. This latest model from HP which allows recording to both DVD+R and DVD+RW, was an improvement over their previous model DVD100i, which only allowed recording to DVD+RW media. I had a chance to install this model on a friend's computer and it worked beautifully. One of the fastest DVD burning speed on the market - 2.4x....Also records to CD-R/RW. This made me decide to order one for myself. ... Plugged it into the system and Windows recognised it without a hitch. Comes bundled with the great, easy to use software. Transferred video from my camcorder and in no time I had my first home made DVD of my newborn son for Mom. It played without a hitch in her home DVD player. Although DVD+RW technology is in competition with older more established DVD-R/RW, more manufacturers are making drives in this format. Great deal and price. ... Definite MUST buy if u are looking for a good burner.

As with any piece of hardware, using the proper software is most important. This is especially true for burning CDs and DVDs. Here are some comments on my experience with the hp dvd200 and the software that comes with it. I use the hp dvd200e, the external version of the drive and Windows ME on a 1ghz Pentium 3 with 128mb RAM.

The drive ships with hp RecordNow burning software, a scaled down version of Stomp's RecordNow Max. When I initially used the HP version of RecordNow, I encountered errors burning files onto DVD+R's, a very frustrating experience given the cost of blank DVDs. I experienced only a 30-50% success rate. Then I downloaded and purchased Stomp's full version of RecordNow Max 4.5 and all problems were solved. Now I have a 100% success rate, without any problems whatsoever.

So my advice is to get the full version of RecordNow Max. This is not unusual -- rarely do you want to use the scaled down versions of software that always ship with hardware. Stomp allows you to download a free 30-day evaluation copy of RecordNow Max 4.5 so you can try before you buy and make sure you really need it. Maybe the hp version of RecordNow max will work fine for you.

The hp DLA software that ships with the drive works great. DLA is what you use to save files directly onto a DVD+RW as if saving files directly to a hard drive. It operates invisibly, allowing you to either drag and drop files onto the DVD+RW or use Windows Explorer's "Send To" menu option to send files to the DVD+RW.

The software that ships with the drive for watching DVDs on the computer (PowerDVD) works great.

I use Nero Burning Rom to burn CDs and have a 100% success rate. The drive supports overburning so you can burn 85 minutes of music onto an 80 minute CD-R (maybe more, but I stop at 85 minutes). The hp dvd200 burns CD-Rs better and faster than my Sony CD-RW drive. I've abandoned my CD-RW and use the HP dvd200 exclusively now. Stomp's full version of RecordNow also works great for burning audio CDs, so if you do not already own and use Nero or another burning program you will be in good shape.

I use Adobe Premier and Pinnicle Studio for video editing. I never even bothered to try the video editing software that ships with the hp drive.

Make sure you upgrade the firmware on the hp dvd200, which is simply a software download from the hp website. Not a problem.

Blank DVDs are expensive. Google search for multi-packs of 10, 25, or 50 DVDs to get a reasonable price. I find that Ritek DVDs work best with the HP drive.

I had none of the problems with installation or compatability that others here have reported. Just follow the directions on setting up the drive and the software, all of which are very simple. HP has good technical support if you have any problems.

Before getting the HP drive, I tried the Que dvd burner. I found the HP drive to be superior.

I hope this helps.

I purchased the DVD200i after 6 months of research. The major factor for deciding on the +R/RW format was that it offered both quality data storage while providing a great DVD-Video solution. The 2.4x speed doesn't hurt either. The format wars don't seem to be an issue as both + and - fill a niche. Additionally, my DVD+R played in 9/10 DVD players and 8/10 DVD-ROM drives tested.

Reading the other reviews, I have to agree in that I was under-whelmed by the provided software. MyDVD is not great, and DLA does have compatibility issues with other CDR software. I chose not to use MyDVD, choosing instead Ulead DVD Workshop 1.2 (a very good product). Since I don't want to use DLA, I use NERO as the DVDR/CDR recording application.

I also upgraded the firmware to the latest edition (1.27) which helped a lot. There were some problems reading discs under Windows XP Pro, but the firmware solved them.

I am anxious to see the new Sony DRU500A, -RW and +RW combo drive. But, I will wait for the bug report and 4x media to come out first...

The 200i has successfully written several DVDs without a single failure. A lot has changed since the early CD-R.

On the other hand, the bundled software has gone the other direction. I was already using Pinnacle Studio and MGI Videowave to create movies, producing AVI files for DV tapes and MPEG 2 files to place on DVDs when I finally purchased a writer. Immediately after the installation of MyDVD (bundled with HP DVD200i), ALL of my software packages apparently forgot how to produce MPEG 2 files that any other package could read. HP's tech. assistance primarily consisted of deinstalling and reinstalling several packages in different orders. Clearly there is some sort of codex problem. Many hours of my time later, I was told, it wasn't HP's problem. I could have purchased a bare drive for about $100 less than the bundled drive, but I wanted to have MyDVD. That was a mistake and I asked HP make good on this situation. They declined to make any effort what-so-ever.

To make a long story short. I pulled the HP software from my system and placed it in the circular file. I am out about $100 for that software. I will now try to find a product that WORKS! Perhaps the new version of Studio. It probably does a better job anyway. From my limited experience, MyDVD seems about as bare bones as possible.

If you use EasyCD Creator expect similar conflicts with HP DLA. I had to remove that software to get HP DLA to even install.

