Customer Reviews

Iomega External USB 2.0 52x24x52 CD-RW Drive

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Simply pathetic, I think Iomega should withdraw this product instead of fooling people. I doubt they have even tested this product before rollout. I have been struggling with it for the last 3 days and haven't been able to burn even a single CD. I have wasted 11 CD's since then. The software's first installation made my laptop unuseable (I had to revert to last known good configuration), Deleted registry entry and uninstall software. Calling Support was very expensive (They think customers are stupid - Gave a tollfree number and then gave a long distance number - On calling the long distance number instead of connecting directly, they gave the Voice options (How unfriendly). I then downloaded the software again from their website (Think about my patience) and since then all the CD's i burn (All kinds - Music, Data , copy) have found their permanent residence in the waste basket...! If Iomega has even little bit of concern for loosing their customer ..look up at your Customer care ref # 1877823 and call me if they don't want the product back to the retailer. I am downloading another burning software (nero) and if it does not work well, i am sending it back packing....

I was extremely disappointed in this product. While the installation was quick and painless, using it was another story. It was extremely slow & unreliable..(would get halfway through burning a cd and then it would crash). It caused the rest of my system to run slowly and freeze. Clearly, not a good match for me. And i accept that. But the WORST part of all is that Iomega does not provide a toll-free technical help phone number. Let me re-phrase, they DO list a toll-free number in the manual, but once you call and navigate your way through the 10 min directory, you are instructed that the number has changed and are given a new number for which long distance charges apply. After calling the "new" number, you are again instructed that THIS number has changed and are given another LONG DISTANCE number to call...this went on for three separate phone calls! In the end, I wound up having to chat online with a tech help person and after the frustration of that...I gave up and returned the product. IOMEGA should be ashamed of themselves for such lack of consideration and availability to their customers. I, for one, will not purchase another product from them again.

I bought this to replace an older Zip 650 that went bad. I was hesitant to buy another Iomega but the previous one was easy to set up and worked fine for a year and a half. It was a bad decision. The HotBurn software included is slow and unreliable (this drive doesn't support Toast). Half the time the disc just spins or if it does burn ends up unreadable. I managed to burn one cd successfully, an audio cd with just 4 tracks. It took 3 times as long as my old drive using Toast.
Skip this drive and look elsewhere.

This iomega CD-RW burner was a complete dud and waste of my time! The first one I purchased could not be recognized by my iMac, despite the fact I had all of the necessary system requirements. I returned it for another, same model. Although the second one was recognized by my computer, it still took days before I could get anything working. I contacted iomega support 4 times, and each time I was told to change something different with the set-up. Each time I did, it either created more problems or simply didn't address the problem at hand. I finally gave up and returned it to the store I purchased it. The man at the return counter said that several people with Macs have had similar problems. After doing A LOT of research before purchasing my next burner, I found out about LaCie d2. I purchased it today, and from the reviews of friends of mine with iMacs who own burners, the LaCie d2 is a MUCH better product all around compared to this dud by iomega.

Using a P4 1.6Ghz IBM T-30 laptop running WinXP with USB1.1, it takes about 19 minutes to burn a 700MB CD. Overall I think this is a pretty reliable product as the actual burning process is very smooth. I haven't run into any errors (will keep my fingers crossed). However, I found the Iomega HotBurn software to be extremely user-unfriendly, before you get to the point when it starts burning:
1. After double-clicking the launch the application, it takes about 5 minutes for the logo page to disappear and find the burner.
2. Moving around in the software across difference tabs and functions constantly causes the screen to freeze or become "Not Responding", although hitting CTRL+Break will clear the dead actions right there. It's extremely annoying and may crash your confidence on the product.
3. Neither the advanced mode nor the easy/wizard mode are designed for the easiest navigation for the user. Steps are not streamlined and you always think there could be something missing when you hit the Start button. So far I still haven't found the way to "close the disc", always just waiting for it to prompt me.
4. I also didn't like the way that detailed User Guide (I haven't read it) is only available on CD, while the quick installation guide is extremely simple. I always think it's up to the user to decide how much to read before he starts but the manufacturer should always provide easy/graphic instructions with as much details as possible.

However, I must say I'm very satisfied w/ success rate of the CDs burned once it gets into real action. When I was using Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5 and MicroSolutions older Parallel burners, I wasted 1 CD-R for almost every 3-4 CDs I was trying to burn - that is with testing before burning. I haven't done any testing until now on HotBurn.

Being in the software testing/implementation business myself, I think I'm very tolerant to minor bugs/inconvenience in software as long as there is no major show-stopers. The burner is worth buying. If you can't stand the software, shop around for an easier-to-navigate app to make your life easier.

This product is compatible with Mac, but only up through OS9.1. I will not operate on any higher OS.

First off. I had some of the same problems
with locking and down and crashing on my old computer.
Since I have bought a new computer with usb 2.0 ports
I have no problems. Usb 2.0 makes a huge difference.
I would not recommend using it on usb 1.1.
Your not getting full use of it this burner if you do.

I can burn a cd with nero or the hotburn software
in about 2 minutes. Hotburn software is actually a lot easier to use if you have never used it or Nero.

Overall, I highly recommend this burner to anyone with a decent computer.

I have had nothing but problems with this CD Burner. The burning software that comes with it locks most of the time. I have been able to burn only a few CDs, and it's whenever the thing decides to work. I hate it, but I paid for it and I'm stuck with it. Don't buy. I run windows XP, the Iomega site is not helpful at all. And i've tried applying the patches and it actually made things worse.

Stop and read this before ordering.

I have a brand new Dell with USB 2.0. I wanted an external drive because it is hard to reach the one in my desktop. So I ordered the Iomega.

I could do nothing to make the Dell recognize the Iomega. I kept getting unrecognized USB device. And Iomega support was useless. This device goes back into the mail today.

I am running Windows XP Pro.

Why I bought it: was unhappy with speed (8x4x8 I think) of internal drive on my hp zt 1150 laptop -- it took 12-14 minutes to burn a CD.

What I thought: Extremely solid build. Whisper quiet when plugged in, a bit loud when spinning. WinXP recognized and installed the drive in about 15 seconds. The feared "high speed USB device plugged into a low speed port" popup didn't come. I know the no-name PCMCIA to USB2.0 card I have has about a 7Mbps throughput to USB2, so I expected to burn at about 30-40x speed. I burnt a 60 min audio cd in just over 4 minutes, and an 80 min data CD in 5.5 minutes -- not quite the under 3 min promised, but still about 1/3 of the time I'm used to, so I'm satisfied.

Software: Having learned from my nightmare with the factory installed RecordNow on my laptop, I didn't even open the CD that came with this drive. Nero 5.5 works, so why bother?

Update: DO NOT use with Nero 6.0 -- I got several "could not perform fixation" errors. Switching back to Nero 5.5 solved the problem. HotburnPro, the software that Iomega supplies with the drive also works (i.e., the burn process is successful), but has a slow and maddening interface. It also tends to slow the drive down to 4x-6x speed about halfway through the burning process.