Bottom Line: HP may make a good drive, but paying extra for bundled software was a mistake. This experience with tech support at the "new HP" was disappointing. Other manufacturers are releasing drives soon. Waiting for them may be the best advice.

This drive came installed in my new HP Pavilion PC. I picked up some HP DVD+RW disks and was able to burn disks and watch the video I created on a Sony DVD player without any problem. For cost reasons I picked up some HP DVD+R disks and tried to burn those. I now have $25 worth of useless DVD+R disks.

I used the software that came pre-installed on the PC and other programs for burning DVDs. None worked with the DVD+R disks. I then upgraded the firmware from HP's support site, but still doesn't work. I sent an email to HP support and they responded with a suggestion to change the memory access from DMA to PIO. Nope. So right now I can burn DVD+RW disks but not the less expensive DVD+R (DVD+R are also supposed to be compatible with a wider range of DVD players than DVD+RW).

I also purchased other software to use instead of the MyDVD program - Pinnacle Express. MyDVD is too basic and video quality is so-so.

I had lots of problems with the software, which really [disappoints].

The packet writer is called "DLA", or Drive Letter Access. It makes the DVD+RW drive behave like a disk drive. You just drag-n-drop files onto an open explorer window and it writes them to the DVD+RW disc, albeit a little slower than a hard disk drive.

This feature is very nice, and it is one of the things which made me purchase the drive, however...

These comments apply to Windows 2000 Professional. Don't know how other windows versions will behave.

1. DLA is incompatible with McAfee VirusScan (version 4.5.1, the corporate version). I spent hours on the phone with HP, but they wouldn't escalate the issue and issue a patch. The support people just had no power to help me. I ended up switching to Norton AntiVirus, and DLA works fine.

2. The firmware update program completely locked up Windows 2000. I had to hit the reset button, and Windows 2000 then was not bootable. 4 days later, and a million and one reboots later, after installing Windows 2000 and all my software, I was back where I started, with the same firmware. I ended up installing a temporary copy of Windows 2000 onto another disk and running the firmware program there, and it finally worked.

3. The DVD-Video authoring software is completely lacking. It couldn't capture from my DV device (a Canon video camera). Crashed the program everytime. Basically, after about 40 hours of playing with it, I gave up. This included using other capture programs, to get the raw data, and trying to author discs...

...

All in all it's been a horrible experience. If it didn't take me more than 30 days to decide I didn't want the drive, I would have returned it!

well this item work perfect as long as you don't install the HP software, it really stinks. I can burn a DVD+R in 26-28 minutes.
I had tried these brand names with the +R and +RW's I have burned and they played back perfect in these DVD players by Sony, Toshiba, Daewoo, Sampo, Sharp, Apex and Philips.
programs that would not work in the Sony 500a and Pioneer A105 like DVDxCOPY work perfect with this HP. the blanks are the same price of slightly above the -R's in price, but thats at least they all work tried these brands and worked without a problem, Ritek, Imation, Philips and memorix. I would highly recommend this trouble free burner.

This is great and well worth the money. The install is so easy even I did it the first time and it is foolproof.
This thing is fast for regular C.D's and fast for DVD's.
the only problem, which is easy to fix is the software with the dvd auth. My dvd. Don't bother instlling it it will not work.
I went to ulead web site and there software worked fine. video studio 6.0 is the best. you get a free 30 day trail and then 99.99 but it is needed to author dvd's. Overall a great product with the one software flaw. I called Hp and they already knew, why use that sofware if you already know?
anyway would have received 5 stars if you did not have to pay extra 99.99 for software.
Hope this helped and God Loves you!

I LOVE THIS DRIVE!

i bought this drive about a month ago and have not had any (knock on wood) problems with it yet. I have not burned a coaster, it has worked flawless in both Windows 98, Windows 2000 pro and Windows XP Pro (i triple boot, ya never know). I updated the firmware no problem using windows 2000 (i installed the HP software on 2000, and use Neroburn on XP).

if your getting a drive like this (any dvd burner) either you are a movie maker/taker or a movie backerupper (making copies of your already owned dvd movies).

I am the latter and it works great. you just need to know what your doing and you'll be ifo editing, vob ripping and gobs more..

I have had no lockup errors. The only problem i had right away was playing somewhat scratched movies but the firmware update fixed that.
Here is my system (for stability reference):
Athlon XP 2000+ CPU
ECS K7S5A Motherboard
100 Gig WD 7200RPM Harddrive(this really helps for movie backing-up, remember to use NTFS (FAT32 won't let you write files over 4gigs)
20 Gig WD 7200RPM Harddrive
256 PC2100 DDR-SDRAM
Geforce 2 MX200
Mad cooling!

To conclude:
great drive, kind of spendy but hey dvd burners were over [money]two years ago. media is still a little spendy (about [money-money]per disc). doing what you want to do is a little higher learning curve, but worth it.
peace
seaomnkey420
'knowledge is power, spread the power'

Nice DVD Burner, good price, expect to waste a lot of time installing it. I previously had an HP CD Burner in my 800 Mhz box with 256k of RAM,, very clean install - install package choked because I had a previous CD Burner and the install package found it and refused to install the new DVD burner Software (HP Record Now) because it detected the prior installation and tried to remove it (too bad, long since deleted and uninstalled, however it appears the install has detected something in the registry which tells it to find the prior install log and uninstall the prior installation - too bad not there, installation is crippled and can't complete (what a bone-headed piece of softtware, who writes this stuff?)

Another 6 hours wasted because big HP Software Company can't get more intelligent coders and testers. :-{

RLP